Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
His eyes kindled fire and I knew it matched mine.
“Don’t you think I have paid for my sins?” I fumed. “I paid before payment was due. That payment started me on this path in the first place. Now I am the one who has been snatched, taken from my home. By you. And—”
I took a deep breath, swallowing hard. Here it was, the moment of truth I’d been circling.
I lowered my voice to a whisper. “You are keeping me suppressed, too, aren’t you? That’s what I felt earlier, isn’t it? An animal. My animal. I have magic, don’t I?” My whole body started to shake. “I do, don’t I? That was the voice. The heat, the power . . .”
His face closed down into an unreadable mask—but not before his eyes flickered. For that brief moment, his confirmation of my accusation showed clearly.
The realization I had magic sapped the strength out of me and I sagged, unable to believe it. Unable to wrap my head around it.
All this time, I’d had an animal tucked inside me? It didn’t seem possible.
My mind spun with the implications and the larger picture came into focus.
“I suppose you will continue to keep me suppressed and helpless.” Tears leaked from my eyes and I couldn’t tell if they were because I was happy I had magic, sad that I’d spent so much of my life without experiencing it, or frustrated that he was keeping it locked away from me. All three emotions boiled within me. “You snatched me, caged me. You’ll keep me in your bed, on your lap, in your sight and use me to your heart’s content, just like those demons used you. And in the end, you’ll deliver me to my death, like you’d hoped they would deliver you. I really don’t see, Weston, how your situation is any different than mine. But somehow you assume you’re in the right and I deserve whatever I get. What an extraordinary twist of logic.”
I had to get out of here. I had to escape. Thanks to my sleight of hand around the crates earlier, I finally had a way out. I just needed to time it correctly.
I bit back the tears as I shrugged out of my clothes, folding them up neatly and setting them on the ground in the corner. “Those will be fine for tomorrow.”
I approached him then, needing to focus on the goal. If I wanted to escape, I needed to maintain our proximity. I could use him just as he was using me—had to, as a matter of fact. I needed to lull him into security with my perceived complacency and then take advantage of his trust. I was now convinced it was the only way.
I grabbed the edges of his shirt and pushed them up.
“What are you doing?” he asked, letting me.
“What do you think I’m doing? I want to kill you and I want to fuck you. I can’t do one without more power, so I may as well do the other.”
He shook his head slowly, waiting until I pushed down his pants before grabbing my upper arms and stopping me from dropping to my knees.
“No. Not like this,” he murmured.
“Not like what?”
“You’re mad, Aurelia. You’re hurt. The truth? You do have magic, yes.” My heart thumped so hard it was almost painful. “Granny would’ve been able to feel it. Any alpha would. And yes, I will keep you suppressed for now. I hadn’t ever intended to keep you suppressed forever.”
“Just until my sentence.”
“Something along those lines, yes. You can’t shift for the first time without help—it’s dangerous—and we don’t have the time for that now. Not when we’re on the road.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Not to mention the fact that I’d be harder to contain.”
“There is that, yes. I won’t hide that fact.”
I slapped away the angry and frustrated tears. All my life I’d been kicked around because I’d been different, because I’d been without magic. I’d been sneered at, spit on, or like in Granny’s village, avoided and side eyed. But all this time, I’d just been suppressed.
I had an animal. I had magic! All this time.
My knees weakened and I nearly dropped to the ground. Weston caught me quickly, holding me tightly as he directed me to bed.
“No,” I said, trying to struggle away.
Granny would’ve been able to feel it. Any alpha would.
“No.” I shook my head. “Granny couldn’t have known.”
He was my captor, I would expect something like this from him. But Granny? She’d been my family. She’d saved me. She wouldn’t have kept me—
Helpless. Dependent.
The truth felt like a slap.
Prior to the last few days, I wouldn’t have believed Granny capable of it. I would not have trusted this man to be telling me the truth, not over her. But now, after taking a hard look at other aspects of my life . . .