“You know what I don’t get? Why not hand me over to Caden, instead of James as soon as you found me? Why not explain everything up front to me? Why not ensure my cooperation instead of abducting me? Bleeding me out against trees? Mangling my fucking arm?” I almost yelled that last part, swirling away the Skindo tattoo to show off my horrible scars.
Caden averted his gaze and swallowed, a kind of sickened look crossing his face.Yeah, doesn’t look good, does it asshole?
Stephen nodded, his whole frame seeming to sag under the burden of remorse. “I had a lot of reasons to do what I did. I wanted you to receive the best training possible, which Cyclos could offer. I wanted you close to James, thinking back then he’d be the father. I needed you to feel threatened, become a victim, so he could feel like a hero, driven by his destructive past to seek you out. I needed him to fall in love with you.”
He paused when I gasped, my heartbreak intensifying. “It wasn't until you moved into Cyclos, I realized there were two other possible fathers.”
I stared at him, disbelief and rage coiling inside me. “So you manipulated us into loving each other? Treated us like livestock to breed? Like some sick love-experiment?”
He didn’t respond, but he didn’t need to, his silence spoke volumes.
“Are you sure those Trackers are the bad guys?” I continued, my voice trembling with anger. “Because from where I’m standing, you could give Himmler and his Lebensborn project a run for his money.”
Stephen’s face went ashen, and I could see my words hitting him hard. I shook my head in disbelief, feeling a wave of despair wash over me.
My line of sight landed on the three other men in the room.
“So, what? I’m supposed to have a baby with one of these three? Those are my options?” I spat, choked up with disgust and desperation.
“The one who was manipulated into loving me and lied to me more than the all the presidents of the U.S. combined? The one who abducted, tortured, and maimed me? Or…” My throat tightened, nearly choking on the words, “the one who mind-raped me as a baby…”
My stomach twisted violently again, though there was nothing left to give. I doubled over, racked with dry heaves, each one dragging through me like a tide of nausea I couldn’t escape. The convulsions came again and again, relentless—as if my body were trying to purge the horror and trauma inside of me.
Then, in an instant that felt both surreal and painfully vivid, everythingchanged.
One moment, I was hurling; the next, Caden moved with lethal precision, translated a sleek curved blade with a serrated edge near the tip and, with a swift, brutal motion, sliced Julian’s head clean off his neck.
Clean. Off. His. Neck.
Stephen gasped in horror. James jumped up and yelled, “What the fuck?” and Caden sat back down in his chair, his features relaxed as he watched Julian’s head roll onto the table, as if decapitations were an everyday occurrence. Maybe in his life, they were.
“What the hell did you just do?” Stephen shouted, his voice a mix of outrage and fear. “If he was the father, you’ve destroyed our only hope for the future!”
“Why?” James asked dryly, betraying little emotion at Julian’s demise.
“He fucking forced the True Bond on her!” Caden snapped, his first bout of real anger finally showing. “You think she was ever going to have sex with him? Willingly? So if hewasthe father, how do you think that happened?”
The room fell into stunned silence.
“Yeah, I figured you might not be so concerned about the future after realizing mind-rape isn’t the only type of rape he would’ve resorted to,” Caden spat out, his stare cutting through everyone in the room.
Stephen closed his lids briefly, as if wrestling for control. James translated another bottle of water into my hand, and I took it, hoping the coolness would calm my fraying nerves.
Caden’s attention flicked to me, and though my feelings toward him hadn’t softened, I managed a small nod of acknowledgment. His jaw tightened, but he returned the nod, then with a smooth gesture, translated his weapon away.
“Was that a Chela?” James asked, motioning to the spot where Caden’s blade had been.
Caden’s response was a single, sharp nod.
“I thought those were banned.”
“They are.”
For a moment, everyone remained quiet.
“I need…” I began hesitantly, my voice quavering.
“What, sweetheart? What do you need?” James leaned in slightly.
