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He opened the hatch on the treehouse and crawled through the hole.
Vivian was already there, facing away from him on the bed, her mane of red hair blocking her from his view.
“You ready?” He couldn’t keep the glee from his voice.
She cleared her throat, but made no effort to get up. “I can’t go with you.”
His brow furrowed as he came closer. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, my place is here. With my family, and you should go.”
“We’re mated. I’m not leaving without you.”
“You need to go.”
“Why?” He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what had happened in the last few hours, though he had a damn good guess.
“Please, Callum, just go.”
“Vivian, look at me.”
She shook her head, wavy hair going everywhere.
“Tell me you don’t love me, and I’ll go.”
She sniffed.
Closing his eyes, he took a moment to compose himself, and already knowing what he’d see, he demanded, “Look at me.”
“No.” The word was a whisper.
Tenderly, he reached forward and took her chin between his fingers, urging her to twist toward him. At first, she resisted, but finally she looked up.
Half her face was red. The entirety of her right cheek was swollen.
Through gritted teeth, he uttered, “Who did this?”
“Callum–”
“Who?”
“My father.” Water leaked from her eyes, tracing hot lines down her cheeks. As gently as possible, he brushed them away. “He signed me up for the Curusm, and when he found out what I’d done, he was furious.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
“No! Callum!” She clutched at his arm when he pulled away. “You can’t. He’s gone to Thatcher. It’s too late. You need to run to get out of here while you still can.”
He crouched down next to her. “Run off with my tail between my legs? Leave you here so they can mate you off to whoever they fucking please? So you can spend your life cooking and cleaning for some asshole who doesn’t even care about you?”
“They’re going to kill you.”
He cupped the left, unmarred side of her face. “You are my mate. I love you. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some other man mate you, and put babies in you, and do all those things while I hide out thousands of miles from here.” He was shaking now, pressing his forehead to hers. “I love you.”
“You have to go,” she pleaded.
Lightly, he touched his lips to hers. “Not without you.”
Breaking away from her, he hurried to the hatch as she screamed after him to stop, but he wasn’t listening. He had a dictator to deal with, and an abusive, no-good father to kill.
