Page 63 of Nick
“Vincent came to me,” she blurted out, the words tumbling from her lips before she could lose her nerve.
Nick propped himself up on one elbow, his gaze searching hers.
“He stood there,” Sarah continued, the memory flooding back with vivid intensity, “right outside my door.”Her voice wavered as she recalled the cold menace in Vincent’s eyes.“He said I had to make you leave, or he would…he would have you killed.”
Nick’s expression hardened.Anger and hurt clashed in his eyes—mirroring the turmoil swirling in Sarah.“You should’ve come to me.We could’ve faced him together.”
She shook her head, tears brimming at the edges of her vision.“I couldn’t risk it, Nick.You don’t understand—”
“Make me understand,” he pressed, reaching out to cup her face.
“Vincent was clear about his ambitions,” she whispered, leaning into his touch despite the ache in her heart.“He said once he became alpha, he’d ensure your life was miserable.That every day under his rule would be a torment for you.If you even survived.”
Nick pulled away slightly, his gaze distant as if he was visualizing the future Vincent had threatened.
“His need to control everything, everyone…” Sarah’s voice faltered.“It’s why I had to send you away.”
“Because of his threats?”Nick asked, his tone laced with both skepticism and understanding.
“Because I love you,” she said.“More than he could ever comprehend.And Vincent didn’t stop there,” Sarah murmured, her voice trembling as she forced herself to continue, to relive the nightmare that had driven her to the edge.“He said something else, something so vile I couldn’t—” Her words snagged on a sob, her gaze fixed on Nick’s arm.
“What did he say, Sarah?”Nick’s hand found hers again.
She swallowed hard, pushing through the fear that constricted her throat.“He threatened our baby, Nick.Said he’d cut it right out of me if I didn’t comply.”
A shudder ran through Nick’s body, the bed creaking under the tension.His expression was a mask of horror.
“Choose, he said,” Sarah whispered, her voice breaking on the word.“He made me choose between you and our child.”Her heart pounded against her rib cage, wild and erratic as a cornered animal.“He promised—if I sent you away, if I convinced you to run, he wouldn’t touch me again.He wouldn’t harm the baby.”
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she waited for Nick’s reaction, for the condemnation or the understanding.
“Why did he need me gone so badly?”Nick’s voice cut through the silence, raw and searching.His words hit her like a punch, direct and demanding an answer she wished she didn’t have to give.
Sarah let out a short, bitter laugh, one that held no humor but was laced with the irony of their twisted fate.“Because he knew, Nick,” she said.“Vincent saw in you what I always saw—the strength to challenge him, to rally the pack against his cruelty.”
“Me leading a rebellion,” Nick murmured, almost to himself.“Guess that’s exactly what I did.”
Sarah nodded, her hands still on his face, this man who was the axis of her world, even when she had pushed him away to save him.“You did,” she said.“And it’s not because of your strength or your ability to lead.It’s because you care, Nick.You care about this pack more than Vincent ever did.But he knew exactly what to do to make me betray you.”
“What was that?”
“Vincent threatened you,” she began, her hands fidgeting with the edge of the sheet.“He said if you weren’t gone by the next day, his friends would hunt you down.”
Nick’s brow furrowed, his lips parting slightly as if to speak, yet no words came forth.
“And if they didn’t kill you,” she continued, her eyes boring into his, pleading for understanding, “he would torture you to death.”She paused.“So when I told you I chose Vincent as leader over you as my mate…I wasn’t entirely truthful.But I wasn’t lying either.I did it to save you, to save our baby.Vincent made me choose, and I couldn’t let him hurt you.I thought if I pushed you away…”
A shudder ran through her body as she recalled the venom in Vincent’s threats.
“By letting Vincent take control, by distancing myself from you, I believed I could protect you both.But every moment since then, I’ve regretted it, even though I was trying to save everyone I loved.”
Nick’s reaction was a flicker of understanding shadowed by pain; his features tightened, not in anger, but in the struggle to comprehend.
Sarah knew she had gambled everything on this confession, laying bare the wounds of their past.
Nick stared into her eyes for a long moment.
And then he pulled her to him, claiming her lips with a kiss.
