Bad Love An Alpha’s Regret by Elise Sinclair Novel Full Episode

Chapter 1

As Alpha, he married me only because he had to.

But I went ahead and fell in love with him.

What’s worse, I have only six months to live.

I don’t want to d ie. And I don’t want to fight.

But he won’t let me go….

“Didn’t your family come with you, Ms. Rathborn?”

I frown. I’m just getting a routine physical and some bloodwork. Why would I need someone to accompany me?

What’s more, family… what family do I have?

My mother died during the last pack war. My dad, in a bid for peace, pledged me to Alpha Aaron when I was thirteen. I left

Chapter 1

everything and everyone I knew and grew up in Aaron’s

mansion.

217

Agron was tolerant of me as a kid. He was even kind. I

resented him for tearing my family oport, but as I grew older, I

came to love him. I love him as a female loves a man.

On my eighteenth birthday, we were married

What should’ve been the greatest day of my life marked the

start of years of disappointment.

Aaron never wanted to marry me.

He only ever saw me as his enemy.

My wolf never manifested-and that might be the greatest travesty of all, because what good is a wolf who doesn’t have

one?

I’ve been groomed and raised to be a luna. As Aaron’s wife, that’s what I should be. But who would ever follow me? A lowly

human.

I won’t give up hope though.

My father is an Alpha. My mom came from a long, powerful line of wolves. Their pack ruled the southern region for

centuries.

Chapter 1

I have to believe that my wolf will surface. Someday.

Just like I have to believe that Aaron will one day love me.

It’s why I’m here. At a pack-sanctioned physician, but one

outside of Aaron’s packlands.

I’m getting a second opinion.

Because I want to have a baby.

And though Aaron claims me… without a wolf, he will never

mate with me.

If I’m pregnant though, that will change everything.

“Doctor,” I say as he stares at me. “I didn’t know I needed to

bring anyone. I’m just here for a checkup.”

3/7

I’m not quite sure what his expression is. Uncomfortable maybe? It’s a small community of shifters in these parts, maybe he’s worried Aaron will be angry that he’s treating me.

I realize that I’m a bit slow to shift. And I’ve done the research, there are examples of ‘late bloomers’ so to speak. There is still a chance-”

Doctor Henley frowns. He slides a stack of papers across the

desk to me. “These are the results of your lab tests.”

I flip through the file, but I’m not sure what I’m seeing. I’ve

been dizzy lately, and a little nauseous.

4/7

My heart beat doubles. Joy spreads through me and my eyes fill with tears. “Did it happen? Am I pregnant?”

I can imagine a little boy with Aaron’s dark eyes. A little girl with his perfect smile.

“Uh, no.” He tugs the collar of his shirt.

“Oh.”

I’m disappointed, but not entirely surprised. Wolves only enter an estrus cycle once per year. And for that one week, Aaron avoids me like the plague.

“Luna Leah,” he says softly, and I’m touched that he honors me with the title. No one in Aaron’s pack does. “You… have

cancer.”

I hear the words but they don’t really compute.

I’m twenty-three.

Too young for a serious disease. And as a wolf… I wouldn’t get

sick. I’d be able to regenerate.

5/7

“Perhaps this is why your wolf has never

surfaced,” he says quietly.

“W-what?”

“The cancer. You have an aggressive

form of liver cancer. It likely metastasized from a different region. You’re in the advanced stages now…”

I swear it’s like I’m hearing his words from someone else’s body. This can’t possibly be happening.

I lean forward. “Is this some kind of joke?”

I’ve lived among Aaron’s pack for a decade and I’m still an outsider. They think nothing of pranking me or making

“Are you still paying the blood debt?” he

asks.

I flush. Even though it’s common knowledge that I was pledged to Alpha Aaron, it’s still kind of embarrassing to

literally be bled as a form of reparation

for his pack’s grievances.

“Yes.” I nod.

“How frequently?”

“Once a month. Aaron’s physician draws

my blood.”

“Those offerings need to stop. You can’t afford to weaken your body further.”

Chapter 1

patching up wounds and delivering

babies. For the most part, wolves are incredibly healthy. We don’t succumb to things like cancer. You’ll need to seek

treatments outside of this facility. And

you’ll need to do it quickly.”

Chapter 2

It’s raining.

I’d taken an Uber into the city to see Dr.

Henley and I walked all the way back to

the city limits.

“Miss, do you need a ride?” It’s an elderly couple. They pulled to the side of the

road in their Chevy Malibu. They look

concerned.

I’m concerned.

But what difference does a bit of rain

make?

A second car pulls up. It’s a big SUV. I

recognize the license plate.

“You’re both very kind,” I tell them. “It’s

okay. My friend is here.”

“Friend” is a word I’d use lightly.

James is Aaron’s beta.

He’s a big, brooding wolf who doesn’t particularly like me.

That’s probably because Aaron was supposed to marry his sister, Jessica.

I’m pretty sure Aaron is still in love with

her. That he would already be mated to

her if he wasn’t stuck with me. They’re

together all the time. She dotes on him

2/9

Chapter 2

it’s not because he’s respecting my position as luna, or because he’s respecting my privacy…it’s because he doesn’t give a sh*t.

3/9

In the past, when we were stuck together,

I’d prattle on and ask questions, forcing

him to converse with me because I knew

he didn’t want to. Today, I stare out the

window and don’t say a word.

Not even when he keeps glancing at me.

