Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“I’m not even your daughter!” I exclaimed, balling my hands into fists. “You don’t own me!”
Esteban glared at me, his eyebrows drawing low over his flat black eyes.
“You’d better watch your mouth, girl! I own you and your mother—who’s finally pregnant with my heir,” he added. “So she’ll be too busy with the new baby to bother with you, anyway.”
I felt sick all over again. So Esteban had finally achieved his goal—he had gotten my mother pregnant with his baby. I hoped that at least this would make him treat her better.
“Go pack and be ready to leave tomorrow morning,” he said. “It’s a long drive to Moncrieff’s place, so you and the boys will need to get an early start.”
Then he made a flicking motion at me with the fingers of one hand—clearly I was being dismissed.
My fate had been decided and there was nothing I could do about it.
Or was there?
SIXTEEN
I considered hiding in the secret passageway but dropped the idea almost immediately. My stepfather knew about it, after all—it would be the first place he would look if I turned up missing the next morning.
Then I thought about trying to slip out of the Compound and making a run for the nearest town. But it was miles away, on a twisting road through the desert and I didn’t know if I was up to walking that far. Plus, any one of the Alphas could easily sniff me out and hunt me down. I didn’t know how to drive, so I couldn’t steal a car or truck—I would be on foot and easy prey.
Reluctantly, I decided I would have to try and escape on the way to Pack Master Moncrieff’s house. I would ask for a bathroom break at a crowded rest stop or gas station and then make a run for it from there. Maybe I could even ask for help. If there was a policeman around I could tell him I had been kidnapped and I was being trafficked across state lines.
That would get Gabriel and Christopher in trouble, of course, but I had decided that was just too bad. If my stepbrothers cared more about obeying my sadistic stepfather than keeping me from a life of misery, then they got what they deserved.
Just the thought of the two of them hurt my heart. Gabriel wouldn’t even look at me now and though Christopher threw me longing glances from time to time, he never spoke to me or called me “Little Sis” anymore. Clearly Gabriel had told him to leave me strictly alone and he was following his Alpha’s orders.
I felt like the two of them had abandoned me. It had seemed like something was growing between the three of us, but it had been cut short—hacked off like an unwanted limb the moment my hateful stepfather came back home. It hurt more than I could even articulate to myself, but I wasn’t willing to dwell on it. Instead, I went to pack, just as I had been ordered to. What else could I do?
I packed everything I could in a suitcase, but I didn’t expect I’d get to take it with me when I ran. I stashed the little bit of money I’d been able to save—less than twenty dollars—in my purse and determined to keep it with me at all times. It wasn’t much, but it would at least buy me a meal or two if I was careful, when I went on the run.
Then I went to say goodbye to my mother.
To my surprise, she looked much better than she had. The dark circles were gone from her eyes and she was sitting in a rocking chair humming to herself and knitting something. I hadn’t seen her knit or crochet anything in ages, though it was her favorite hobby back when Dad was still alive. I stood in the doorway of the master suite staring at her, watching her knit, until she looked up and saw me.
“Oh, Zoe! Come in, come in!” She beckoned to me and I saw the thing she was knitting hanging off one of her needles—a tiny booty made of light blue yarn.
“Mom?” I came hesitantly towards her. “You look…better.”
“I am—so much better now that I’m finally pregnant. I confirmed it this morning—isn’t that wonderful?” She smiled at me with bright eyes. “So now I’m nesting—getting ready for the new baby.”
“Nesting?” I asked uncertainly.
My mother gestured with her knitting needle.
“It’s an Omega instinct—you’ll understand when you get pregnant the first time yourself.”
Thinking of that—of Pack Master Moncrieff getting me pregnant—made me want to throw up.
“I came to say goodbye,” I said awkwardly. “Esteban is sending me away tomorrow—to Pack Master Moncrieff.” The old man’s name stuck in my throat but I forced myself to spit it out.
“Oh yes—he’s such a nice man.” My mother smiled radiantly. “I met him, you know. He has a lovely house and I’m sure he’ll make you a good husband.”