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My pulse raced and I was sure I wasn’t hiding the fear in my expression. Xander was powerful. He was much stronger than me and I knew that if faced with him, I wouldn’t be able to fight him. Even if I had a chance at beating him, I wouldn’t take it. I couldn’t hurt him even if it was to save my life.
Marcella was in a pale blue dress. The fabric shimmered in the light with a slight iridescence. It reminded me of water and it looked expensive as hell. The one thing the vampire queen had going for her was her unusual and unyielding sense of fashion. She looked like she was going to a ball. Even if it was an execution.
“Kneel,” she commanded as she settled into her throne.
I stood, holding my ground. Clara was next to me, doing the same. Her look of defiance gave me strength. Marcella was her mate, yet she’d stood up for what she believed in. She went against her emotions, against the bond. I wasn’t sure I’d be strong enough to do that. As a result, she’d been a prisoner, facing extreme situations as the vampire queen tried to play with her mind.
Clara was a badass.
“Her majesty said to kneel,” Xander said with a growl.
“Don’t do this, Xander,” I said.
He kicked the back of my knees and I fell to the ground, too startled to stop myself.
“That’s better,” he said.
I looked up at him, searching for any sign of my mate. It wasn’t there. The queen had taken him from me.
A pair of guards forced Clara down next to me. “You’re never going to win.” She spat at the queen.
“I already have.” Marcella was standing now. She held the moonstone in her hand, showing it off as she walked toward us. Then she pulled a second stone from her pocket. “Now that you’ve unlocked the master stone for me, I should be able to combine the powers. For years, I had this weaker stone to use on you. To keep you in check. Each time I used it, you broke free faster. This is a master moonstone. You won’t be able to shake it off. None of you will.” She looked at me. “Your mages thought they’d cracked it. They simply freed the shifters from the weaker stone.”
“No.” I stared at her in disbelief, then I turned to Clara. “Tell me you didn’t unlock that for her.”
“I don’t know,” Clara said, desperation in her voice.
Marcella moved closer to Clara and Clara moved as if she was going to attack, but the guards grabbed her and held her down.
The queen knelt in front of her mate and with her free hand, she stroked her face. Clara snapped at her. “Get away from me, you monster.”
At that moment, it was as if something had snapped inside me. Xander was my true mate. I’d die for him. But I couldn’t let him live like this and I couldn’t let the queen win. If she used that master stone, it was over for all of us.
I’m sorry, Xander.
I jumped to my feet, then lowered down, sweeping my leg under Xander’s feet. I’d caught him off guard and he went down hard but was back up in a heartbeat. He was so fast.
I moved to the side, just barely avoiding his reach, then ducked down and closed in on him. I managed to get one punch in the gut before a guard grabbed me from behind.
Struggling to free myself from the grip of my captor, I kicked and twisted and yelled. Xander walked forward, his eyes feral, his teeth bared. I’d never seen him like this. He was more animal than man. Primal and terrifying. I took shallow breaths, trying to ease my fear. Xander looked like a monster.
He pulled his arm back and I tried to move away, but with the guard holding me, his fist landed square on my cheek and jaw. Burning pain seared through my face, I could feel my eye already swelling shut. The whole room was spinning and darkness blurred the edges of my vision. I was barely hanging on to consciousness.
The guard released me and I fell to the ground on all fours. “Xander.” I whispered his name, the word sending a fresh wave of pain through my injured face. Grief squeezed my chest, making it difficult to breathe.
I wanted to do the right thing. I had to try. Forcing myself to standing, I faced him. “Go ahead, hit me again.”
Xander’s hands clenched into fists and I could feel his wolf. It was agitated, unsettled, angry. But there was something else there. Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought I could feel hesitation.
“Finish her,” Marcella said. “We don’t need her.”
Xander took a step toward me and I noticed a flicker in his eyes. A moment of realization.
He charged me, grabbing hold of me and pinning my arms to my side. He spun us around so his back was to the queen. His head was low, his lips near my ear. I could feel his warm breath on my injured face. “Please tell me I didn’t hit you.”
“You throw a mean punch,” I whispered. “Welcome back.”
