Page 123 of Eclipse Sector

I… I couldn’t turn off the voices.

Unmated.

Pregnant.

Poor thing.

Guess she finally got what she wanted—the only part of Cillian he’ll ever be willing to give.

Stop,I begged, trying to turn off all the voices as the world swam dangerously around me.Please, stop.Concrete met my shins. Or maybe my knees? I was struggling to feel, to understand my surroundings. It was just soloud. Sointense.

Look at her. She’s practically breaking down in the street.

Something is really wrong,Mindy was thinking, her statement underlined with fear. “Ivana,” I heard her say out loud.

Or maybe it was in her head.

“Cillian!” she screamed, eliciting a wince from inside me, the source of it my heart.

Don’t, I wanted to tell her. But I… I couldn’t…I can’t…Oh, Gods…

Cillian! Cillian! Cillian!

Each shriek resembled a bullet to my heart. I didn’t want to hear his name, but it was screeching across my mind, engraving its presence in my very soul.

Tears clouded my vision, my head spinning with unwanted thoughts. Unwanted shouts.And wolflike snarls.

A loud growl echoed from deep within me, the vibration so intense that I hugged my knees to my chest in an attempt to quiet the sound.

Except I hadn’t been the one to unleash it.

Cillian,I heard several people think.

“Ivana.” His voice rumbled through me, like he was hovering over me. Surrounding me. Filling me with his warmth. “Ivana.”

A purr followed, causing my wolf to mewl with want. We wanted an Alpha to purr for us. To care for us. To nurture us.

An Alpha who loved us.

Who wanted us.

Whochoseus.

But I was alone.Wewere alone. Me. My wolf.The baby.

My arms curled around my belly protectively, my mind seeming to fracture beneath the intense uncertainty surrounding me.

The voices. So many voices. Too many voi?—

Listen to me,one of them demanded.Only me, Ivana. Hear my thoughts. My words. Only mine.

I tried to shake my head, but I seemed to be immobilized against something hard and hot.The sidewalk? No. Too warm for that. I… I…

Ivana.The deep tone carried through my head, causing my wolf to whine at the dominance of that voice.Focus on me, macushla. Pretend there are doors in your mind and slam all of them shut except for the one connected to me.

No, no,I thought, trying once more to shake my head. Because no. No, I didn’t want to hear him at all.He doesn’t want us. Me or the baby.

My heart stuttered, the last vestiges of my strength seeming to disappear as heavy bands of muscle wrapped around me. Or maybe they’d been there for a while?