Page 101 of Savage Hope

38

POLARIS

My heart thunders in my chest, stealing my breath as I try to grab at his hand again, but he moves farther back. Desperation claws at me as he points a finger in my direction.

“Stay where you are,” he bites, using his spare hand to remove the blood-stained condom from his dick before zipping his pants back up.

“Give that back,” I murmur, trying to remain as calm as possible, but it’s harder than I expect.

He scoffs, shaking his head at me. “Give it back? You’re going to tell me why you stole it.”

I gape at him in disbelief. “I didn’t steal it,” I insist, but he doesn’t hear me.

“What’s going on?”

I die when the question comes from behind Lincoln. We’ve got a whole audience now.

Wylder, Tatum, Asher, Minnie, and Bryony.

Lincoln seems more than pleased to have reinforcements, though. Turning to his sister, he flings an arm in my direction as everyone draws closer. “We let her in, and for what? To steal from us,” he snarls before turning back to face me. “Are you evena Florentine?” he growls, and I try to calm my despair as I gape at him in horror.

“Are you joking right now?”

“Lincoln, what’s going on?” Wylder asks, frowning between us, but he doesn’t take the final step toward me. He stays right at his friend’s side.

Lincoln opens his hand to reveal the coin. Not just any coin,mycoin.

“Where did you get that?” Tatum asks, frowning at the gold in the night air, and I shake my head.

“I don’t know,” I breathe as Minnie inches closer, folding her arms over her chest as she looks at me.

“You’re not helping your case right now.”

Pressing my face into my hands, I force two deep breaths into my lungs before I look at her again. “I’ve always had it, but I don’t know how because I don’t recall anything before Florentine’s. Now, give it back,” I plead, turning to Lincoln, who scoffs at me.

“Like fuck,” he snaps, and my knees buckle beneath me. I manage to grab the railing behind me to keep my balance, but the nausea that churns in my gut doesn’t waiver.

“I think she’s telling the truth,” Bryony states, moving around the wolves to come to my side. She offers me a tight smile, but there’s little she can do here. This is all on me.

“Of course you would say that; you’re a witch as well. You were probably in on it,” Lincoln snarls while Asher remains frozen in place, cell phone in hand, as he stares at us intently.

“I think she’s telling the truth too,” Tatum adds, making my heart ache as he looks over me from head to toe. “She’s bleeding,” he mutters, pointing at my leg, and I look down the length of my body to see what he means, only to be overcome with mortification.

Understanding washes over Wylder’s face. He, along with everyone else, knows what just happened here, and now it’s all a damn mess.

“Let me help you,” Bryony murmurs, offering me her hand, but I can’t go anywhere, not without that coin.

I shake my head as I step back, tears burning the back of my eyes as I turn to face Lincoln.

“Give it back,” I demand, my words firm as my nostrils flare.

“It’s not yours,” he growls, and I stand taller despite the ache between my thighs, leveling him with a deadly stare.

“Give. It. Back,” I repeat, aware I’m trembling from head to toe, when Asher finally edges closer. He takes the coin from Lincoln, who doesn’t stop him as distress coils through my bones.

“Only five of these exist in the whole world, and you’re telling me you have one of them?” he asks, holding the coin between us, and I shake my head, confused and scared.

“It’s just a coin, it’s just?—”

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