Page 69 of Luna's Forgotten Vow

My lips part, but I hold in the words. Maybe his response to me will be different if he still believes I know nothing. "How else should I respond to a man who sent men after me, stole my son away and sent me my husband's bloody fingers? Should I get on my knees and suck your dick in gratitude?!"

Ronan catches his bottom lip in a nasty grin. "That doesn't sound so bad. You have no idea how long I have dreamt of that."

"You are disgusting."

He snorts, leaning over to pick up my gun. He empties it out and shoves the compartment into his pockets. "If you came here with plans of murdering me, I'd strongly advise you bury that thought. Even if something happened to me, Soren will remain a prisoner of the South and rewarded with the punishment any other trespasser would. Death. My mother will rule in my stead and raise Landon to be the next Alpha, and in the end, you'll have gained nothing."

Bile rises in my throat, the frustration and despair making it harder to breathe right. "What do you want?"

"Marry me."

I blink. "I'm a married and mated female!"

"I have the paperwork ready to fix that problem."

For a moment, I forget my broken wrist and yell, gesticulating wildly. "I do not want to be your fucking wife?—"

My airflow is cut off again, worse than earlier, and I choke as he practically strangles me. "I gave you a choice once, but it's become quite clear how much he's brainwashed you. I will make the decision for you, because you are mine. You always have been, and I am not beyond putting you in chains to make you understand." His thumb strokes my pulse as he exhales slowly, as if to calm himself. "If you refuse me, I will kill him, and even then, our wedding will still take place. You're a smart woman, Fina. Do you think your petulance worth Winter's life?"

"You cannot kill him," I croak, fighting the tears in my eyes. "The council of six has been summoned. You will be stripped of your title and forced out to be a rogue if you kill another Head Alpha without cause."

His brows arch, his chest shaking and another deep laughter fills the air. "You don't know, do you? It'll be a couple more weeks before that gathering, and so long as I don't kill him directly, I won't break the law. He trespassed and it is within my rights to hold him prisoner. But, accidents do happen all the time, you know? He could easily die from an infected wound or too much wolfsbane keeping the prisoners at bay."

My body trembles, the first tear slipping from my eyes, another following swiftly. Ronan sighs, pressing his lips against my cheek, and I shudder with disgust as his tongue darts out to taste my tears. "I will let you see him one last time, Fina, so you understand what truly is at stake."

CHAPTER 23

SERAPHINA

The hand on my back shoves me roughly into a dark chamber and the door cracks shut behind me, heaving so much dust, I dissolve into a coughing fit.

The only light in the chamber is from the moonlight and I can barely make out the outlines of?—

A firm hand grips my waist harshly and I yelp as my chest hits what feels like a brick wall. A hot breath fans my ear and fingers reach for my hair, tugging on the band that places it in a ponytail, freeing it. "I'm hallucinating, aren't I?"

Goosebumps break out on my skin. He sounds different. So different. "You're not."

Breathy, sensual laughter scatters my hair and I feel it drop a heartbeat between my legs. "Seraphina would never come for me," he murmurs, his words a little slurred, almost as if he's drunk. But he doesn't smell like liquor. Just something strong, woodsy and earthy. Like wolfsbane. "And she sure as fuck wouldn't smell like another man."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe I should've stayed home like you wanted me to and left you to die here," I growl angrily.

He buries his nose in my hair and the sound that leaves him is an awful, angry bay. "You reek." Another slur, and I know he doesn't mean I smell. After having Ronan nearly maul me, I am covered in his scent.

"You too. They don't let you shower in here, do they?" It's a lie. He smells like the cheap soap bar usually left for the prisoners and his breath is fresh. There's a hint of blood, too.

Soren huffs a hot breath that sounds a little like laughter. "She would definitely sound like that." He groans, running his hands up my waist and I gasp when his hands cover my breasts, his hard length digging into my lower back. "You feel...so good...so real."

He must be hallucinating from the wolfsbane. Just how much has he been pumped with to make him like this?

"Let me see you, Soren."

He stiffens, hot hands falling from my chest. I whirl, facing him, and a whimper crawls up my throat.

The scar above his eye is ripped open again. His lips are split in three different places. A long gash runs down his chest, clean, but not completely healed. His knuckles are busted...knuckles...I sob in relief. "Your hands..." I grasp both his hands, double-checking in case I'm seeing wrong. "Your hands...your fingers, they're fine."

He shakes off my grip. "I told you to stay home!"

"He sent me your fingers in a box!" I can't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks or keep my voice from breaking in relief, in anger, and it's the first time I let myself admit the words I say to him. "I was worried! You've been gone for a week! I couldn't feel you! I didn't know if you were alive! And then, I received a box drenched in your blood and it felt like I would die if I didn't see you! Do you have any idea what it felt like waking up without you there? Knowing you compelled me to not come after you?" My breaths turn ragged. "I didn't know what else to do!"

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