Page 23 of Engaging Evelyn (Blissful Bets)

“She’s right, Steve. It’s the best decision concerning Evelyn.” Brandon walked over and cupped her face.

“No, let go of her. I won’t give her up. Not to be with you,” Stephen snarled, pulling Brandon off her.

In a blur of color, Brandon, with his hand around Stephen’s throat, had him against the wall. Fear consumed her. She needed to think of something fast or else they were going to kill each other.

“If Evelyn wouldn’t go through any pain, I’d kill you now. Keep your fucking hands off me. If I want to touch her, I will, and there won’t be a damn thing you can do about it. Maybe I should call Ayden. He needs to get his cub in check.”

“Fuck you,” Stephen growled, his eyes glowing.

Just at the confirmation of seeing her ex with light coming from behind his eyes, Evelyn’s stomach flipped. But what could she do. The world tilted and she tried to get a hold on herself. If they were going to come to a conclusion, they had to do it fast.

“Enough…both of you. Shit, this is absurd. If you both don’t stop, then I’ll never speak to either one of you again. Now, Stephen, can you please stop attacking Brandon long enough for us to figure out what we’re going to do? For one, I’m not being forced into becoming your idea of what a mate entails. And, two, I’m not sure I’m ready to bask in the life of vampirism. This shit just isn’t normal and I don’t like it!”

“Oh come on, Evelyn. Just me and you, days and nights of endless lovemaking,” Brandon

teased.

“That’s my point exactly.” Evelyn rolled her eyes. Her heart was pounding. Thoughts

wouldn’t process anymore. She kept trying to show them she wasn’t afraid of what they were, but some of the unknown details scared her and left her wanting to run, regardless of what her heart made her feel. The two parts of herself, reason and feeling, fought what felt a never- winning battle.

“That hurts. It truly wounds me.” Brandon let go of Stephen and walked away from him without even looking back.

“Knock it off. Now let me just think, all right,” Stephen said, sitting on the couch. “How do I know as soon as I break the bond, you’re not going to sink your fangs into Evelyn? I’ll never know then.”

“No one is sinking anything into me, is that clear?” Evelyn eyed both of them while she fought the pain in her chest. “We wipe me clean of knowing anything about Stephen coming back or Brandon sinking his…teeth into me. I don’t want to know about a mark or anything I’m not supposed to. If either of you are interested in a few weeks…” Evelyn paused and went over her thought before she said it, “come back to me. That’ll be the true test on whether my feelings are true or because of something one of you did. Otherwise, stay away and I’ll never know. And what I don’t know can’t hurt me.”

“But what about what happened between you and me? Do you want to remember everything but the bite?” Brandon asked.

“Yes, don’t wipe that clean. Just make me think I was drunk, like I thought before.”

Evelyn and Brandon turned to Stephen. He looked up angrily. “So I guess this is the part where I break our bond and everyone is happy-go-fucking-lucky. Fine, whatever. Evelyn, don’t move. This is probably going to hurt. I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of anyone breaking the bond before. It’s just something werewolves don’t do. Ever. ”

“What do you mean, hurt?” Brandon asked, walking quickly to Stephen.

“Well, you didn’t think it would just go away, did you? No, she’s going to feel like the love of her life just died. She’s going to be heartbroken all over again.”

“It won’t last long, right?” Evelyn felt the all too familiar anxiety course through her. She was so tired of feeling pain.

“No, I’ll wipe your memory as fast as I can, I promise.” Brandon wrapped his arm around her, trying to comfort her.

Stephen pulled her out of his arms and tightly embraced her, burying his face in Evelyn’s hair. “I’m so sorry, please forgive me,” he whispered.

Teeth sank into the junction of her neck and shoulder, and Evelyn felt like her very soul was ripped from the confines of her body. What she had experienced when Stephen left wasn’t a fraction of what she felt when he broke his bond. The air completely left her and was replaced with a grief so overpowering that she collapsed in his arms. When the air rushed back into her lungs, her hoarse screams of agony filled the apartment.

Tears raced down Evelyn’s cheeks as she writhed and screamed. Images of their past flashed in front of her eyes, blinding her from the men. Fear like nothing she had ever felt before in her life took over her mind. She was desperate to find solace.

“Stephen! Stephen, no, come back. Make it go away! Stephen!”

Evelyn clawed to get closer to him, even if it was her physical body looking for the contact of his nearness, and what she needed was on the inside. A tear from Stephen landed on her face as he held her still and against his chest.

“Brandon, do something, damn it! I can’t take seeing her like this.”

“Hold her head to the side. It’s the only way I can make sure I clear everything out,” Brandon snapped.

Stephen growled, but obeyed. A sharp pain made Evelyn aware of reality for the first time in her hysterics, and before she knew it, everything was black. She was falling slowly down a tunnel of darkness, and then nothing.

Chapter 12

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