Page 7 of Awakening

Regaining his balance, he takes a deep breath. “I want to make this right. Let me do that. I promise you it will only be you from here on out. I won’t be that man anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter to me anymore. I love Ethan, and we’re having a baby. If you can’t find it in you to dig deep and help me without strings attached…well, you’re obviously not even half the man I thought you were.”

I go to stand to put some space between us, but I’m instantly lightheaded, and I have to brace myself on Colin’s shoulders. “Whoa, what’s wrong?” He jumps to his feet, puts his hands on my waist and guides me back down to the mattress.

“I’m just a little lightheaded.”

“Have you not eaten?” he asks, picking up the sandwich Ian left me last night.

Scowling as I look at the sandwich in Colin’s hand, I say, “I won’t eat anything he gives me. It’s not safe.”

“I’ll see if I can bring you something to eat. I know you need to eat…for the baby,” he says, staring at my stomach.

“Are you sure it doesn’t come with strings attached?” I ask with bite.

He shakes his head and raises his eyes to mine. “Of course not.”

As I’m taking deep breaths to keep the nausea at bay, we hear the lock being turned from the outside. “Time to go, Burke,” Ian says as he enters.

“We need more time to talk,” Colin says, “and she’s hungry, Ian. I want to come back and bring her dinner tonight.”

Ian looks back and forth between us and then down at the sandwich that still lays untouched. Shaking his head, he says, “No. You’re done for today. Come on. Time to go,” he says, nodding toward the door.

“Listen,” Colin starts to argue.

“I said no!” The lampshade shakes from the impact of Ian’s anger. “We play by my fucking rules here. You can come back tomorrow or not at all.”

“Fine.” Colin stands and leans down to kiss me on the top of the head. “We’ll talk tomorrow, Liv.”

I don’t say anything. Tears flow from my eyes as I watch my former fiancé walk out the door, leaving me here alone with my tormentor. There has to be a way out of this. What if Colin really is my only option?

“You have shitty taste in men,” Ian says once the door is closed.

“Why did you bring Colin into this? If you want to take me from Ethan, why not just kill me?”

“Your death is too final for what I have in mind for my cousin. Breaking your bond with Ethan while he still feels it, and forcing him to watch you live your life with the man who came before him…well, that’s just the gift that keeps on giving,” he says with a smug smirk.

“Well then, if you want to send me away with Colin, why not just send me now? Why keep me here?”

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid?” I shrink as he slams his hand against the wall above my head. “Your bond isn’t broken yet. You’d just find a way to run back to Ethan.” He looks at my stomach, and with a snarl, says, “Besides, a werewolf fetus is stronger than you might think, and I’m not letting you go until I know the job is complete.”

My mouth drops in horror and my heart pounds against the wall of my chest when he confirms my worst nightmare. He’s really doing this. He’s killing my baby.

“You should be thanking me for the opportunity to leave with Burke.”

“Thanking you? You can go fuck yourself, Ian.”

“No need. I have plenty of options for that. You could have been one of them. Hmm, what a shame,” he says with a slimy smirk.

“You’re disgusting.”

“And you,” he says, pulling a syringe from his pocket, “are about to have a nice, long nap.”

Cornered on the mattress, I scream and plead with him, “No! No! Ian, please! Don’t?—”

As he lunges at me, I fight against him until he pins my arms down to my sides, and he stabs the needle into my neck while he smiles. His face becomes blurry, eventually just fading away.

Three

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