“Dr. Henley, is it curable…if I’m hospitalized?”

“There are treatments that might buy

you a few extra months…”

A few extra months.

Tears stream down my face. In my

4/9

reflection in the window, they just blend

with the raindrops splattering the glass.

I’m going to die. There is no hope for me.

Upon returning to the packlands, we veer off the main highway onto a long

stretch of private road that’s maintained

and patrolled by Aaron’s guards. They

pause the SUV at the gate only to wave James through.

The security is intended to keep humans

out.

And to keep me in.

disappointment because I know he

doesn’t care about me, but this man’s

indifference… when I’ve known him for

nearly half my life…

It hurts.

I get out of the car and stare up at the

massive house. It’s four stories of stone

with a tiled roof. A massive, glamorous

estate that I’d thought so beautiful the

first time I saw it.

5/9

“What the he ll is wrong with your phone,

Leah?”

It’s Aaron.

He storms outside and down the stairs.

He stalks toward me and my feet back

6/9

up instinctively. This Alpha is too big. Too

strong. Too merciless when he wants to

be.

“Where the f**k did you go?”

A day ago, I would’ve cowered beneath

his rage. But now…

“What does it matter?” I ask quietly.

He straightens like I’ve slapped him.

Aaron has come to know my many moods-stubborn, argumentative, quiet-but this defeated tone isn’t typical for me. I’ve had to fight. For everything

here. Few people here have shown me

kindness.

from here. Sitting in a chair beside the

window or the fireplace, depending on

the time of year.

I spend most of my time here too. I eye

7/9

up all the many rows and rows of books

on the floor to ceiling shelves.

Books I’ll never get the time to read.

I sniffle.

Again, Aaron looks shocked.

I refuse to cry for this man. For any of

them.

As a terrified, broken, thirteen-year-old girl taken into this enemy land, I did not

cry. I am Leah Arboreaux, and I honor

Yelling and fighting.

Being ignored-or ravished.

8/9

He crowds me until my back is against

the wall. His hands slam on either side of

my head, caging me in. I crane my head back to hold his gaze.

His scent wraps around me-rich and

subtle and all but beckoning me near

because for whatever reason this man

smells irresistible to me.

He growls and comes closer.

His chest against mine.

His hips rolling into me.

To go up on my toes, seek out his sexy

mo uth, and let him take me under as he’s

done a thousand times before.

Because this man might hate me… but

he still wants me.

Chapter 3

His shoulders are so wide they block out

the rest of the room. His hair is dark and

a little long on top. I know exactly how those strands feel against my skin.

He leans down to bite a sensitive spot on

my neck.

I tremble.

He growls approvingly. His mo uth scourges a path from my throat to my

ear. His other hand grips my hair and jerks my head back.

“You still didn’t answer me.”

His wolf is at the surface and his

emotions are every bit as wild as the

beast inside him.

More extremes, I realize…

Passion and rage.

Pleasure and pain.

Hate and love.

Well, not love. At least not for him.

“What will you do, Aaron?” I keep my gaze level on his. “F**k me against this

2/12

wall?”

3/12

His glaze flickers for a moment as if he’s

eyeing the bookshelf for how sturdy it will

be.

“Torture me until you get what you want?” I shake my head even as it pulls

out strands because he still has one

hand twisted mercilessly in my hair. “I’m done. I won’t live like this. I won’t love you

anymore.”

He jerks back.

His huge arms flex at his sides, muscles

rippling up to his shoulders. He isn’t just angry. He’s furious.

Jessica takes this moment to enter the

4/12

study. She acts like she’s busy cleaning.

And, swear to god, she even has a

feather duster in hand and a short skirt

on.

I roll my eyes. “What is this, your French Maid fantasy?”

I glance at Aaron. Normally, I can bury

the hurt in my eyes. The jealousy. But not today. “You want her, right? It’s always been your love for Jessica. So have her.”

Her interruption and my tirade shock him speechless, and I take advantage of that, quickly shoving past him.

She glares and huffs ‘wh*re’ as I rush out

of the study.

“Don’t you walk away from me!” Aaron

roars.

5/12

But unlike Jessica who cowers, I don’t. He

has not mated me. Nor welcomed me

into his pack with any formal ceremony or blood ritual. His Alpha powers do not

extend to me.

I stop only to look back at her. “You win. All these years, you’ve wanted him. All the times you’ve snuck into his room or

tried to seduce him away from me-his

rightful wife-like I didn’t know what you were about. Now you’ll finally have him.” Tears slip from my eyes and roll down my

cheeks.

Chapter 3

Aaron gasps.

6/12

Jessica’s pretty face blurs in front of me.

“I hope you’ll both be happy,” I tell them. Then I flee, running up the four flights of

stairs to my childhood bedroom. I slam

the door behind me.

AARON

“What the hell is going on?” I growl.

Jessica wrings her hands. She’s mine. Has

been since we were kids and we know

everything about each other. But I don’t

need her to placate me right now or to

spew whatever she thinks I need to hear.

And I sure as sh*t am not about to get

into whatever that little standoff was

with her and Leah.

I rule this pack. This pack does as /bid.

“Get your brother. Tell him to meet me in the training ward.”

“Yes sir,” she bows meekly.

“And the guards.”

Chapter 3 “What?”

8/12

“Tell him to bring the guards. He’ll know

what I mean.”

She hurries from the room and I’m left

with a cold feeling spreading through my

body.

