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)
No. I fear for Dominic.
He’ll kill me, were his words. And from the vicious look in Rogan’s eyes, he was right.
“He didn’t want me to,” I say, standing firm. “I had no choice. The baby needed wolf blood. He still does. I was aching, Rogan. The baby was in pain.”
“I’ll kill him,” he says, his voice not quite human.
“No.” I shake my head adamantly. “I promised him it would be okay. That you would understand.”
“That I would understand him letting you sink your teeth into his flesh? You’re my mate, princess. My mate. Mine.”
Except I’m not, and it’s time he accepts it. “We’re not mates, Rogan. We never were.”
“Don’t start with this bullshit again, princess. You’re my mate. I know it instinctively, viscerally. You’re inside me, pulling at me from the inside out. You’re ingrained in my very soul. I smell you everywhere. See you everywhere. Taste you in everything I put in my mouth. You’re me, Hannah. We are each other!”
My father’s good. I’ll give him that. Whatever kind of elixir he put together sure as hell had us both fooled.
Because I understand exactly what Rogan is saying. I feel it too—that insatiable tug to be with him, that visceral need, that invisible binding that pulls us together.
“It’s a lie—”
“Why do I want to kill Dominic, then?” he shouts. “Why do I want to rip the throat out of my second in command? Of a man who is like a brother to me?”
“My father,” I say calmly. “My father orchestrated it. I haven’t figured out why yet.” I shake my head. “That’s not true. I know why. He thought you killed those two vamps and ripped out their hearts. He wanted me to get you to confess.”
“I’ve already confessed to that, princess. I did kill them, but I was defending my pack. Lycan law is clear on that. It wasn’t murder.”
“He already knew you killed them,” I say. “Your bite marks were found. It was cutting out their hearts. He wanted you to confess to that.”
“I will not confess to something I didn’t do. I’ve told you who did that, Hannah.” His voice goes soft. “It was you, princess. My mate cut out those hearts.”
Maybe he’ll finally accept the truth. “I did not cut out those hearts, Victor. Please trust me.”
“Perhaps you don’t remember…”
“I didn’t do it, Rogan, because I wasn’t there. I was at home in Chicago. I didn’t lose any time. I didn’t have amnesia or anything else. Don’t you think that if I did something so heinous, my father would know it? He may be a dick, but he is one of the most intelligent men I know. One of the most shrewd and cunning men I know, and in his own warped way, he loves me. He would never send me to uncover the truth about something I did. No way. He’d be trying to cover it up. I’m his heir, Rogan. The fucking vampire princess, reluctant though I may be. He’s been grooming me to take over the throne since I came of age and found out who I truly was. Believe me. If I had cut out those hearts, he would know, and he would be looking the other way.”
Rogan stalks toward me, his eyes still wolfish. “I don’t believe you. What I feel for you can’t be manufactured. It’s in every cell of my body. We made a baby, Hannah.”
“That’s simple biology. We’ve been fucking like bunnies.”
“No. Wolf infertility is legendary. It’s difficult for female wolves to get pregnant, and even more difficult for them to carry a baby to term. Unless the she-wolf meets her fated mate.”
“Uh…hello? I’m not a female wolf, Rogan. I’m half human and half vamp. Humans and vamps don’t generally have fertility issues. Your argument doesn’t hold water. Besides, you lycans haven’t died out yet, and you said yourself that fated mates are rare these days.”
“Humans outnumber us a thousand to one,” he says. “Because of our birth rates being so low.”
“Christ, Rogan…” I rub my forehead. “I wish this were real. I really do, because I love you, damn it. I fucking love you. But my father played us. He made us believe we were mates so you’d tell me the truth. Now I know the truth. You killed the vamps, but you didn’t murder them. And you didn’t cut out their hearts. Your mate did. Your true mate. And I have to find her.”
27
“You are my mate,” he says again through gritted teeth.
How do I convince him? “We need to get back to your place at The London,” I say. “I’ll show you the portal. It’s how I got to my stepfather’s lair both times.”
“There’s no portal, princess. I have the best security in the country. Do you really think there’d be a portal I don’t know about?”