Page 19 of Into the Dawn

She's shaking her head rapidly, tears forming in her eyes.

"This is the only way it will work. He knows I'm desperate. He already knows we have a history. This is the only plausible way I could have escaped and lured you up here."

Blinking hard, I can barely comprehend what she's saying, but then the slamming of a car door interrupts my thoughts, and my beast starts to push forward, sensing two dominant males approaching Vanessa's tiny home.

"They're coming," she says sadly. "Please Ben, just go along with it. Please, please."

I stare at her, not knowing what the hell to think. My beast howls in betrayal, in rage that we didn't mark her when we had the chance. That we let her fool us twice.

"This is not the way I wanted to go out," I mutter, staring down at my bare legs and chest, and tugging hard on the rope. "For fuck's sake. If they kill me, you better dress me and never breathe a word of this to Evan or Kali," I mutter, trying to get to my feet but stumbling when my arm pulls me back.

I have one leg in my jeans when footsteps pound up the porch stairs, and then suddenly, in the doorway, stand two huge men I never wanted to voluntarily see again, and yet, here we are.

Jed's beady eyes latch onto me immediately, and her dad starts to emit a low, deadly warning growl as he pushes past Vanessa to stand in the middle of the room.

One leap over the bed, one slash of his claws, and I'd be a dead man, attached as I am to Vanessa's headboard.

"I don't believe it," he says, a smug smile on his scarred and ruddy face. "Looky what the cat’s dragged in."

11

BEN

"This is what I was saying, Daddy. I brought you a present," Vanessa's voice is quiet, sheepish in a way that makes my teeth hurt.

Morning light filters through the worn curtains, highlighting the careful way she's decorated this tiny space, the hand-knitted throw I won her at a carnival draped over a threadbare armchair, and the collection of river stones we gathered on runs together, carefully arranged on the windowsill.

My beast whines at how she's made this place a shrine to us while simultaneously plotting to betray me. Every corner holds a memory. The wooden box where she keeps my letters sitting innocently on a shelf, the dreamcatcher from our first date catching the early light. Unless that was part of the plan all along, to surround me with memories and lower my guard.

"I got him here for you."

Her father blinks, and I see a flicker of uncertainty cross his features. This seems too good to be true. Through the window, I can see how isolated we are, the dense forest pressing in on all sides, the rough track leading to her cabin barely visible throughthe undergrowth. It’s the perfect place for an ambush. I don't blame him for doubting it.

"What are you talking about? Why do I care about this dipshit?"

Nice.

"I know what they did. I'm not stupid," Vanessa mutters sulkily, acting like a sullen teenager as she pulls down the sleeves of her long-sleeved top. "You try to keep me away from everything, but I heard about the attack in the forest. Everyone’s been talking about it and what you tried to do to Kali. About how badly it went."

Her father's eyes dart to Jed. A look of fury that would turn your blood cold crosses his features for a millisecond before he schools his expression into one of disinterest and turns to study his daughter carefully.

A cold draft whistles through the gaps in the wooden walls, another reminder of how her father keeps her living in near poverty despite his control over the clan resources.

"I knew you'd want revenge." She lifts a hand, palm up, like she's handing me over on a silver plate. Her beast's distress leaks through our bond, the mate connection we strengthened last night, now a raw, aching thing between us. But is she really torn up about this or just a better actress than I gave her credit for?

Her dad's nose twitches, and his lips curl up in a sneer as he takes in the rumpled sheets and my semi-dressed form. His eyes catch on the small touches that make this place a home, the herbs drying in the kitchen window, the carefully arranged furniture that can't quite hide its second-hand origins.

I get the impression he’s never been here before.

"You had to make a whore of yourself to capture him?"

Vanessa scoffs, but I catch the slight tremor in her voice, see how her fingers brush against the river stones for strength.

"I used the skills at my disposal. It's not like I could overpower him." With a shudder that makes me want to rip my own skin off in disgust, she meets my eye. "It was easy. I just pretended that I still wanted him."

The pain of those words cleaves my heart in two. My beast howls in betrayal, not just at the bitter sting of her words, but at how she went off plan without even trying to discuss it.

After everything we shared last night, every tender moment and whispered promise, she's back to choosing her family over us.

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