Page 18 of Engaging Evelyn (Blissful Bets)

Evelyn thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. I won’t make any promises.”

“Do you never lie?”

Brandon lifted his head to look at her better. She shifted on the couch, unsure exactly what he was trying to get out of knowing. It was a very simple question, yet she felt like it held so much more meaning than the words he spoke. It was a test, or at least it felt like one.

“I try not to lie. I would never say never, but I can’t remember the last time I came out and said a lie to anyone’s face. I’m not like that. I tell the truth as much as possible. Lies only cause unneeded problems.”

Silence surrounded them, and then slowly Brandon nodded his head. Was he expecting her to say she never lied and never would? Well, if she had to, there was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn’t hesitate. It wouldn’t be for herself, but maybe for her friends if they needed her protection.

Brandon stood and tilted his head at her. “Evelyn, do you know why you can’t get over Stephen?”

The bluntness of his question caught her off guard, making her somewhat defensive. “Great, I rub your hair and you think you have liberty to say whatever. No, Brandon, I do not know why. Enlighten me, please.”

He laughed. “You’re bonded. Just do me a favor. The next time you see him, ask him why he marked you if he was never planning on making you his mate. That’s all I will say for now. I’ll leave it up to him to tell you. If he doesn’t explain, come back and I’ll take you to Ayden. He’d love to know what’s going on.”

Evelyn watched in horror as Brandon walked out her door. What in the hell was he talking about? His words made absolutely no sense. Well, she’d ask Stephen and see what he had to say. He’d probably run for the hills again, thinking she had lost her damn mind. Great, this was just fucking great.

Running for her phone, she grabbed it and called dispatch to get Stephen’s number. Even after all this time, Cynthia remembered her. That was just luck on her part. She doubted that they would have given her his personal number if she were a stranger.

The shaking of her hands increased as the phone began to ring. Stephen answered it almost immediately.

“Hello,” he said, short of breath.

“Stephen, this is Evelyn. I need to ask you a question. It might sound crazy, but I need to

know.”

“Ask anything, Evelyn.”

The words Brandon had spoken repeated in her head. This was downright ridiculous. Oh well, here went nothing. What was the worst that could happen?

“Stephen, why did you mark me if you weren’t going to keep me as your mate?”

The silence had her skin crawling. Did he know what she was asking? It sure as hell didn’t make any sense to her. What did this mean?

“Evelyn, I did expect for you to be my mate. I still do. You don’t understand. I had orders. I never meant… Damn, there’s so much for me to explain.

“Wait… How did you know what I was, Evelyn? Who told you? It was that vampire, wasn’t it? Fucking bloodsuckers, I swear.” He growled into the phone. “I knew I should have torn him apart when I had the chance, sinking his teeth into you like that. He should have seen the mark and backed off!”

The floor felt like it had fallen out from under Evelyn’s feet. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Vampire? Vampire! And what did that make him? The pressure increased in her head as she tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Mark, mate…vampire….werewolf? Vertigo washing over her briefly made her lean her hand against the wall.

Evelyn’s mind screamed. No way was this possible. Words were jumbling around her head a million miles a minute. She wanted to believe both of these men were playing a trick on her, but they hadn’t talked to each other in the last few minutes. How could this happen? How was this possible in today’s world and no one knew about it?

“Stephen, it doesn’t matter who told me,” Evelyn said, trying to get control of her voice. “It just matters that you confirmed it.” Again, her thoughts searched for some logical sentence for her to say. If it was true and something he had done to her was making her unable to let him go, it was beyond cruel. “Release the bond. I can’t believe you would make it impossible for me to move on after all this time. That’s what it’s there for, isn’t it? To keep us bonded to each other. You’re a werewolf, yes?”

“Yes, I am.” Silence filled Evelyn’s ear. How would she know if he released whatever bond they were talking about? Would she feel something upon it happening? Looking for something that might indicate what she was missing, she jerked the robe open. Creamy ivory skin was perfectly flawless. The only “mark” she had was…the bite Stephen had given her when they first started dating. It was barely noticeable, and just looked like a scar of teeth marks.

“Release the bond, Stephen! No more fucking with my life. It’s not fair to me. You’ve hurt me enough. I can’t do this anymore!”

“I will not release the bond. Not until you give me another chance,” he breathed out heavily. “I didn’t put you through all of this just to let you go. My love for you never wavered in the last two years. Can’t you see why I had to lie to you? I’m not letting you go, now or ever.”

Evelyn screamed and slammed the phone shut. This was not how things were supposed to happen. Yes, she loved Stephen, but how much of it was her and how much was the bond that was holding them together? Brandon had mentioned a guy named Ayden. Maybe he would know what was happening. It was about time she found out for herself.

Maybe once the damn thing was gone, she could leave town. Running away from reality seemed pretty good about now. Werewolves and vampires! She still couldn’t believe it. Damn, if she wasn’t about to go into a full-blown anxiety attack.

Could she possibly ignore the thoughts while she dropped off Bill’s key? There’d only been one way she’d known to block out the pain. The answer was one she was starting to dislike.

Chapter 10

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