Gianna

“Just let me leave, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

Emily eyes me for a moment before shrugging. “Fine, go.”

I breathe deeply through my nose.

“But you won’t get far before Lorcan finds you. He doesn’t take well to losing.”

“He’s not losing anything. He wanted to reject me, and I’m not stupid enough to believe that he’ll let me reject him first.”

“Rejecting him could kill you. Probably not him, but you never know.”

Emily is right, but I don’t care about Lorcan Dalgaard. I don’t know what I’ll do when I get out of here, but rejecting the man may not be possible.

I’ll have to speak to the King and ask him if there’s any way to get rid of this mate bond. No one else can help me.

It’s that I’m ungrateful to the Moon Goddess; I just believe that she’s made a mistake. My mother swears that Selene never makes mistakes, and if that’s the case, she’s got a strange sense of humour.

“I just want to go home, Emily. I don’t belong here,”

“Then go,” She shrugs again. “I’ll give you a twenty-minute headstart before Lorcan finds out you’re gone.”

“How am I supposed to get out of here?”

I don’t know the layout of this house; how am I meant to find my way to the front door?

She sighs before telling me, “Follow me,”

So I do. I follow Emily down a long corridor that’s barely lit. She leads me down a spiral staircase, and I wish I could take in the beauty of the intricate marble, but I’m too anxious to get out of here.

I have to admit that this place is enormous. It seems mythical in the dark, but I imagine, during daylight, it will resemble an old English mansion.

We finally make it to the front door, where I thought Emily would leave me. However, she tips her head for me to follow her.

My stomach is turning over and over as we walk deeper into the forest. It’s so dark that I can’t see one foot in front of the other. I let my wolf vision take over, seeing everything all at once.

“Shift and use your wolf senses to make it home. You don’t have long; Lorcan will already be wondering where you are.”

I don’t like this woman, but I can’t deny that she helped me tonight.

“Thank you, Emily.”

She scoffs. “Whatever.” Then, she turns and walks away, leaving me to shift and make my way home.

It doesn’t take me long to get there. Running in wolf form means I’m five times faster than I am as a human.

I stumble through the back door and lock it as quickly as I can. I grab a nightshirt out of the laundry basket and pull over my naked body. I lost the dress Lorcan left for me when I shifted.

“Mum? Dad? Bella?” I yell their names, but no one seems to be home.

They must be out there, looking for me. But just like always, they left the back door open in case I came back. I try mind-linking them, but again there’s no way for me to get through.

I run to my bedroom and find my phone. I call Bella, but she doesn’t answer, nor do Mum and Dad, and I’m beginning to worry.

Where the hell could they be?

I decide they must be worried about me, searching all over, but they’ll be back soon. All I need to do is wait for them to return.

I change into fresh underwear and pyjamas and then make myself a sandwich. I’m famished and in need of meat.

Once I’m done eating, I clear up after myself, then pace the living room floor. My mind is running a mile a minute, no one is answering my calls, and I have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Please be okay.

But as I say that to myself, I know things are never going to be okay again. They can’t be with a man like Lorcan Dalgaard as my mate.

First thing in the morning, I’m going to Dalgaard Mansion. I won’t leave until I get an audience with the King and Queen.

I’ll explain this nightmare to them, and maybe they’ll be able to talk some sense into their son. I don’t know what good it will do, but I hope the King will force Lorcan to let me go.

I didn’t ask to be mated to a lunatic!

Why the hell does Lorcan even want me when he plans to reject me in the end?

If Lorcan wants to reject me, he must know that he’ll be okay if I accept. He won’t die, but I might, and that hurts.

Lorcan will let me die slowly and painfully. But then I could survive the process; then I’ll make his life a living hell!

‘Don’t be stupid, Gianna,’ I sense my wolf rolling her eyes. ‘If you survive the rejection process, you move the hell on.

‘Do you have any clue what would happen to us if you piss off The Bloody Alpha? He’d tear us apart! Where the hell would that leave us?’

I groan while scrubbing my hands over my face. Lyra is right, and I realise that Lorcan Dalgaard holds my life in his hands.

Fucking great!

‘I could talk to his wolf, Gianna. I felt how much Valsurus wanted me.” I sense her smirking.

‘You’ll do no such thing! I don’t want Lorcan, so don’t get any ideas about mating with his wolf.’

‘Why are you being like this? It doesn’t matter what Lorcan thinks right now; no one can fight the mate bond forever. It will keep pulling you back to each other until you finally give in,’

‘It won’t happen, Lyra. I don’t want to hurt you; I love you. But don’t get your hopes up when it comes to Lorcan and his wolf.’

I hear Lyra sniff before she retreats to the far corners of my mind. Of course, Lyra wants her mate, all she-wolves do. But she won’t find any happiness with Lorcan and his wolf, and I won’t let them hurt her. Lyra is everything to me, and I will do everything in my power to protect her.

After what seems like forever, the front door opens. I can hear my dad’s voice, and I run straight to him. I fling my arms around his neck, and he holds me tightly.

“Gianna,” He mumbles into my hair before Mum and Bella crowd me.

I giggle and wipe a tear from my eye.

I open my mouth to tell them everything when a figure catches my eye. I take a scared step backwards, eyes flicking between my parents and Bella.

“It’s okay, Gianna,” Mum tries to soothe.

I shake my head. “Why is he here? Why have you brought him here?”

“I’ve come to take you home.”