Page 47 of The Bunny Blues

“You threw away the reputation your father and I spent decades building because you could only have two pillows?” My mother flattened her palms on the table and glared at me. “You selfish little brat.”

“No! I stayed, even after they forced me to go through my first heat in a house that smelled like another woman. I stayed even after they refused to complete the bond and claim me as their mate. I stayed even after crying myself to sleep every time they got their rocks off and left me alone. I stayed even after I realized they wanted me to show me off for brownie points with their bosses, but wanted to ignore my existence until the next time they needed to use me for their own selfish purposes.” My breathing was coming in harsh pants and a violent cramp twisted my uterus.

I nearly passed out from the sudden pain, but somehow Macarius sensed my pain and his hand slid beneath my shirt to rest low on my stomach. At the skin-to-skin contact, the cramp loosened, and I was able to take a deep breath.

My mother remained oblivious to my pain. “It sounds like you expected to be treated like a princess and didn’t like having to earn your keep.”

I thought I was long past my mother being able to hurt me, but my heart ached at her words. “You never loved me, did you?”

My parents avoided my gaze.

“Ellora, I think therapy would be a better place to have this discussion with your parents?” The lawyer slid a paper toward me. “I’d like you to look at this so you’re aware of the consequences you face for breaching the matched contract. That might help you understand how precarious your position is and how patient your parents and your matched are to give you a chance to return and make things right.”

His smug face was the final straw.

Ignoring the paper, I told him the truth. “I’d rather swan dive into a pool filled with lava than stay in this room another minute.”

My father stood and glared at me. “Ellora! I don’t think you understand. If you walk out that door with your mutts, we will sue you and you will face prison time for breach of contract. We won’t show mercy just because you’re our daughter.”

I rose as well. “You’ve never treated me as your daughter, and now I know the truth. So here is my counter offer. I’m going to walk out of that door and you are never going to contact me again. Not you two, not my matched, their parents, the elders, or anyone else from Greenbriar.”

Fiery pain scorched my insides, and I leaned against the table to keep my legs from giving out. I had to hurry this up, or I was going to go into full-blown heat in that awful room. “If you contact me, I will tell everyone the truth about how you only had me so you could make a marriage contract with your friends. The very same contract you are threatening to sue me over breaching. How do you think people will react when they find out you signed that contract yourself while I was still a baby?”

My parents’ faces had paled. But I wasn’t done.

“Maybe I’ll write a tell-all best-selling novel.” I tapped my chin. “I bet the chapter discussing how the elders accepted a bribe to match me with the men you wanted will be extra juicy. So much for the elders matching based on compatibility, huh? I guess I didn’t deserve the benefits and protection the burrows claim they give to all residents?”

“You can’t!” the elder’s henchman protested.

“Oh, but I can. And I will.” I barely kept from wincing as I stood up straight and eyed them each in turn. “And I have a message for my exes. Tell them if they go against me and try anything, I will tell their bosses, their colleagues, and every single female bunny in the burrows the truth.”

I took a moment to swallow the emotion clogging my throat before continuing. “How will their reputations hold up when people find out that my last night in Greenbriar, I was awakened by the sounds of another woman being pleasured in my mate’s bedroom in what was supposed to be our home? I won’t forget to share how the following morning, I watched as that same female waltzed into the dining room in a robe to eat the food I’d prepared… while sitting on my mate’s lap.”

They stared at me, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Focusing on my mother, I whispered, “I left because I realized they would never love me. That’s what they didn’t give me. Love.”

“How did I raise such a fool?” My mother spat the words at me.

“Never contact me again.” I turned away from them and took a step toward the door, only to be hit with a wave of dizziness that caused the room to tilt wildly.

Quin lifted me into his arms and carried me out the door. From somewhere behind us, I heard Macarius speak in his stilted, rough, whiskey voice that meant his wolf was speaking with him.

“My mate is tenderhearted, and it is one of the traits I adore most about her. But let me add the part she didn’t mention. If you contact her again, not only will she tear your reputation to shreds, but you will find out just how much my wolf loves violence. Ellora can control him with her touch, but if you don’t take her offer, not even she will be able to stop him from hunting you down and sending your souls straight to hell.”

The moment we were out of sight of the conference room, I curled into Quin’s chest and sobbed.

“Ellora? What’s wrong?” Coda appeared at Quin’s side.

“I thought I had more time.” My words were muffled by Quin’s shirt.

Quin stopped walking. “More time for what? Are you dying?”

“Where’s that incredible smell coming from?” Macarius asked, sniffing the air.

“Me,” I whispered.

All three men leaned forward to breathe in my scent, and in unison, they released a guttural moan.

Coda reached out a hand to touch me, but Quin stepped back and growled.

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