Page 21 of Savage Reign

It wasn't until I put toothpaste on my toothbrush that I truly felt sick. I bent over the toilet and expelled all of last night's dinner, which hadn’t been much or nutritious. Tears stung my eyes, and I crouched down when I didn’t think I would be able to hold myself up any longer.

Once I was done, I flushed and closed the toilet lid, sitting down on it and feeling absolutely sorry for myself.

I didn’t know if I wanted to rage at something or go back to bed and cry.

This was all their fault. I hadn’t been pregnant for that long, and I hated it already. What kind of mother could I possibly be? It wasn’t like I had such shining examples of parents to model off of. And with no money, no job, no nothing…

I took in a deep breath, trying to stop myself from freaking out. I knew I could probably figure it out. I always do, but I was just so tired.

So goddamn exhausted.

Maybe I should just stay here and wait for them to find me. If they were even looking, that was.

What if they weren’t? Perhaps all their talk about owning me, becoming possessive over me, was just that. Talk.

I buried my face in my hands from the thought, hating the way my conflicting emotions were affecting me. Or perhaps it was just the pregnancy.

I got off the toilet and set about getting ready for my day, slowly testing the scent of the toothpaste, but it seemed the sickness was a one-and-done kind of deal for the day.

I avoided my reflection as I got ready, which took me about half an hour. All the grooming Maverick had taken me to get done was slowly being reversed. I was starting to see more and more of how I had looked before the brothers took me. I should be happy about that. I should.

The fact that I wasn’t really highlighted how fucked-up that was in my mind.

I didn’t have any big plans for the day—no surprise—but I didn’t want to be stuck in the motel for most of the day either.

I slowly made the walk over to the bus stop. Like the day before, the entire place was empty. Not a soul in sight. Unlike before, I suddenly had the feeling I wasn’t alone.

I shifted on my feet and took in my surroundings. Nothing seemed to be different, but my skin felt hot, and the hair on the back of my neck seemed to be standing up on end.

I had the same feeling when I got off the bus yesterday, but this time felt so much more intense, and I didn’t know why that was.

I nearly let out a sound of relief when the bus came into sight.

I hopped on as soon as the doors opened. The feeling of being watched followed me into town.

I hated it.

Maybe exhaustion had finally caught up to me, and my paranoia was nothing more than my imagination. I didn’t know.

Maybe the brothers found me. My heart did a slow flip-flop over the thought.

Or perhaps Sebastian and his men. If Lenny survived, then others did too, and I had a feeling Sebastian might be one of them.

My heart flipped at the thought, but this time, for a completely different reason.

I got off the bus and looked around. I didn’t know which was worse, the deserted landscape at the motel or the busy, bustling noise from so many people out and about in this place. Both had made it seem like there was nothing out of the ordinary that I should be concerned about.

Somehow, I didn’t feel reassured.

I was questioning my decision to leave the motel room today. But I was already out.

I forged on.

The feeling of being watched never left me. It followed me to a small diner where I had my lunch, and during my littlewindow-shopping experience. It followed me into the bookstore and to the coffee shop, and it followed me when I finally called it a day and headed back to the bus stop.

The wariness of feeling like someone was following and watching me competed with my exhaustion, and it was losing. I just didn’t care anymore. Pregnancy was tiring, and it was screwing with my brain. I just… didn’t want to do this anymore.

The thought that I might have made the wrong decision to leave the motel room came back to me.

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