Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
So much for the sleep my mother thinks I need.
She doesn’t know what I am, nor does my sister, so I keep my lips tight shut, my own canines grazing the inside of my mouth.
“Hannah…”
The voice doesn’t belong to Rogan.
It belongs to my father.
At least I can open my mouth and show my teeth. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you at war? And Mom is right outside.”
“Your mother is not an issue.”
“Of course. Mind control. Which there is no excuse for misusing. Those are your words, Dad.” I clear my throat to ease the ache.
It doesn’t work.
“Don’t try to talk,” he says. “I want you to know that Richard will be dealt with. He promised me long ago that no harm would come to you or your sister. He has broken that vow.”
Yeah, I’ve heard that before. “I hate to break it to you, Dad, but he broke that vow long ago.” A cough erupts in my throat.
“I said don’t try to talk.” Dad sits down on the side of my bed. “I’m talking about physical harm, Hannah. You know that.”
I take his advice. I don’t try to talk. What’s the point? My father knows that emotional and mental harm are just as bad—sometimes worse—than physical harm.
“The war isn’t going well, Hannah. Both sides are taking heavy losses. And your wolf…”
“He’s not my wolf,” I manage to choke out. “You and I both know that.”
Dad pauses a moment, sighs. “Victor Rogan is missing. We think Richard is holding him.”
I open my mouth, but he holds up a hand to stop me.
“I may have made an error in judgment.”
You think? But I don’t say it. How can the demons be holding Rogan if he’s fighting with them?
A conversation with Rogan comes back to me…
“Are you in bed with my stepfather?” I ask. “With the demons? Because I need to know. If I’m forsaking my sister for my demon stepfather, I must know.”
“It’s not what you think.” Rogan threads his fingers through his long hair. It’s matted with grass and sweat.
“What is it, then?”
“I’m sworn to secrecy.”
I scoff. “Do I look like I care? If we’re truly the mates we both feel we are, there can be no secrets between us. I don’t want that. Do you?”
“No, princess. I don’t want that.” He shakes his head. “I didn’t ask for this any more than you did.”
“I believe you. I do. But the fact remains that you’re still fighting for your own team, and I’m not. Where’s the fairness in that?”
“There is no fairness in that,” he says. “It’s just the way it is.”
“I don’t accept it. If there truly is no choice for either of us, why aren’t we fighting for my side, Victor? Why don’t you fight with the vamps?”
“They won’t have me.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I do know that. Your side will never accept me, but my side will accept you because you’re only half vampire.”
“I’m not buying. You’re an alpha, and I’m your mate. Your side will accept me no matter what.”
“That’s not entirely true. Vamps and lycans are natural enemies. We always have been. If you were a pureblood vampire, you and I would be alone.”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t sound too bad from where I’m standing. I’d rather go off alone than fight alongside demons. I can’t do it, Rogan. I can’t. You don’t know how bad Richard treated Larissa and me. He hated us. Called us whores. Told us we were worthless pieces of ass. He was especially hard on me. He said if he and I were the last two beings in the universe, sentient life would die out.”
Rogan curls his hands into fists. “He said that? To you? His stepdaughter?”
“Yeah, he’s disgusting. Does he think I’d ever let him near me?”
“That’s not even the point,” Rogan says. “It’s repugnant that he would even think of you that way.”
“No kidding. He’s a fucking bastard. Always has been. Which is why I want to know… How the hell can you be on his side?”
“I’m not on his side, princess.”
“Uh…except you are.”
“No.” He rubs his forehead, closes his eyes a moment, and then opens them. “Everything is not as it seems.”
“What are you saying, exactly? Are the demons going to overthrow him?”
Rogan widens his eyes. Fuck. Am I right? This war just got a whole lot more meaningful for me.
“Not exactly,” he says finally.
“What, then? Because mates or not, I will not fight on any side that includes Richard Tomlinson. You can’t make me. I may be drawn to you, and I may love you, but I will draw the line at fighting on the same side as the demon who made my sister’s and my lives hell.”
“If I tell you any more,” he says, “I can’t keep you safe.”
“Do you truly have so little faith in me?” I ask. “I’m perfectly capable of keeping myself safe.”