I’m not sure what it is exactly…

Sometimes, right before a battle, there is a span of time-a few seconds or

minutes-where everything is so perfectly

calm it’s like the world stands still. I’m hit

with that intense feeling of foreboding

now.

9/12

And it’s not just Leah’s behavior-which is bizarre to say the least. There are threats

afoot these last months, and a plan I’ve

put into place will play out soon, and it’s going to change everything.

I glance up the stairwell. In my entire life,

I’ve never been rejected by a woman.

In the five years since we married, Leah

has never once denied me.

On the contrary, she’s come to my bed

unbidden, refused to leave afterward,

and in the afterglow is always one to

cling.

I rub my chest.

That unsettled feeling is spreading.

10/12

I can hear her, with my wolf’s senses,

running up the last flight of stairs to her

wing of the mansion. I can still scent

her-that light floral fragrance that is

her natural skin and the headier, more

layered smell of her arousal.

Because my little wife might claim to

hate me-but her body tells a different

story.

The door slams loudly.

There’s some muffled noise.

I stand here-in that calm, imminent

my claws extend. I’m not entirely in

11/12

control of myself, which for an Alpha, is

unthinkable.

I don’t give a da n.

My wife thinks she can mou th off to me? That she can push me away and run

from me!?

That she can disappear and come and go as she pleases!

My wolf roars.

I take the stairs three at a time, more

beast than man.

Leah may have escaped me in the study

because I was caught off guard by

her declaration. But I won’t let these

transgressions go.

12/12

I’ve had only two rules since she was

brought beneath my roof and pledged to

me, and Leah’s broken both:

Don’t ever lie.

And don’t ever run from me.

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Gifts

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

shoulders are so wide they block out

the rest of the room. His hair is dark and

a little long on top. I know exactly how those strands feel against my skin.

He leans down to bite a sensitive spot on

my neck.

I tremble.

He growls approvingly. His mouth scourges a path from my throat to my ear. His other hand grips my hair and jerks my head back.

“You still didn’t answer me.”

His wolf is at the surface and his

emotions are every bit as wild as the

beast inside him.

More extremes, I realize…

Passion and rage.

Pleasure and pain.

Hate and love.

Well, not love. At least not for him.

“What will you do, Aaron?” I keep my gaze level on his. “F**k me against this

2/12

Chapter 3

wall?”

3/12

His glaze flickers for a moment as if he’s eyeing the bookshelf for how sturdy it will

be.

“Torture me until you get what you want?” I shake my head even as it pulls

out strands because he still has one

hand twisted mercilessly in my hair. “I’m

done. I won’t live like this. I won’t love you

anymore.”

He jerks back.

His huge arms flex at his sides, muscles rippling up to his shoulders. He isn’t just angry. He’s furious.

Jessica takes this moment to enter the

4/12

study. She acts like she’s busy cleaning. And, swear to god, she even has a

feather duster in hand and a short skirt

on.

I roll my eyes. “What is this, your French Maid fantasy?”

I glance at Aaron. Normally, I can bury

the hurt in my eyes. The jealousy. But not

today. “You want her, right? It’s always

been your love for Jessica. So have her.”

Her interruption and my tirade shock him speechless, and I take advantage of that, quickly shoving past him.

She glares and huffs ‘wh*re’ as I rush out

of the study.

“Don’t you walk away from me!” Aaron

roars.

5/12

But unlike Jessica who cowers, I don’t. He

has not mated me. Nor welcomed me

into his pack with any formal ceremony or blood ritual. His Alpha powers do not

extend to me.

stop only to look back at her. “You win. All these years, you’ve wanted him. All

the times you’ve snuck into his room or

tried to seduce him away from me-his

rightful wife-like I didn’t know what you were about. Now you’ll finally have him.”

Tears slip from my eyes and roll down my

cheeks.

Chapter 3

Aaron gasps.

6/12

Jessica’s pretty face blurs in front of me.

“I hope you’ll both be happy,” I tell them. Then I flee, running up the four flights of

stairs to my childhood bedroom. I slam

the door behind me.

AARON

“What the hell is going on?” I growl.

Jessica wrings her hands. She’s mine. Has

been since we were kids and we know

everything about each other. But I don’t

need her to placate me right now or to

spew whatever she thinks I need to hear.

And I sure as sh*t am not about to get

into whatever that little standoff was

with her and Leah.

I rule this pack. This pack does as / bid.

“Get your brother. Tell him to meet me in

the training ward.”

“Yes sir,” she bows meekly.

“And the guards.”

Chapter 3

“What?”

8/12

“Tell him to bring the guards. He’ll know

what I mean.”

She hurries from the room and I’m left

with a cold feeling spreading through my body.

I’m not sure what it is exactly…

Sometimes, right before a battle, there is a span of time-a few seconds or minutes-where everything is so perfectly

calm it’s like the world stands still. I’m hit

with that intense feeling of foreboding

now.

Chapter 3

9/12

And it’s not just Leah’s behavior-which is

bizarre to say the least. There are threats

afoot these last months, and a plan I’ve

put into place will play out soon, and it’s

going to change everything.

I glance up the stairwell. In my entire life,

I’ve never been rejected by a woman.

In the five years since we married, Leah

has never once denied me.

On the contrary, she’s come to my bed

unbidden, refused to leave afterward,

and in the afterglow is always one to

cling.

I rub my chest.

