Page 65 of Eclipse Sector

“I thought you hating me would help you move on,” I admitted aloud. “I was willing to accept the pain of your hatred if it meant your inevitable happiness.” I ran my fingers through my hair and blew out a breath. “I’m still willing to accept that hatred, Vana. But this…” I trailed off, my gaze taking in the sadness etched into her porcelain features.

She wasn’t happy at all.

She was downright miserable.

And that made two of us.

“I’ve said and done some things I’m not proud of, Ivana.”

That was a fucking understatement.

However, I didn’t voice that unnecessary addition aloud.

Instead, I went on by saying, “I thought I was making things easier on both of us. But nothing about this feels easy or right. I don’t know what else to say, other than I was wrong. I’m here to protect you, not hurt you.”

The wordsI’m sorrylingered on my tongue, but I’d already voiced them twice. She was going to either forgive me or tell me to fuck off.

The latter was more likely. And probably more warranted as well.

Still, I purred for her. Because it was all I could think to do. I remembered the hellhole I’d found her in all those years ago. I could only imagine the horrors threatening her mind now.

Her father had promised her to a Gold Sector Alpha. A fuckingdragon. Not a wolf.

And her brother had done nothing to help her. Hell, when he’d told me about the arrangement, he’dlaughed.

“What’s with the Omega in the hole outside?” I’d asked while pretending to drink the blood-laced beer he’d offered me at his pack’s version of a bar. It’d looked more like a cave.

I’d pretended to be a lone wolf, just passing through on my way to gods only knew where. The Alphas hadn’t thought anything of it, the mixed pack filled with all types of wolves.

Ivana’s brother and father had been the only V-Clan shifters.

And her mother had passed long before I’d arrived, probably because her father had shared her with the other Alphas. I’d never asked and Ivana had never mentioned it.

“She’s a prize,” Ivana’s brother—Chip—had said, a smile in his tone. “For Alpha Oros.”

“Alpha Oros?” I’d repeated, certain I hadn’t heard that right.

“Gold Sector Alpha.” Her brother had smirked. “He’s paying for her with some of that mystic rock shit. The kind that creates barriers.” He’d shrugged, obviously not fully aware of what Dragon Alphas could actually do withmystic rock shit. “She wasn’t wantin’ to uphold her part. So.” He took a long swig. “Dad put her in the hole.”

“She’s about to go into her first heat,” a growly W-Clan Alpha had added. “Chip here can’t play for obvious reasons. But Jinx said we can knot the Omega bitch until the dragon gets here. If you want a turn, you’ll have to get in line. Should be able to start sometime tomorrow, and I hear it’ll go on for a month.”

The excitement in his tone had been palpable.

And it’d disgusted me to my core.

We’d been close enough to where Ivana had been mentally chained for her to hear every word with her wolfish senses.

Which had consequently allowed her to overhear my reaction to her intended fate.

I’d been exceptionally violent, taking everyone down with a quick wave of power that none of them had anticipated. They’d assumed I was just a nomad passing through. A unique V-Clan wolf from a sector that had long been extinct.

Because that was what we’d led the majority of the supernaturals in the world to believe.

Eclipse Sector burned and all the wolves died.

Some powerful beings knew it was a lie. Most of those were either our allies or like-minded creatures who kept to themselves.

Regardless, I’d taken advantage of Jinx—Ivana’s father and the self-appointed small-pack leader—and his ignorance and killed all the Alphas in that run-down cave.