hapter 15
Gemma
“Gemma,” Donovan says. He’s old, but his voice is still deep and resonant. It’s like I can feel his Alpha power leaking through the
phone.
“Good evening, Alpha Blackwell,” I say.
He chuckles. “None of that, my girl. You know to call me Grandpa.
Tell me, did I wake you?”
I can never keep my guard up against the open affection in the old Alpha’s voice. Maybe because, aside from my mother, no one has ever spoken to me this way: kind and caring.
I still can’t reconcile it with the man who backed me into a corner
and got me to marry his grandson.
“No,” I say, curling my knees up to my chest in the back seat
of the car as I watch the city go by. “I’m awake. Is something
wrong?”
“No, no. I’ve just been speaking to my new doctor. He’s got witch
blood. Very knowledgeable about herbs and potions.”
“I see,” I say as my heart sinks. I know where this conversation is
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going.
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“I’ve got another potion for you. I’m headed over now to drop it off personally. This time, you’re sure to get pregnant.”
I bite my lip. He wants an heir from Cassian so badly, and since there hasn’t been one in three years, he thinks we have fertility
issues. And since Alpha wolves never have fertility issues, the
problem logically has to be me.
I don’t have the heart to tell him that Cassian simply refuses to
sleep with me. But keeping up the lie means I have to take all the
potions, pills, and medicines Donovan is always bringing me.
I should pull off the band–aid now and tell him about Cassian’s
refusal to have babies, the divorce, all of it. But it’s so hard to
disappoint one of the two people in the world who truly loves me.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll see you there.”
We hang up, and I tell the driver to change directions and take me
to the house I used to share with Cassian.
I ask him to wait in a shadowed alley while I hurry over to the gate of the house. If I do this right, Cassian will never know I was
here and I can get back to Zina’s apartment and still get a decent
amount of sleep.
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But just my luck, Cassian gets home before his grandfather
arrives.
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I didn’t have anywhere to hide, so I stand awkwardly at the gate to
the driveway while he drives right up.
Cassian
I wish I can say I’m surprised to see Gemma when I pull up to the
gate, but I’m not.
The little rabbit is already tired of her game. She didn’t even last three days.
She must be here to apologize for her ridiculous outbursts over
the last few days.
Lucky for her, I’m in a forgiving mood.
I roll down the window as I pull up next to her. “You can go in, but
don’t do this again. Next time I won’t let it go so easily.”
Confusion crosses her beautiful face, then her brows furrow in
anger and she takes a step toward the car. “You have some nerve, you know that?”
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1 min loft
I frown, Irritation rising. “Like I said, Gemma, I won’t hold it against you. What the hell are you complaining about now?”
But I know what it has to be. “Is this the Reyna thing still?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Reyna is a skilled businesswoman.
She knows the ins and outs of the underworld. Stop being jealous
of her accomplishments and get over yourself.”
Pure rage like I’ve never seen flashes in Gemma’s eyes. Her hands
clench into fists. She opens her mouth to speak, and I think she
might yell at me again.
Why am I intrigued by the idea?
Why does the power she exudes when she’s this angry turn me on so fucking much? When she’s angry like this, she gets a light in her eyes and this feeling swirls around her.
She’s like a goddess, a force who can bring sustaining life or
merciless death.
But then she pulls back, no longer a primordial force but the little rabbit once more. She looks to the side and says, “I don’t care about Reyna. Didn’t Ferne tell you? I don’t work for you anymore.”
I couldn’t be more surprised if she suddenly got a wolf and bit me.
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“What do you mean you don’t work for me?”
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She throws up her hands in frustration. “Cassian, did you even notice I didn’t go to your stupid meeting?!”
“You’re throwing a tantrum,” I snarl. I push open the door to the
car.
“And you’re-
Before she can finish her sentence, we’re drowned in the bright white glare of headlights.
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