Page 38 of Forsaken Desire
Several moments later, he stopped fighting, his head flopping to the side.
The fluttering pulse under my palm no longer pumped.
My lips curled up.
“Alpha?” A female voice trembled. I slowly lifted my fingers from his throat. The little bastard had sliced into my skin. A thin line that ran from the side of my arm to my wrist. Blood welled in the wound, and I swiped the pad of my thumb across it.
I turned to the interloper.
The nurse stood near the door, trembling like a leaf, her eyes wide. As soon as I met her gaze, she dropped hers.
“He couldn’t survive his injuries,” was all I said, striding over to the hand sanitizer. With quick swipes, I spread the clear liquid across my hands and to the scratch he’d managed to leave behind. The sting was fleeting, like the life of anyone who neared my mate.
“Yes, Alpha.” The nurse lowered her head until she was almost bowed in half.
“I trust your discretion, Melodie,” I grunted and strode past her.
The steady beep of the monitor faded with my retreat.
I scrapedmy fingers through my hair, pacing the living room of my house.
“Don’t do this, Lucian,” she begged, tears dripping from her face. I felt nothing more than annoyance.
I’d been in a trance these last years. Caring for nothing and no one and living like a shell. I’d spent my life in a shell. That was what caused my initial mistake with Josephine. If I hadn’t pushed her away . . .
“You took our pack land. Our parents agreed to combine them through our mating?—”
“Things change.”
“But I waited for you!” Her voice cracked.
I sneered down at Cierra, my patience gone. If she hadn’t pulled the bullshit last night, Josephine wouldn’t be angry with me. I swiped to grab her neck and squeeze the long column of her throat. She flinched, backtracking until she slapped against the taupe-colored wall. That was how she’d stop being a problem. Duane intercepted me before I could grab her.
I snarled at him. He quickly dropped his eyes.
“She’s just upset at the changes, Alpha.” He didn’t move, his head dipped, body still.
His interruption allowed me a moment to regain control of myself. He never spoke out against me or refused an order. I grunted.
“Pack your shit, I want you out by tonight,” I snapped, unable to bring myself to look at her.
Cierra whimpered.
“Please, Lucian, we grew up togeth?—”
“Enough,” I barked. “I am your Alpha, and you will obey.”
Her eyes dropped.
She’d brought this on herself with her stunt from last night. I could have been cordial if she’d upheld boundaries. “Don’t try anything, Cierra. I will destroy you.”
I pointedly met Duane’s gaze, and he nodded. He knew what I wanted, and he’d make sure it would happen. My footstepsechoed across the wood floors on my way to the front of the house.
The sun peeked through the clouds of the crisp Oregon morning.
All I hungered for was returning to my mate, but first, I had to handle the painstaking paperwork to untangle myself from Cierra.
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