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"I don't need to know anything." She shakes her head. "I just need to get away from you. You, Tony, Maya, I've just been a sick joke to all of you."
"No." I grab her by the arms, desperate now. "No, you're not. Cynthia, you don't know what happened."
"I don't need to know." She pushes me off. "I know betrayal when I see it. You're right. You're-You're Riya's father. Her mother is capable of nothing. So, you should take her with you. Do what you want with this place, with everything. I just… I wish I had never met you, Adam Moore. I wish you and I had never crossed paths."
My head shoots up, my chest seizing with a sharp pain.
Rejection.
Her wolf is rejecting me.
As she runs past me, tears in her eyes, I stand frozen there, unable to move.
Everything I worked for, it's slipped out of my hands.
Even my mate's wolf doesn't want me anymore.
CHAPTER 26
Cynthia
There's a deranged shifter stalking me.
I know that as I sit alone in this motel room, looking at the walls. But I can't find it in myself to care. Even if he were to burst inside and attack me, I don't think I would have the strength to stop him. I might just welcome it.
Four years, I muse wearily, sitting on the bed and looking at my feet. I spent four years building up my self-esteem, my pride, my confidence. I was proud of myself. I managed to build a life for myself and my daughter. Things were going so well. I should have known it was too good to be true. When have things ever gone right for me?
Perhaps this is what they call destiny. My destiny was always to be like this, useless, someone to be manipulated.
I wish I could cry and rage, but I feel like a husk, empty from the inside.
It's as if Adam took everything out of me, away from me. The only thing left is Riya, and I've proven to myself that I'm unable to keep her safe. If I had been more vigilant, I would have realized it sooner. There are so many things bothering me about this. How long has he been following us? Has he interacted with Riya at any point? Has he interacted with me? Do I know him?
It took Adam just a couple of minutes to realize we had a stalker.
I bury my head in my hands.
Every person in my life was planted there by Adam.
I feel worthless and small. My wolf feels betrayed. There's an air of finality within me. All this time, from the moment Jonathan bound me to him in that slavery contract, it was my wolf who fought and resisted. But today, it's given up.
I know I should get up and try again.
My life isn't over.
I should fight for my daughter.
But what would be the point?
Riya is so young. Just a couple of months with Adam and she'll forget all about me. He can give her the life I never could, the safety I clearly cannot provide. Until now, she's been raised on everything he provided. If I put my emotions aside and think about what is best for Riya, it is Adam. And when it comes to my baby, I can walk away from her if it means a better life for her, a safer life. Tina is a good person. She will be a good mother to Riya.
My heart is being shredded as I think of all this, as I realize that walking away is the best course of action.
Does it make me a bad mother? I don't know. At this point, I don't know anything.
I don't know what I will do now.
I get to my feet and stare outside the motel window at the parking lot. I don't want to do anything. I just want to close my eyes and sleep. I don't want to wake up. I'm so tired of hurting. My wolf wants to close its eyes. It's done fighting. First, Jonathon and Norman. Then it was Adam. And then, it was Maya and Tony. I drag myself back to the bed and curl up on the sheets.
