Page 14 of Prelude to a Revolution

Head hung low, I squeeze past Gemhardt, ignoring the searing pain as his hand reaches out to grip my arm. This is what has to happen. I have to keep my family safe. Besides, I’m sure he’ll think of a way to get me out of this situation, but he can’t if he’s dead.

With a tremulous grip, I pry his hand away and bring it low to rest on my belly. Tears stream down my face as he leans down to rest his forehead against mine, his fingers clutching at my shirt as he rubs the space where our son is growing.

“Please, love,” I croak out, not able to form the words. Instead, I grip his fingers in a pathetic attempt to convey what’s in my heart.

When the strangers grab me, I go willingly, not wanting to start a fight. Not here. Not so close to my precious daughters. Reaching up, I resist long enough to slide my hand against Gemhardt’s cheek, feeling the scruff as it abrades my hand. These are the things I’ll hold dear as I wait for him to rescue me. It will get me through the chilly nights.

It is enough.

“Sonr-.”

I move my finger so that it rests against his lips. His face blurs as my eyes fill with tears. I can no longer see him clearly, and that breaks my heart even more. I just want to see him again. One last time. I need to see him.

“Let go of my mate.”

His growl is devastating, turning my insides into mush. My legs quiver as my body sinks to the ground, but they don’t let me. The men must have something blocking his command.

“Mate. How can you call this,” he pauses to shake me, “your mate?”

“He marked me. I am his mate. Please. Let me go.” Even to my ears, my voice is thin, barely audible.

The stranger cackles, his robotic voice searing into my brain. It’s so unnerving, so false. Without saying another word, he tears at my shirt, ripping it from my body so that it hangs in tatters, exposing both the mark and my chest to the gathering crowd.

Shame heats my cheeks as I curl in on myself in an attempt to block the prying eyes from my half-naked form. He reaches up and runs a gloved finger over my mark, touching that which I hold sacred. Nausea crawls up my throat, burning a path from my gut to my mouth.

“You gave something so sacred to this? Tell me, how does the bond feel? If she’s your mate, then you must have a bond, no?”

My head hangs once more as guilt gnaws at my insides. There is no bond. That’s one fundamental thing that’s missing, but that doesn’t make me any less valid in Gemhardt’s eyes.

“The way I know my mate needs no bond. I know everything. I see everything. I feel everything.”

“Then that means you know about the threatening notes, the letters, the epithets left on your door?” In just that one, unemotional query, my world shatters before my eyes.

Gemhardt looks at me, his eyes wide as my hidden secrets come to light. Now more than ever, I wish I had said something and not just chalked it up to children playing a prank.

“That’s what I thought. What you two have is an abomination. It isn’t a bond.”

Once more, the stranger jerks me forward, hard enough that I nearly stumble. The cry leaves my lips before I can stop it, and Gemhardt springs into action. The neighbors stand by, each of them clutching their mates as they watch, horrified, but doing nothing.

As he storms forward, they swarm in, three of them holding him back as the other drags me away. His loud bellow echoes in my ears and I long to cover them, to shut out the pain and anguish ripping through the night. Somehow, he breaks free, tossing them off of him as if they were nothing, and that’s when the sound of blasters and the acrid smell of smoke surrounds me, choking me.

Pain. Hot, searing agony explodes over my body, and I fall to the ground, my bare skin skidding along the roughened road. I’m sure to have marks tomorrow, abrasions that will take days to heal. Looking down, I watch, transfixed, as red spreads out from my stomach to stain the clothes that are still on.

My baby!

Oh gods!

Reaching down, I staunch the bleeding as best as I can; despite that, it wells up, seeping through my fingers. Weakness pervades my limbs as I lie there, my eyes focusing and unfocusing on Gemhardt. He has to win. He has to beat them. But soon, his body falls, broken on the ground next to me.

Tears once more cloud my vision as one of them comes over and nudges me with his foot. This time, I’m unable to cry out. It’s as if I’m no longer inside my body. Snaking out my tongue, I lap at my parched lips, keeping my eyes trained on Gemhardt. If I’m to die here tonight, I want him to be the last thing I see. The first one guiding me to my new eternity.

Blinking away the tears, my body freezes as another vision washes over my body. Again, Annora fills my mind’s eye. She’s so strong. So brave. She stands with a man, an Alpha, proud and strong. She’s so happy. So loved. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted for her. She smiles despite the blood dripping from her hands.

As soon as that vision plays out, another, with a girl that looks so much like my Karis, flashes through my brain. Her sun-spun hair glows in the heat of the zenith. She smiles, her gray eyes twinkling with mischief. She seems happy. They will be okay. I know now that the original vision foresaw Gemhardt’s and my death.

That’s why we are no longer there. My girls must now make their own way, navigating a world that despises them. I ache for them. I worry about them. Despite the vision, I’m afraid their life will be hard despite the fortunate outcome. I will not be there for them.

I’ll never see the women they become.