Page 43 of Betrayed Bullied Mate

“Don’t call me an asset,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I am not a piece of property. And there’s not going to be anything to protect if they can’t beat Varun because you’re sitting here making me want to dunk myself in the river.”

“Be my guest,” Bigby grumbled, “If that means you stop this pacing back and forth. You’re creating a trench in the ground.”

I hate myself for looking down to check, and he smiles, happy with himself for the deception.

“I don’t know what Aris likes about you,” I mutter.

“I wish I could say the same,” Bigby mutters, rolling his eyes at me before returning his attention to his knives.

“I just wish I could have another vision!” I say, clenching my fists and resuming my pacing. “I wish I could know what’s going to happen or get some vital information that could help Aris. I just feel so useless.”

Bigby slowly lowers his dagger, sighing loudly.

“That’s not how the visions work,” he says, shaking his head. “You can’t will one to happen.”

“How would you possibly know?” I quip, sparing him a sarcastic glance as I turn on my heel and stalk back the way I came. At this point, I’ve decided my goal is to create a trench here with my pacing. At least then, I’ll have accomplished something.

“My grandma,” he says softly, and I come to a stop, turning to look at him. “She had visions. It’s a gift for non-shifters, I think.”

My eyes widen. I’ve never heard of anyone else who had visions like me.

“I always assumed it was a curse.”

“That’s because you don’t know how to handle them,” he says, rubbing some sort of polish on the knife. When he looks up at me, his eyes hold a certain brightness that must be related to his interest and curiosity. “My grandma went to see an old woman in her village when she started having the visions. That woman—a healer back then—taught her how to control them, wield them when they came, and find the information she needed most. Those techniques basically eliminated the pain associated with the visions and helped her take control of the situation.”

“Wow,” I say, at a loss to think of anything else. I didn’t know it was possible to control them. I didn’t know there might be someone who had heard of what I was going through and could help me. The knowledge runs through me like warm water, soothing a deep, aching anxiety I didn’t know was there.

“I started to speak to Aris about it,” Bigby says, “I can get you in touch with someone when all of this is over. If you want.”

I open my mouth to reply, but before I can, a rolling nausea bursts up my esophagus, burning its way into my mouth. Without warning, I turn and vomit onto the ground, luckily managing to get it into the grass instead of on the bare dirt around the fire pit.

“Gods,” Bigby cries, leaping up from his seat and stepping away from me. “What is this—” his eyes widen, tracking over me as I straighten up, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, “—were you hit with the serum?”

“No,” I groan, holding my hands up as he takes a step toward me. “Don’t touch me. In fact, don’t even look at me. I’m just—I’m not feeling well.”

Bigby’s eyes widen further. His entire body language changes in an instant, and his eyes dart down to my belly, which I protectively cover with my hands.

“Holy fuck, Linnea, did you tell Aris?”

I narrow my eyes at him, crossing my arms. I’m aware that there are better things I could be doing than arguing with him, but since Aris has locked me here with my jailor, I might as well let Bigby know how miserable I am about it.

“Tell him what?”

“Don’t fuck around—I have a sister. I’ve heard the ‘don’t even look at me’ line before. When she was pregnant with her second.”

“I’m not—”

“Holy shit,” Bigby says, running his hands over his head, making a scraping sound over the buzz cut there. “When Aris finds out you didn’t tell him, he’s going to be pissed.”

“Yeah?” I say, hating how tears are welling up in my eyes. “Well, it’s not like Aris is in love with me or anything, so I don’t see why I’m obligated to share anything with him.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s like you said,” I say, turning and kicking a loose stick back into the trees. “I’m an asset. I just—” It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’ve already started talking about it and can’t stop. “I told him I loved him, and he just looked at me. It’s always been like this, ever since high school. Maybe he doesn’t hate me anymore, but he’s stuck with me as his mate, as his blood-bond. But that doesn’t mean he loves me.”

“Linnea,” Bigby says, shaking his head, his tone suddenly serious. He’s standing right in front of me, crouching slightly so he can meet my eyes. “Listen to me. I know Aris better than I know anybody on this planet. The two of us are practically brothers. He may have been too chickenshit to tell you, but he’s in love with you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, I can feel the emotion trailing him around like a dog. I’m a smart guy. I know a lot of shit. I’m telling you this because I would never say I’m sure about something unless I was 100% sure. He’s not just in love with you—he has been since high school. He just had a really shitty way of showing it.”

I stare at him, stunned. Aris loves me? He’s in love with me?

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