Page 55

“Oh, hell no.” I cup her cheeks, shaking my head. “You are not giving up on us.”

“There is no us if there is no Nex, and he’s made it clear what he wants—and that’s not me.” I hate the emotionless way she says this. “I’ve accepted it and now you need to.”

“Fuck no, little mate. I’m not letting you go. Sure, there are going to be some bumps and bruises along the way, but that’s no reason to give up.” I bare my teeth at her as I adjust my hold to her shoulders, shaking her lightly. “Do you hear me, Audrey? I won’t let you give up on us.”

She sighs as if I’m an inconvenience. “I’m sorry, Cassian.”

Audrey tries to step away, but I cling to her harder. I’m not letting this happen. I’ll beat some sense into Nex if I need to, but I’m not losing my mate. Nor am I going to allow her to be this emotionless shell of a woman. I need to think of something to snap her out of it.

A smirk slides across my lips as something occurs to me. I don’t know if it’ll work to snap her out of this, but I have to do something. I bite my bottom lip, my cock hardening beneath my pants.

Oh, yes. This will be so much fun.

“You want to run from me, little mate?” I ask, releasing her and stepping back. “Then run. But be prepared because I will give chase.”

She blinks at me, confused.

“Do you not understand?” I laugh, a bit of cruelness sinking into the sound as she tilts her head and stares at me. “You want to run, and I’ve decided to let you—because I want to chase you. And when I catch you, I’m going to tear the clothes from your body and fuck you into the ground until you understand that I’m never going to let you go. That I’m never going to let you give up on us. I am yours, and you are mine.”

Interest flashes in her eyes—there and gone again in a second, but it’s enough.

“NOW, RUN!!!”

Audrey startles at my shout, her eyes wide. She seems frozen for a moment before taking off into the trees, running as quickly as she can.

This was definitely the right call.

Not wanting to catch her too quickly, I pull out my phone and shoot off a few messages.

CASSIAN

Audrey won’t be home for a bit.

DONOVAN

???

CASSIAN

I’m working on snapping her out of this bullshit.

DONOVAN

Need some help?

CASSIAN

Sigh. Not this time.

Maybe we can have a repeat later.

DONOVAN

Now I’m intrigued.

CASSIAN

Gotta go. I’ve got a mate to catch.