That unsettled feeling is spreading.

10/12

I can hear her, with my wolf’s senses,

running up the last flight of stairs to her wing of the mansion. I can still scent her-that light floral fragrance that is

her natural skin and the headier, more

layered smell of her arousal.

Because my little wife might claim to hate me-but her body tells a different

story.

The door slams loudly.

There’s some muffled noise.

I stand here-in that calm, imminent

space- then I feel my canines drop and

Chapter 3

my claws extend. I’m not entirely in

11/12

control of myself, which for an Alpha, is

unthinkable.

I don’t give a da mn.

My wife thinks she can mo uth off to me?

That she can push me away and run

from me!?

That she can disappear and come and

go as she pleases!

My wolf roars.

I take the stairs three at a time, more

beast than man.

Leah may have escaped me in the study

because I was caught off guard by

her declaration. But I won’t let these

I’ve had only two rules since she was

brought beneath my roof and pledged to

me, and Leah’s broken both:

Don’t ever lie.

And don’t ever run from me.

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Gifts

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

Chapter 4

I round the last stairwell and bust her

bedroom door off the hinges.

“I own you.”

She holds her ground in the middle of

her bedroom.

The walls are pink.

There is a pile of stuffed animals in a far corner. She hasn’t bothered with them in years-not even when she first came here-but she refuses to part with them.

The

ordered all those years ago when she

was presented as the ‘only option for

peace.

2/12

There are no photos. No art.

But parts of Leah manage to invade the

space.

Hair ties are scattered on a dressing

table. And at least one or two are on

the floor. Her hair is an impossibly thick riot of curls that hang halfway down her

back. One of the ties is in her hand and

she plays with it. A nervous habit she’s

never outgrown.

Workout clothes are piled in a hamper.

The sweat on them only heightens my

passion.

Books are everywhere.

3/12

On the bed. On the nightstand. In stacks

a dozen high on the floor.

“There is nowhere to go, Leah.”

She squares off with me.

This isn’t the first fight we’ve had.

Stubborn woman that she is, sometimes I think she provokes me just because she can, to see how far she can push.

No doubt, in her mind, seeing me lose control gives her a modicum of it.

But that will not happen again.

4/12

Not anymore.

I grab her arms and lift her off her feet.

I don’t smell another male on her. I sure

as f*ck sniffed her while we were in the

library. If I did, I don’t want to think of

what I’d do.

To him.

To her.

I continue to hold her off the ground. She

meets my level gaze.

5/12

Normally her legs would sling around my

waist. She’d grind that hot p**sy of hers

against my c**k and we’d be lucky to

make it up off the floor.

After a long standoff, her eyes glisten. “Are you going to force me, Aaron?”

I search her face.

This is…not our usual script.

Always, I dominate. She fights, then

yields. I pleasure her until she can’t bear

it any more.

Wash. And repeat.

See you next week.

Chapter 4

But this time… her eyes are cold. She’s

aroused, yeah, I can smell it rising off

6/12

her skin and from the heat between her

thighs, but she resents that.

If it’s possible, today she resents me more than she ever has before.

This is no game between us right now.

It’s more significant. And I don’t know

what’s changed or why. I only know that I

don’t like it. Not one bit.

But I can change too. If life has taught

me anything, it’s to adapt.

And there is no f*cking way we’re going

to leave things like this.

I lower her to the ground and gently

draw her close.

“W-what are you doing?”

I smooth back her hair and kiss her

forehead. Her eyes. Her cheeks. That too-lush mouth that invades my dreams.

Instead of force…I cherish.

Instead of hard and fast, I go achingly

slow.

I can honestly say that I’ve never made

love to my wife before.

But I’m about to.

8/12

She sees the change in me and her

whole body shudders. “Aaron, no-”

I catch her lips, my tongue tracing hers

with a reverence I’ve never bothered to

feign. My hands hold her in place. I kiss

her face, her neck. The freckle on h

forehead and the one on her shoul

She has two just like it behind her rig

knee and another freckle on her left h

I’ll get to those too. But now, I worship

her breasts with my hands and use every

method I can to knock her off balance.

We’ve f*cked on most every surface in this room, but this time, I carry her to the

bed.

Her eyes have that glassy, captivated

glow she gets when she’s ready. But

instead of a sultry smile or arching a

challenging brow, she looks…pensive.

9/12

Not mad or sad like before. But not

happy either.

I kiss her again, determined to wipe that

look off her face.

To banish…whatever foolish thoughts are

in her head.

“The door?” she whispers.

I laugh against her mouth and peel her

clothes off her body. “You should’ve

thought of that before you ran from me.”

She swallows hard.

Then there’s no more room for

conversation. Just my mouth and hands,

teeth and tongue, taking her over the

edge, once, then again, with steady

slowness.

Her body bows with pleasure. Clenching and pulsing around me. Her screams

fill the room, and no doubt travel all the

way down to the first floor.

She wanted to run from me.

Well, the whole pack can hear her now,

and know where she belongs.

I pour my seed into her and she comes

again.

When I finally draw back, she’s sated. Her eyes glazed with wonder.

I’ve been too predictable with her, I

realize.

“Tell me where you went,” I whisper.

Her heart is still hammering.

But as she slowly comes back to her

senses, she shakes her head and laughs

darkly. “No. Oh, and, Aaron, I want a

divorce…”

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

Chapter 5

I’m so f*cking angry it’s a miracle I don’t explode into my true form.

