Page 233 of Knot What I Expected

“I didn't want to sleep with him. I was younger and afraid, and for a while he left me alone. Said we were mates. Was kind with his words. Didn’t make me do manual labor like the others.”

Her fingers tighten around mine.

“Then his other mates started losing their young, and he became... brutal.”

Other mates.

Plural.

Jesus fucking Christ.

“I watched him toss them out.”

“What do you mean, toss them out?”

“He banished them. Said they were broken. I—I don't know where they were sent.”

Her voice gets smaller.

“And I was afraid that would happen to me too.”

She stops. I wait. Every instinct I possess is screaming at me to ask questions.

Who?

Where?

How many?

What did he do?

Where the fuck can I find him?

But this isn't an interrogation.

It's her story.

So I shut the fuck up. God, it takes all my damn strength, but I do it.

Eventually, she whispers, “Eventually, I gave in.”

My eyes close.

Fuck.

“I agreed to be with him.”

A shudder runs through her.

“Once.”

I hold her tighter.

“And I got pregnant.”

Matteo.

My pup.