Page 75 of Broken-Hearted

So I stay right where I am as Adrian stalks toward me.

I don’t move when he lifts a hand and softly, oh so softly, closes his palm around my neck.

I hold his gaze as he pushes me until my back bumps the cabin doorway.

“If you hurt them, I will make you wish you were never born,” I threaten.

His eyes narrow as his hand tightens slightly around my throat. “Is that so?”

I swallow my fear at how easily he could end my life. “It is. But if you leave them alone, I will go with you right now. I won’t yell or fight or try to escape. Otherwise, you had better learn tosleep with one eye open for as long as I’m alive because I wouldneverstop fighting you.”

He stares at me for another long moment, then a slow smile stretches his lips as he releases me. “I like your fighting spirit, Clara.”

He laughs and I have a terrible feeling that I’m going to regret not running when I had the chance. Because something about him is… not right.

As he takes a step back, he seizes my wrist and yanks me toward him so hard I bounce off his shoulder.

He doesn’t notice. He’s dragging me along as he calls out, “Watch our back in case this is a trick.”

Three enforcers melt out of the forest. Wolves, not men.

I should have known Adrian would not have come here alone. I hadn’t scented them, but they’d been there, hidden in the forest, maybe waiting for me to run so they could chase me down and drag me back.

The brown and gray wolves look at me, peeling their lips from their teeth as if they suspect it’s a trap.

It’s not.

It’s just me stepping into one so no one else has to.

Adrian leads the way from my cabin, his enforcers constantly roving behind us to ensure no one follows, as I curse myself for a decision I already regret.

I know this won’t end well, but I didn’t see any other way to protect the people I care about. I still don’t. That doesn’t mean a part of me isn’t holding my breath, hoping someone will come along and save me from my stupid decision.

We make fast progress through the forest, soon emerging from Blackshaw Pack land and onto a road where two black cars are waiting and two shifters standing alongside the vehicles. More of Adrian’s men. Not enough to take on the Blackshaws,but all it would take is one phone call to Minnesota for backup, and then it would be over.

This is the right thing to do, I tell myself. This way, no one gets hurt but me.

A dark-haired man with mean gray eyes opens the back door and Adrian, none too gently, pushes me inside.

I get in, Adrian gets in beside me, and we pull away.

This was the right thing to do, I repeat to myself.

But as we leave Hardin behind us, I struggle to believe it.

20

“We’ll hold the moon-blessing tonight,” Adrian declares.

Terror-inducing words freeze me for a split second. “Tonight?”

I stare at my reflection in the dressing-table mirror as Adrian rests his hands on top of my shoulders. He gently squeezes as he meets my gaze. “Yes.”

“But I need more time.” I wince when those hands tighten.

“And I have given you time, Clara. Time during the drive to Minnesota. Time to settle into your new home.” He turns away. “Two days is more than enough time to prepare to become my mate.”

Thank fuck he has a meeting to go to because I’m a second away from a panic attack.

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