All Chapters of Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

(Piper POV)After dinner was over and we said good night to everyone, Leo escorted me to the bedroom that I would be staying in for the next two weeks. It was a large, airy room with a private bathroom, and it was right across the hall from his room.I want to tell you that I was relieved to have my own room. After all, that would have been the right way to feel. And a separate room would have been what Xander, Aiden, and Asher would have expected me to ask for. More importantly, it was what any morally-sound she-wolf being forced into a marriage to someone who was not her mate would want.Unfortunately, however, if I told you that I was relieved to have my own room, I would be lying. Despite everything, I enjoyed being close to Leo. And I somehow seemed to sleep better when he was around. That makes me sound like a horrible she-wolf, doesn’t it?Do you want to know what’s even worse? I was starting to fall for Leo. Admittedly, Leo’s evil —Mr. Hyde— side scared me. I was con

(Piper POV)Around 7:30 am the next morning, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I opened it, only to find Leo waiting there with a large tray in his hands. Thankfully, I was already dressed.“Good morning, Little Pea. Do you mind having breakfast with me?” he asked.I gave him a half smile and opened the door so that he could come in. He set the tray down on the small round table by the window. He then took lids off of the plates, revealing sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, and freshly baked cinnamon rolls. There were also two glasses of water, and two large glasses of orange juice.We sat down across from each other and slowly began eating.“How did you sleep?” he asked after a couple minutes of awkward silence.Not great. My mind was going a million miles per minute, still trying to process and understand everything that was happening. And I missed you. Even though I barely know you and I know that my feelings are wrong.“Fine. Thank you. You?”Leo gave me a sad smi

(Leo Bloodstone POV)Piper just kissed me. No drugs were involved. No force or threats. Just my sweet Little Pea voluntarily and enthusiastically kissing me.Best f&&king kiss of my life.I knew that forcing her hand in marriage was wrong. I also knew that my reasons for doing it were pretty sh&tty. And I knew that, if Piper knew the truth, she might have a hard time forgiving me. Worse, I knew that if Piper knew the truth, she might want something different than what I wanted.But a kiss that felt that d&mn good had to mean something.As soon as her lips touched mine, I put my hands on either side of her face and kissed her with everything I had. The moment she opened her mouth, allowing our tongues to intertwine, I lost the small shred of control that I had been holding onto. I picked her up by her thighs, forcing her to wrap her beautiful legs around my waist. I then carried her to her bed, ready to f&&king pounce.I felt her reach her hands under my hoodie, running her han

(Leo Bloodstone POV)Our walk back to the packhouse took much less time than our walk to the hospital, primarily because my steps were hastened by anger. I could tell that Piper was also angry. However, to her credit, she left me alone to my own thoughts during the walk, choosing to avoid making a scene in front of the many pack members that we passed.I still could not believe that I had even briefly considered letting Piper continue to take herbs given to her by that moron a&&hole Xander. I had yet to figure out what his end game was, or even what his real motivations were, but he was consistently doing things that made me trust him less and less. This whole herb thing was a perfect example.Once we arrived at the packhouse, I took Piper through a back entrance —thus avoiding any of my family members who may have wanted to chat— and led Piper directly up to her room.“Give me the rest of the herbs,” I demanded the second that we walked in.Instead of getting them for me, she clo

(Piper POV)When Leo told me that I was going to go shopping with his mom, grandmother, and aunts, I was anything but excited.Yes, I needed clothes. Desperately. The duffle bag of clothing that I had with me was meant to last for a few days, not for several weeks. However, I was still adjusting to all the changes that had been thrown at me. Spending an entire day shopping —not just for regular clothes but for a wedding dress, too— originally sounded like a wildly horrible idea.Thankfully, I was wrong. Shopping with Leo’s mom, grandmother, and aunts actually turned out to be really, really fun.As Leo predicted, they treated me a little bit like a living doll. They made me try on and model clothes in every single store, and they all had strong opinions about what I needed and what would look good on me. Thankfully, their strong opinions came with good taste and good fashion sense. But much more importantly, they continued to be incredibly kind and welcoming towards me. They