Divorce? She wants a divorce.

That’s not happening.

“Think long and hard on what you’re

saying right now, Leah.”

“I have.”

She has no idea of the consequences.

“This peace is a fragile one,” I remind

2/19

her. “Our marriage holds it in place. You sever it, and I’ll be forced to take other measures to protect this pack.”

“Be reasonable, Aaron. Both your pack and mine have thrived in the ceasefire. It

doesn’t make sense to fight anymore.”

I shake my head at the hubris of this girl.

She wasn’t even born when the true

horrors of her father’s reign shattered my world. She doesn’t know of the

constant fighting. The bloodshed. The

horrific aftermath.

She didn’t have to bury what was left of

a sibling.

I stand here staring at her defiant face, the stubborn glint in her pale eyes. By sneaking off packlands she’s already

illustrated that she can’t be trusted.

“You’re forcing my hand,” I warn her. “And you’re going to regret it.”

“This is my life, Aaron. It’s about time I

took control of it.”

Bah. She sounds like a child taking a

tantrum. But she’s a woman who is the

wife of the most powerful alpha in this

region.

She can’t just flit off when we have

responsibilities.

Ase Kon karta halua

“Where did you go: Task her. “What are

you hiding?”

Her full lips press into a thin line. She

refuses to say a word.

drag Leah out-not one of my finer moments-into another bedroom. I toss

her in and barricade the door.

Then I barrel down the backstairs and

out onto the terraced lawn before I do

something I’ll really regret.

She’ll stay there until she’s ready to talk.

I assign guards positioned to watch her.

And those guards who’d been on duty

Bad Love: An Alpha’s Regret

Chapter 6

Every bone in my body aches. And I have a fever.

Sweat pores out of my skin and I’m wracked with chills I can’t

control.

I clench my teeth to keep them from chattering.

I wrap myself in the heavy down comforter on the bed. It smells damp, whether that’s from me sweating or because

this room is seldom used and it’s in need of washing, I can’t be

sure.

Abruptly, the door slams open.

I try to lift my head, but I’m too weak, too sore.

There’s screaming and two of the guards hold back a tall

male.

And then Aaron’s huge wolf roars…

“What the hell did you do to her!?”

That voice.

I know that voice.

“Adam?” How is Adam here?

Aaron slams him against the wall.

I stagger upright. Adam is my best friend from home.

“Is this who you snuck away with, you whore?”

I gasp and stumble, both from Aaron’s words and from being

so weak.

The room is spinning.

Adam and Aaron are screaming and growling and being held apart. Both partially shifted into their lycan forms.

I don’t know why, but I feel compelled to get between them so

they won’t fight.

But as I stumble away from the bed with the comforter wrapped around me, I can’t seem to stay upright.

Next thing I know I’m falling and all around me the sounds and sights begin to darken. It’s like night rolling across the sky, but there is no moon or stars, just a wave of black that masks

everything in absolute darkness.

Huh. Maybe this is dying.

y last thought before…nothing.

3/9

When I open my eyes again, I’m in Aaron’s room.

The huge suite has dark blue walls and a giant bed. The white

sheets are silk and soft and smell like him.

I sit up slowly.

There’s a tray of food beside me. I should be hungry, but I’m not. After going so long without food, I’ve lost my appetite. Maybe that’s a good thing. I read somewhere that fasting can help cleanse the body of defective cells.

Maybe Aaron did me a favor.

Adam’s sitting on a chair. He’s a few years older than me. A couple of inches over six feet tall, with light brown hair and light green eyes. He’s good looking. Nice. Calm. Even as a child, he was an intellectual, where the rest of my pack was

singularly focused on war.

“This isn’t my room,” I say.

Adam shrugs. “Your husband insisted.”

“How are you here?”

“Why the hell didn’t you call me?” he says.

4/9

I reach for the glass of orange juice. It’s probably going to burn my stomach, but the sweet, fresh juice has me salivating.

I take a careful sip and try to gather my thoughts.

I was locked in a room, so weak I fainted. Now I’m in Aaron’s room and my childhood friend is here. And he’s angry I

haven’t called him!?

“Adam.” I hold the glass in both hands. “We haven’t talked in years. Why would I call in the first place? If you missed me so much, you could’ve called me.”

I get to see my family a few times a year. There are even escorted visits back to my packlands. Only home doesn’t feel

like home anymore.

Everyone there…they’ve moved on.

So when I come back, it’s always awkward. Like seeing me is a reminder of what they did to secure their way of life.

Adam stands and then leans over the bed, one arm on either

side of me, caging me in in a move I’d expect from Aaron, not my old childhood friend. He starts examining my eyes. Prying open my mouth to look down my throat.

“Dude… stop.”

“No. You came to my pack hospital, Leah. I run that facility.

Did you seriously think that Dr. Henley wouldn’t share your

bloodwork?

I gasp.

That explains why he came. Because he knows I’m sick.

He shoves away from the bed and paces the room. “Does your

piece-of-shit husband know?”

cringe. “Lower your voice,” I tell him. Aaron has fought over

lesser insults.

He freezes. “Then he doesn’t know.”

I shake my head.

“You need to tell him.”

“Why?”

Adam’s mouth drops open.

“Seriously. Explain to me why I should tell him anything.”

Adam’s pensive. Finally he says, “Fine. Leave the bastard in

the dark. But then come home.”

