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Adam freezes.
CHAPTER 28
Adam
I had always convinced myself that whatever kind of fallout would happen when Cynthia found out the truth, I would be able to handle it, and her. After all, she was my mate. She had to listen to me. We were bound to each other for life. Even if took her human self longer to come to terms with it, her wolf would accept me.
I never thought that I would damage her animal and our bond.
When she didn't return that night after storming off, I looked for her, but she hadn't used any of her cards, and her phone was still at the apartment. As the hours turned to days, my fear turned to anger, and anger turned to regret. I handled this whole situation wrong. But I was not the only one tracking her. The shifter who's been stalking my family figured out where she was, and I was hot on his tail.
But as always, I got there too late.
He was on top of a limp Cynthia, her blood pooling around her. She was still conscious, but she wasn't fighting, almost looking grateful. That look will forever be seared in my brain.
I lost control.
As an alpha, I must be able to control my impulsivity. But seeing my dying mate before me made something inside me snap. Iripped the head off of the shifter who thought he had the right to harm my woman. And as I picked up Cynthia, her body had been too light, her cheeks too sunken, and our bond was held together by a string so thin it could break at any moment.
The next month was a special kind of hell.
It was Lydia who came at a moment's notice and told me what had happened, and since then, the guilt has been eating me alive. I broke this strong woman. I broke her wolf. I harmed the woman I loved, the mother of my child, and now, looking her in the eye is not easy. I've been trying to look after Riya, but essentially, I am still a stranger to her.
It's like everything is falling apart and all my well-constructed plans are crumbling and I can't do anything. I've never felt more useless in my life. Lydia told me to give Cynthia time, but time for what? She has every reason to be angry with me. Her wolf despises me. I became the alpha and I sacrificed my mate in the process.
So when she doesn't kick me out of her room, I feel both ashamed and hopeful.
She looks unhappy and tense as she gazes at me. That's much better than the heartbroken look in her eyes the last time she stood before me. I would rather she be angry with me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” I feel confused.
Her expression distorts. “That Jonathon found out about you having given me the mating mark.”
For a moment, the world stops around me. "How… How do you know that?"
"Does it really matter at this point, Adam?" Cynthia asks coldly. "You've put me through hell, so I think it's time you give me some answers. When did Jonathon find out?"
I let out a long breath. I was going to have to tell her anyway. But I'd had a plan in place. Right now, though, every plan has been tossed out the window when it comes to Cynthia.
"When he had you imprisoned in his basement, he figured it out. The pill that Tony was giving you was effective for only twenty-four hours, and it muted your scent so our mixed scents were not able to be identified. He was planning to use you against me. But you managed to escape, and when you did, he was pissed. When he realized you weren't home, he came to my apartment. He knew you were there, but even as the alpha, he had no right to remove you from the premises. You no longer worked for him, and the only way he could force you back to his side was by admitting what he had done to you. That would have hurt his reputation. That was one of the reasons I wouldn't let you leave the apartment."
"I see." Cynthia's fingers are digging into her arm, and I immediately grab her wrist.
"Don't do that. You're hurting yourself."
She pulls her hand away from me almost immediately, as if my touch repulses her.
"Sorry," I mutter, feeling foolish.
I don't know how to fix this situation. For the first time in my life, I feel so helpless. There has never been a problem I have not been able to fix, never a hurdle that I've not managed to overcome. But now, standing before this woman with her icy blue eyes and silver hair that sparkles under the moonlight, I'm blank. She no longer looks at me with wary affection or laughter in her eyes. There is deep mistrust in those eyes now, and her body is so thin it feels like one touch could break her. And I did this to her.
I wait for her to speak, to ask me whatever she wants to know.
I feel defeated before her.
"Are you and Tina married? I won't let Tina raise my daughter," Cynthia suddenly says. "I don't care if she's your wife or not. Riya is mine."
