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“Still, I can’t leave. Christine checks up on me at least three times a day. She brings my meals, and sometimes just sticks around to keep me company. We talk a lot, watch TV, or I read to her while she knits those awful sweaters she gives Max, Jocelyn, and Karl for Christmas. If I leave my room, she’ll know in, like, three hours tops. It wouldn’t be enough time to get out of these tunnels.”
“Do you know the tunnels? Can you get to one of the exits?”
“Yes…?”
She could still hear the hesitation in her voice, but Avelyn believed they were on the right track. “That’s good. If I can get the key and you can get us straight to the exit, then we have a chance.”
“Didn’t you hear me? Three hours is not enough time to reach even the closest exit. Christine sees I’m not here, the whole pack will know, and these tunnels will be full of werewolves. They will sniff us out in minutes. There’s no way we can make it. Maybe, only at night.”
“At night it’s me who can’t leave. If Max feels I’m not beside him…”
“Oh…” There was a moment of awkward silence.
“How about on full moon?”
“Full moon?” Sabine seemed to consider the idea.
“They’re all in the courtyard. And I mean all of them. When did you last see Christine today?”
“At dinner.”
“After dinner she was with me in the bedroom and then she went down to the party. Does she ever check on you on full moon nights?”
“No. She brings me dinner, then she goes to the kitchens to prepare me one of her special herbal teas, brings it here, then doesn’t come back until morning.”
“That’s perfect. Listen, tonight it’s too late and I don’t have the key, but the next full moon we’re getting out of here. I promise.”
“That’s one month away…”
“I… I know. I don’t have a better idea.” Another month spent in bed with a man she could never trust. Avelyn almost cried at the thought. Her chest hurt when she remembered Max’s handsome face, his full lips pressed against hers, his taste on her tongue, his hands all over her hot body. Max, the man she had fallen in love with. No, scratch that. Max, the man who had locked his first bride in the dungeons.
“Promise you’ll come visit me. I can tell you Christine’s schedule. She rarely breaks it.”
“I will. I promise you, I will.”
“Thank you!” For the first time, Avelyn could hear joy in Sabine’s voice. “Thank you so much! I can’t believe I have a friend now. You’re my friend, right? We have so many things to talk about, you’ll see.”
“Yes, we do have a lot of things to talk about. It’s time I found out what is really going on around here.” Avelyn’s determination was stronger than the pain she felt. It was stronger than her disappointment, than the agony of having her heart torn apart for the first time in her life. It was stronger than her love for Maxwell Blackmane, and far greater than her body’s aching desire to merge with his.
***
The four tall windows in the Crescent Tower faced the four cardinal directions. Avelyn could see far beyond the grounds of the Schloss. The dark woods, the city of Dunkelstadt down at the foot of the mountain, the courtyard which was now full of werewolves, all in their human forms, eating, drinking, chatting, and dancing around the bonfire. She tried to spot the Alpha among them, but she was too far up. Or, they were too far down. She slipped a hand into her pocket and touched the rainbow moonstone bracelet. The flat beads were hard and cold. Like the man her weak, human eyes were searching for in the chaotic crowd but couldn’t find. If she couldn’t see him, it didn’t mean he couldn’t see her if he happened to look up. He had kept her in the dark. Avelyn turned her back to their party and tried to ignore the loud music and their shouts of joy. She looked to the west, at the dim lights of the city. The sky was clear. Some scattered clouds obscured the view, but as they moved, they revealed more of Dunkelstadt’s tall buildings.
Avelyn folded her arms over her chest in an attempt to get warmer. She was not safe here. When she had left the dungeons and went up in the Tower, she knew she still had time to pack some things and leave tonight. However, the situation had changed. The night before, she had decided that she wasn’t the Avelyn who had left Alma Venus anymore, and that was true. That Avelyn was dead. This Avelyn cared about someone else than herself. She cared about Sabine. She leaned against the open window, with her elbows on the sill, and looked at the full moon.
“One more month.”
END OF BOOK TWO
CHAPTER ONE
Family Dinner
“Why are you hiding in here?” asked Max, closing the bedroom door behind him.
“I’m not hiding.” Avelyn set the book down and went to welcome him as a proper bride should welcome her Alpha. She rose on her tiptoes, encircled Max’s neck with her arms, and attacked his lips with a hungry kiss. He was more than happy to kiss her back. He sucked on her tongue lightly, and smiled against her lips when she moaned deep in her throat and her fingers pulled at his hair. He loved the way her soft body felt in his strong arms. He pulled away to look into her eyes.
“Yes, you’re hiding.”
