Page 44 of Betrayed Bullied Mate

“Sure,” I say, my gaze falling to the ground. “Then why couldn’t he tell me that himself?”

“Probably the same reason you’re keeping… This from him,” Bigby says, broadly gesturing to my torso. “Also, because he’s kind of dense sometimes. I know he loves you, but maybe he doesn’t realize he loves you. Or maybe he’s waiting for the right time to tell you.”

This revelation is spinning my head. After he didn’t say it back to me, I thought we were going to be stuck in one of those loveless marriages. All I wanted in the entire world was to be like my parents, truly in love with each other until the very end.

But now, knowing that he loves me and is in town facing off with Varun without Bigby, he may never get the chance to tell me that. Something spurs inside me, and I think fast, turning away from Bigby and putting my hand to my mouth.

“I’m gonna be sick again,” I say, stumbling into the woods. “Don’t watch!”

“Why would I want that?” Bigby calls back after me, a clear note of disgust in his voice. I double over, hoping my performance is believable enough. I throw in a couple of moans for good measure, and then, just when I’m sure Bigby might be covering his ears with his hands to block out the sound, I take off at a dead sprint through the trees.

It’s a full thirty seconds later when I hear him yell, “Linnea!”

I ignore the thrill pulsing through me at being chased, which reminds me of the rogues coming after me in the woods, and focus on my feet, making sure I don’t catch any roots or branches. That’s what always dooms the damsel in distress in the movies.

A second later, I emerge onto the road, which twists and turns through the trees. To my absolute delight, there’s a collection of vehicles abandoned in the pull-off, and as I get closer, I realize they must be the vehicles the rogues used to get to our location before coming through the trees the rest of the way to ambush the team.

One of the cars even still has the keys in the ignition, and I cross my fingers as I get in, praying the battery hasn’t gone dead. Bigby emerges from the trees, still in his human form and breathing heavily. It takes him a single sweep of the area to find me, and he bolts toward me, but I slam the car door shut just in time, blocking him out.

I twist the key in the ignition and the car turns over once, twice, before rumbling to life, and I actually let out a sigh of relief, slumping against the wheel. When the car lets out a long, high-pitched honk, it startles both me and Bigby, who scowls and raps against the window.

“What?” I call to him, raising my voice to be heard through the glass.

“Roll this down!”

“So you can capture me again? No thank you!”

“Linnea—Aris is going to have my ass if I let you go anywhere. Do you understand that?”

“He loves you too much,” I say, looking down at the console to find the gear shift. “You’ll be just fine.”

“Linnea,” Bigby warns, moving his body in front of the vehicle like a body shield. I stare at him, determined, through the windshield.

“I will run you over,” I call, defiantly. “Don’t test me!”

At the note of fear that flashes in his eyes, I can see he believes me. Watching Bigby, I can practically see his mind running through his options. He could try and shatter the glass to get to me, but that might hurt me or the baby and enrage Aris. He’s already tried reasoning with me, and he’s clearly not ready to sacrifice his body as a punching bag for this truck if I decide to take the chance and run him over.

We must reach a solution at the same time because I think of the tires just as Bigby’s eyes light up and he pulls his newly-sharpened dagger from his side.

“Bigby!” I say, rolling down the window. “No! Don’t!”

He’s nearing the tire, shaking his head at me.

“I’m sorry, Linnea, I don’t have a choice. My job is to protect you.”

“If Aris dies, I die! Do you realize that?”

My voice stops him just short of slashing the front driver’s side tire. I can see this is an element he hasn’t considered, and I keep talking, trying to keep the momentum and keep him away from the tire.

“The blood-bond!” I say, shouting through the crack in the window. “And we’re mated. If he dies, I’ll die. And the baby, too.”

As I say it, a jolt of pain and fear moves through my body, pre-eminent grief at the mere idea of losing my baby—a force that could knock me down. I swallow and shake my head to clear away the feeling before continuing.

With my focus on the life growing inside me, I can feel them urging me forward. Our baby wants to live to meet Aris and wants me to go and protect him. It’s my duty as luna and as the mother of this child.

“Aris needs you there, Bigby. You’re his right-hand man. You’re the next strongest person on the team.” Finally, I say, “We can’t let Varun kill him, too.”

Bigby lets out a loud, frustrated sigh, rubbing his hands violently over his face, and then he moves to the window, looking in at me with an exasperated expression.

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