6/9

With my days numbered… I’m not sure I want to spend them

there either.

“Leah, you need to come home.”

Do I? I’m not so sure. “Let me spell some things out for you. I

was barely thirteen years old when my mother died and my

father dragged our pack into even more brutal battles with

the Rathborns. My mom was killed by the very bas tards I’ve been forced to live with all these years. Not a day goes by that

I am not reminded of her, that I don’t miss her.”

He frowns.

“I wanted to stay with my family. I needed them. I was devastated and grieving. But instead, my father pledged me, like some piece of chattel or a fucking pawn to an Alpha who has hated me and everyone of my bloodline since before I was

born.”

Adam crosses his arms.

“I was taken away from my family and everyone I’ve ever

7/9

known. I was imprisoned here. I’ve never been respected or made to feel welcome. I’m not treated with kindness. Not even by my husband-and I’m ten times the fool, because I loved that brute, and actually wanted to become his bride.”

“Leah, you have-”

“Let me finish. My love has been one-sided for far too long.” I think about that for a moment. As a teen, I latched onto Aaron because he was nice to me. Some twisted form of Stockholm

Syndrome surely.

Or just the desperation of a too-young, too-dumb girl.

But I’m not that girl anymore.

“Leah, I’ve read the reports… You’re terminal. You are going to

die.”

“Yes. We all die, Adam. Some sooner than others.”

“Your husband is an Alpha. He can mate you. Maybe he can force your wolf to rise.”

Does he think I haven’t already thought of all of these things?

“There are risks,” he goes on, “but you have a chance.”

I eat a few bites of bread and my stomach knots around them.

Biting a human to ‘turn’ them is a rite that requires approval

from the Council and even when it is sanctioned, very few humans survive the transition. I might get a pass given my lineage, and we could forego the formality of petitioning them

since I am already Aaron’s wife, but that still doesn’t mean it

would work. And if he mates me…

“What then, Adam? At best I’m stuck, forever bound to a man

that hates me. At worst, my sickness kills him through our

bond, and then we’re right back to war.”

He clasps my hands. “There are treatments, Leah. I graduated from NYU. I did my residency at MD Anderson. I’ll pull together a treatment plan. You can fight this.”

Yes, I suppose I can.

But do I want to?

Adam’s hands are smooth and tapered. The hands of a surgeon. Not a warrior. He wears a suit and an expensive watch. He’s a powerful, wealthy, high-ranking member of my father’s pack. Most females would fawn over him.

His bright blue eyes search mine. “I can take care of you,

Leah…”

I’m still thinking about his offer when there’s a growl at the

door.

Chapter 7

The door slams open a moment later.

Aaron’s eyes take me in. On the bed. Adam sitting beside me

and his hands holding mine.

He growls.

“Stop!” I yell. “This is my friend, Aaron. One of the only ones

I have. And just where the hell do you get off acting jealous, when you’ve got Jessica trying to hump you everytime you turn down the hall?”

He scoffs.

Then he turns to Adam. “Your visit is over. Get out.”

Aaron comes within inches of Adam and his nostrils flare. He’s looking for evidence.

“I’m not lying! Will you stop already!”

Adam rocks back on his heels. His smile is confident, taunting. “It’s been incredible seeing you, Leah. And I’ll be sure to get

things ready for when you come home.”

He means with my treatments.

Aaron snarls. “My wife isn’t going anywhere.”

Adam glances at me. “You need to tell him.”

“Tell me what!” Aaron shouts.

2/5

I press my lips together.

Adam sighs.

He sidesteps Aaron and walks out. His men surround him.

“Your boy looks awful smug, but he won’t be laughing for

long,” Aaron says.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Let’s just say, big changes are coming. And they’re

coming soon…”

Leah is nervous. She’s doing that thing with her hair and eyeing me like I’m a predator who hasn’t eaten in a week.

Speaking of… she looks terrible.

Too skinny and weak.

Her scent is off too.

3/5

“What’s wrong with you?” I ask.

She blanches. “Nothing.”

“I’ve warned you about lying to me, princess.”

She twists another curl. “I haven’t eaten in days, Aaron. What the hell did you think would happen?”

Fair.

But I never expected her to hold out this long.

There were nights when I wanted to break down the door and force her to answer me. But her will is strong. Too strong. And though I’ve done many things I’m not proud of, I’ve never beaten my wife.

But that’s not to say I won’t. Always, pack comes first.

Always.

4/5

If she is a threat to them, she’ll find I won’t be as patient as I

have been.

I push the platter of food toward her. It’s filled with meat and vegetables. “Eat,” I command her.

She gradually picks up a roasted vegetable. But I don’t think she does it to obey me, or even because she needs the sustenance, her whole demeanor is just bored.

While she was locked away these last days, I structured the plans to ensure our pack’s safety. Her father’s pack won’t survive. It’ll all come out at the Regional Council meeting.

Once the Collective sees what Alpha Roberts has done, they’ll

seize his lands, accounts, and corporations. The Council will

order his execution.

It’s a ruthless strategy, even for me.

“What have you done, Aaron?”

She knows me well, this woman.

“Aaron, answer me.”

Now it’s my turn to be smug. “No.”

Besides, she’ll see soon enough, and the fallout of what’s

5/5

about to transpire will ripple through these packs for years to

come.

12

“Please tell me you’ve thought about what I said, Leah?” Adam asks anxiously.

