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Adam disregarded his mother’s comment but caught the confusion in Annalise’s eyes. He led her to the table where his father stood. “This is my father, Jonas.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Annalise.”
She nodded but said nothing.
“You must be exhausted from your journey.” Jonas stepped back. “Please sit. Join us for supper.”
Adam glanced at his sister, hoping to glean some inference of what Annalise thought of his family, but his sister only smirked.
Annalise lowered herself into a chair and stared at him with uncertainty. “Eat.” He added a slight mental push to the command. She’d lost a lot of blood due to him and it had been hours since she last had solid food in her belly.
She glanced at her plate, her hand slowly closing around the fork.
Grace giggled. “She thinks you’re going to kill her.”
“Grace,” their father scolded. Softening his voice, he addressed Annalise, “You are safe here, child. Please, eat.”
There was no push to his father’s offering. Any sort of slip into a claimed female’s mind would be a punishable oversight. Yet Annalise seemed to respond to his father’s gentle coaxing more than the mental command. He frowned. How was she resisting? Could her will be that strong?
Adam could sense her hunger enough to experience the slight cramping she suffered. He pushed the plate closer. “Please taste it.”
She looked up at him, her strength of will wavering in the face of her hunger. He wouldn’t force her. Her body needed sustenance. She’d only punish herself by starving.
“Thank you.” She finally took a bite of the food offered.
“Poor dear,” his mother said, taking the seat across from her. “I can imagine this is quite overwhelming for you.”
His father sent him a concerned look. They discussed the situation. He explained that his mate had a stubborn side. The urgent need to complete the bond seemed all his Elders could see.
“Where is Cain?”
“Your brother’s staying with the Hostetlers.”
He frowned. While Cain often visited Larissa, he rarely stayed. “Why?”
“They’re going to raise a barn this coming Wednesday. He’s keeping your sister company and helping prepare the site.”
Adam was excused from helping due to his circumstances. “I’ll need him here no later than Thursday.” The sooner he built his mate a home the sooner she might adjust. “There’s much to be done.”
“Have you thought of where you’ll build your home?” his mother asked. “Annalise might like the pasture where the laurel grows.”
His mate stilled and forced her fork to the table. Keeping her face angled toward her plate, she swallowed. “I’m not staying.”
His mother froze, worry burning from her pores. His father met his stare with an intense one of his own.
Grace cocked her head, watching Annalise. “That plan won’t work. He won’t let you leave the farm until you bond.”
“What plan?” Adam frowned, his gaze jumping from Annalise to Grace.
“She thinks you’ll escort her to town to find a phone. You’ll think she’s calling her school, but she’ll actually call the police.”
Hurt by her deception when he’d offered to help her contact her professor, he scowled at his mate. “Is that true?”
Annalise’s eyes widened. “She’s making that up. I just want to contact my professor.”
“She plans to scream and beg for help the moment you pass a stranger on the road.”
“How are you doing that?” she shouted.
His father folded his arms. “Adam, you need to—”
“I know what I must do,” he snapped, angered by her dishonesty and the betrayal he sensed. “Are you finished eating?”
Her jaw quivered. “Why? Where are we going?” She looked to Grace, but his sister had the good sense to look away.
“Are. You. Finished?”
In a small voice, she said, “You said you’d take me to a phone.”
“I said I’d think of a solution. Your intended deception proves a trip to town isn’t the solution we need right now.”
“But I didn’t do anything! You’re punishing me for something that hasn’t happened!”
“My sister—”
“I thought I was the end all be all of your—”
“I trust Grace more than you at this moment. Mostly, because you don’t yet trust me. I told you, we must first have trust before anything else.”
“Trust isn’t something you can command! It’s earned—and not by holding someone hostage!”
“Adam.”
He ignored his father. “Stubborn woman. If you proved trustworthy, you’d have your freedom.”
She laughed. “Freedom? Is that what you call this? Tell me this, if I did stay, would I be free to wear the clothing I chose and do my hair however I wanted? Last I checked, even elastic was forbidden.” She yanked off her kapp and his eyes went wide. “I’m tired of acting like this is normal! I’m being held here against my will and you all act like you’re celebrating some sort of marriage proposal. I want a phone and I want one now, or I swear to God I’ll press charges against all of you.”
She stood panting, staring at his family as they turned their gazes away. Her frantic stare clashed with his, greeted by cold disappointment. Her jaw trembled, her teeth bit firmly into her lower lip.
