Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Pet? What is the meaning of this?”
“I'm leaving you.” Renee’s voice is defiant but she’s trembling.
A crashing cacophony of ear-bleeding sounds almost deafens me. The earthquake’s aftershocks have faded but I sway as if dealt a blow. “You’re not. I won’t allow it!” I snarl, recovering myself. I need to attack the portal, force it to admit me so I can reach my pet and drag her back to me, where she belongs, but the magic is too powerful. I cannot counter it. My wings droop as I’m overtaken by a crushing exhaustion.
Khan’s queen crosses her slender arms defensively. She’s so slight but the expression on her face is fierce.
I stab a talon in her direction. “This is your doing. You stole my Omega.”
“You can’t steal a person,” Emma snaps. “Renee makes her own choices. She’s not an object you can steal.”
“Thanks, Emma. Can you give us a minute? I promise I’ll be okay.” Renee waits until her friend is out of sight before turning to address me. Were it not for the infuriating, invisible barrier between us, I could reach out and touch her. “She did it for me. I asked for it.”
“But… why?” Confusion and anger strain my voice.
“Because you don't care about me.” She reaches for her throat, curling her fingers around the collar she wears for me, the one I made for her, even as she accuses me of neglect.
“That’s a lie! I do care for you. I've given you everything!” Vibrating with indignation, I point to the hallway behind me strewn with furs and leeberry pastries. “Food, shelter, jewels, outings—anything you want, everything you desire—”
“Everything… except what I want most. I’m just a pet to you. A booty call. I thought I could deal with it at first. You’ve gotta play the hand you’re dealt, ya know?” She dashes her fingers across her face, swiping her tears away. “And at the start, it was a fun, sexy fantasy. I pretended none of it was real. But as time went on, I caught feelings for you. Real feelings.”
“I know, pet,” I say in the tone I always use to soothe her.
“No!” she snaps. “You don’t know! Or you don’t care. You’re incapable of it. You don’t want me. You want a plaything… a pet. But while that was fun for a little while, it’s not fun anymore. I want to be more. I deserve to be more, goddamnit!”
This can’t be happening. In a moment, I will wake up, and my beautiful Omega won’t be standing beyond my reach, her face soaked with tears, her accusations ringing in my ears. Instead, she’ll be curled up beside me, her freckled skin soft against mine, her sweet scent surrounding me.
She’ll be in my arms. Where she belongs.
Renee
Krav is just inches away, looming tall in his full demon glory. His wings quiver and his tail lashes the air behind him. There’s a deep rumbling in the distance, like the earthquakes are back. But he doesn’t seem to notice them, so I focus on him.
I knew he’d be angry when he found out I was leaving—although I had hoped to be long gone before he discovered my absence. I should have known my bedroom door would be no match for him. What I didn’t expect was the look on his face when he tried to reach for me through the portal. Or his expression now, as he stands in front of me. So close, and yet so far.
“I know you tried,” I say softly. I have to make him understand. “Yes, you give me all the pastries and furry cloaks a girl could want. And I’ll admit that being your little pet is fun… in the bedroom. But I want—no, I deserve—to be more than that to you, or to any guy I end up with, for that matter. I’m not Plutus. I need more than the occasional pat on the head, and handful of critters tossed my way.”
Fire flares in his rainbow topaz eyes. “You can’t leave me. I gave you the bite. You’re my bonded mate!”
The crack in his voice is like a shard of glass through my heart but my mind is made up. “If you treated me that way, if you truly saw me as your equal, your queen, I’d agree with you,” I say slowly, rubbing my chest. “But even though I’ve fallen in love with you, it’s become clear that you can’t love me back.” A huge lump is sticking in my throat, and I swallow hard, trying to clear it. “Quite honestly, I don’t think you’re capable of it. Of seeing me as more than just a thing you own, along with all your other possessions. I’m not mad—I know you didn’t have the best role model. And for a little while, I thought I could stick it out and stay with you anyway. But now I know for sure that I just can’t. It hurts to love someone who doesn’t love you back. Being around them every day… well, that’s just excruciating. I can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry.”