His voice is even and cultured, the practiced cadence of a doctor who, no doubt, has used this speech before.

“Nothing has changed,” I say.

don’t realize it until I hear the drip, drip of tears hitting the floor, that I’m crying. I touch my face and wipe them away.

Adam’s sigh is loud through the phone.

I move from my chair to the chaise lounge near the window. The light is bright and I can hear birds singing outside. “You have a pack here, family.”

“Yes,” I agree. “And my father’s pack has prospered amid the peace.”

Peace brokered with my body and blood.

3/6

Arresen my former pack has thrived is also because

with which stocks to buy and trade a skill t learned in this very reading and stening as Aaren brokered deals Na corporation Aaren even fought me how to forecast vestments and to monitor the market for when prices would

The read countless books on finance. I listen to podcasts. Take classes paling

The amassed my dad and my brother a fortune. That’s good

gwen’t

won’t have to warry that they’ll struggle or

a company will falter when I’m gone

A cookies over the years will ensure my pack’s

www.yg after I’m gone

You actually love him Adam asks, dragging me back from my scored high

Move was that love that made me sick

wowatoros bad love”

There’s several seconds of silence and then he says, “Go

Chapter 8

upstairs to your room and check the cabinet in the bathroom.”

Aaron hasn’t tried to constrain me since the altercation where

I fainted and Adam argued with him. I have the run of the

mansion and grounds again. I’ve been instructed to stay in Aaron’s room at night.

“Are you going?” Adam prompts.

I automatically stand and start moving through the mansion.

There aren’t many wolves around this time of day. They’re

all out at their various jobs either here on the packlands or

outside in the human world.

I take the stairs carefully. I’m still a little weak, but what’s

worse, it’s hard to breathe. I’m winded by the time I reach the

top floor which is alarming. I’ve been running up and down

these stairs for a decade.

I head into my room and close the door.

should be thankful that Aaron bothered to have it repaired, I suppose. I didn’t relish the thought of having no privacy.

Not that he’s allowed me back into this room. He’s insisted I

sleep in his bed each night ever since I fainted.

I can remember a time when I would’ve been thrilled that he

wanted me beside him.

Each night, he slings his big arm around my waist and holds

me close.

wards off the chills, but it leaves me feeling bad each

morning.

I can’t seem to get past the years of pain and longing.

I’m probably just channeling all my resentment about my prognosis toward him. But so many years have been wasted, and now…

I sigh.

In the bathroom bottom drawer, I find several neatly labeled

containers.

“How did you get these in here?” I ask.

“There’s a batch in this room. And that other room where they held you last time. I brought them when I first came, after Dr. Henley shared your prognosis.”

I stare at the pill bottles.

“Those are a nti-canc er medicines and painkillers,” Adam says. “You’ll need to do a formal chemotherapy routine, but these can get you started. Leah, in a battle like this, every moment

matters. Please. I beg you. Take the pills.”

5/6

I inspect each one then rip the labels off, shred them up and then flush them down the toilet.

“Please don’t tell me you threw them out.”

“No. Just the packaging.”

He breathes heavily.

“He doesn’t know, and I don’t want him to know, Adam.”

Whether sic k or not, I have my pride. I’ve swallowed enough of it these last few years. I won’t use my illness to gain sympathy,

and Aaron wouldn’t even necessarily sympathize with me

anyway.

“Don’t drink coffee. Or alcohol. Avoid sugary foods.

Remember to take the meds on time…”

Adam takes a deep breath and rattles off more instructions.

Foods to eat. What to avoid. As if the list of do’s and don’ts

really matters.

“Leah, are you listening to me?”

I smile into the phone. “You have a nice voice.”

Adam is speechless. Then: “You’re not listening.” He’s angry

“Thank you,” I tell him. He’s the first person to care about me in a long time.

“You’re still so young…Please, don’t give up,” he mutters, his

voice choking with emotion.

I feel his sorrow through the phone.

It’s comforting. Like someone in this world actually cares

about me.

“Leah,” his tone is so grave I feel my stomach sink to my toes. “There’s more I have to tell you…”

Chapter 9

“Leah!”

The roar echoes through the house.

Aaron is home.

And he is in a bad mood.

“I have to go, Adam. I’ll call you soon.”

“Wait! There’s something-”

I click off the phone and shove it into the back pocket of my

jeans.

Then I run down the stairs-it’s way easier going down than

up-and follow his hollering to the study.

Aaron is at his computer. He motions for me to sit beside him.

I hold my breath.

Being alone with this man…does something to me.

But dicbalt stay on thisholtetractest of bfghhighs and lows.bdon’t

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ross to the opposites selside of the room and sweepabelhebevy rtainsiasideidet. Wie harfed gelge of the expansive grounds,ds, veral footbalb6eldslostimet bestistance,dican make out thehe tting of the packcarcetneyeity@he headstones look small fromm sidistance: BuBadisa smsiththithatodbad see the reddishish

black stains.

From my blood, poured on top of each of them.

I’m dying and it’s my blood being used to water the dead.

There is some irony in that, I’m sure.

I feel Aaron behind me before I hear him.

3/5

He crowds me which stirs my body to aching awareness. And even that feels like an insult. That I should crave this man, that 1 should want to mate and celebrate life, even as my body is eroding on the inside and edging toward death.

Or maybe it is my imminent death that has me clinging so

hard.

“What’s wrong? Why are you so sad all the time? And where the hell did you go the other day?”

