“What?” Bree asks, baffled. “But… we know each other now. I’m going to have your kid.”
“And when the time comes,” Jack says patiently, “DreamTogether will play their part, and we will never see each other again. We only need you for one thing, and once it’s done, we’re done.”
This is the gut punch.
Bree backs away from him, appalled. “You’re an asshole.”
“And you’re a home-wrecker,” Jack throws back.
With that, Bree picks up her purse, tosses on her jacket, and heads for the door. I spring out of my chair and run after her.
“Jack, come on,” I say, putting a hand on Bree’s shoulder to stop her. “We have a golden opportunity here to be a part of the fawn’s life before it’s born.”
“No.” Jack narrows his eyes, turning into someone I don’t recognize. “And if you have contact with her, Bennett, I am cutting you out.”
I balk at this pronouncement. I turn to Bree, who simply shakes her head and reaches for the doorknob. No one stops her as she steps outside into the night, and the door falls closed behind her.
Jack
I don’t like it, but this is what I have to do to protect my herd. Bree is wrong for us in every way. Her plot to trap Arthur with the help of DreamTogether was all I needed to know about her. She has intended from the beginning to destroy my marriage.
It was painful, though, to watch her go. To let her leave. I don’t understand that sensation, the one that could smell how she’s ripe with our fawn, but I will not let it control me the way Arthur and Bennett have given in to it.
Both of them watch Bree go silently, but once the door is closed, Arthur turns to me with a stony scowl.
“Did you have to be so mean to her? Bree’s a good person. She did this to help us with the rut.”
“That’s what you believe?” I get to my feet and scoop up what remains of the takeout containers, dumping them in the trash.
“Sorry that you’ve decided all women are evil,” Arthur snaps, “and I haven’t.”
I’m not used to this side of him. He’s actually mad now, and he’s willing to fight me.
That’s how deep Bree got her claws into my herd, that she would turn Arthur, of all satyrs, against me.
“You can go,” I tell him calmly. “Go after her if you want, and then never come back here.”
Arthur’s eyes widen. Reluctantly, his mouth closes. After cleaning off my hands, I leave the kitchen and stalk back to the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.
How dare Arthur treat me like I’m the bad guy in this situation? They are at fault, all three of them, but I’m not married to Bree. I will preserve what I have for as long as I can, and protect what’s mine from those who would try to tear it apart.
It’s my responsibility.
Still, as I sit on our bed in the darkness, I agonize over making her leave. That woman’s smell was intoxicating, the sight of her face arresting. She is the one I bred, who might be carrying my fawn, and I’m never going to see her again.
It takes ages to fall asleep as I ruminate, cycling between anger, hurt, and regret, until finally I drift off.
Thirteen
Arthur
I roll over again on the couch, trying to get comfortable. It’s only been two nights, and I already desperately miss my own bed, the one I share with Jack and Bennett.
Tonight was truly terrible. I never get to see Bree again? Not for as long as I live? That’s a thought that cuts me open, and yet I had no choice but to agree to it if I wanted to keep Jack. And of course I need to put Jack first. I married him. I made my vows to stay by his side forever.
I sleep like shit and wake up feeling like shit, but I’ve still got to go in to work. Especially if we want to buy that bigger house. Not that the thought excites me anymore.
It’s dodgeball day, which is really the worst day to be teaching physical education. I have to help a few kids off the court who get hit in the face. But I’m just the assistant, so I get no say in it.