He had me locked up to the point of starvation and I wouldn’t tell him. I cast him a rueful smile. Whyever would he think I’d

tell him now?

Aaron growls. “You’re very frustrating, Leah.”

But at least he isn’t locking me away or resorting to some

other awful tactic.

“Your dad called the main packhouse,” he tells me.

“I had a bunch of missed calls from him.” When I was imprisoned my phone died and I wasn’t able to charge it.

“Make sure you call him today.”

With that said, Aaron strides back to his computer. He has several spreadsheets up for stocks he’s been tracking and I go and sit near him so I can see. Because that’s why my father

called.

To demand that I send him $500,000.00.

Aaron’s busy texting and answering emails from his phone. When it rings a few minutes later, he strolls out of the study.

I have savings and a decent portfolio that I’ve managed to grow over the years, but that’s still a lot of cash to ask from one’s child.

In all the texts and missed calls that I see on my phone from my dad, not one inquires about me. They are all about money.

Leah, I need cash.

Leah, send it now.

And on they went for days. His last ones are threatening and just reading them makes my chest ache and my stomach pitch painfully.

I transfer the entirety of my savings, so he’ll have access to

several million.

The money is gone.

I wait several seconds.

I don’t get a thank you or even a phone call.

Just a single text: received.

I hate that he never asked about me or in my lack of replies thought to worry or come here to check on me.

“Your father’s a piece of shit,” Aaron tells me.

12

Chapter 10

“I thought you left.”

He stands by the door, watching me as I’ve been working from my phone, where I’ve been alternating between reading the financial reports he left queued on his computer, and

transferring the money.

“I hope you didn’t do something you’ll regret,” he says.

Like handing over millions of dollars that my husband likely considers ‘ours’ to my father-his enemy?

“No. Of course not,” I say easily.

He snorts.

I point to two companies whose shares we’ve both been following for a while. “You marked these to offload. Is there something wrong with the financial projections?”

He nods. “Both companies are about to go belly up.”

Oh no. I bought ten thousand shares of each on behalf of my father’s pack last month. I don’t exactly hide that I make those investments, but technically it’s all managed by my father, I

just pass along information from my research or that Aaron

shares with me.

He smirks. Then he comes back into the room, tilts up my chin with his big hand and kisses me. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

I’m pretty sure my mouth is still hanging open as he leaves.

Those two words…

To hear him say them, to apologize.

Aaron doesn’t ‘do’ apologies.

And just moments ago he was smirking. What exactly is he apologizing for, I wonder. Not that it matters. It’s enough that he gave me the words. Finally.

I sink back into the chair. Shocked. Elated.

Feeling those broken bits of my heart coming back together

again.

You see… it’s these moments. The tender ones.

The heated embraces and possessive glances. The way he holds me at night, or does something unexpectedly sweet. The

way this man with a single look, with one kiss, can claim every

part of my body.

I touch my mouth.

Aaron is cold and controlled and closed off.

But these glimpses of warmth…

They are what give me hope.

That maybe there is more to our relationship.

And hope… hope is really dangerous for a dying girl like n

*

*

AARON

I wait in the hallway and listen.

I can hear Leah’s shuttered breaths.

I’ve confused her, as I’ve intended.

The way to break her is not with force.

She is too strong for that.

But her heart is big and open and her trusting nature…now that is a prime thing for me to exploit.

Because I have every intention of keeping her where she

belongs.

4/7

Here.

Though walls and distance surround us, I swear I can feel her joy, like some force of positive energy radiating from her to

My phone blinks and I see that funds have been transferred. I’ve never micromanaged her finances before, because I didn’t have a reason to. She doesn’t spend a lot of money. She

isn’t into fancy clothes or expensive jewelry. She sends money

back home but the funds she had from her dowry were hers,

and I allowed her to manage them as she chose to.

Her father gave her a pittance of money when she was pledged to me. We’ve grown that amount a hundred times.

over.

I never touched a dime of my wife’s. But from the moment she went ‘missing’ last week, that all ended.

I track her whereabouts with her cell and I now get an update

of any changes to her accounts. From coins for a game on her iphone to Amazon orders she has sent to the mansion.

Most of the charges are subscriptions for regular,

pack-related items and necessities. But that account transfer

to her dad…

I’ll say it again: He’s a piece of shit.

What kind of man takes from his child? What kind of parent lets a kid work or suffer to support him?

We dressed it up as an “arranged marriage for peace” but Robert had been intent on selling his daughter, even when she’d been barely a teen. He didn’t know what kind of man I

was. He could’ve been handing her over to a beast.

And seriously, he had to assume the worst, given the hatred and long-standing feuds between our packs.

After what he did to my sister…

Why would he think I’d be anything less than brutal to his offspring?

And still… he sent a girl to war.

He sent that girl to me.

I never touched her. The thought never even crossed my mind. After we were married, it was a few years before we crossed that line because despite my hatred for her father and her pack, I would not take advantage of an innocent.

And that’s what Leah is.

An innocent woman caught up in her pack’s machinations and

forced to pay their blood debt to me.

Leah never wants to see that truth for what it is.

That her father is a vile monster, capable of anything.

But that will change.

Very soon.

I watch as the text she’s sending to her father and brother about which stocks to unload goes through.

Excellent.

The messages are sent and received.

That’s another new bit of intel, having her phone

automatically sync its texts to mine. I’ll see every one and by