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To spare Sabelle, who had been obviously in love with her , least of all the woman who had saved his life And he had never nursed political aspirations He would have accepted a Council seat to help Bram, not for any a to Call to Sabelle and have her speak the Binding to join their lives for the rest of their centuries ripped every one of Anka’s insecurities open and filled the pain

She blinked once, twice She saw Sabelle’s pitying expression Her heart thudded dully in her chest Tears scraped the backs of her eyes like a thousand little claws scratching in evil glee

"Anka" Sabelle knelt at her feet "Lucan never loved me, except as a friend You have his heart still, I swear"

Did his heartto cast it aside and mate with a witch whose family and stature were far above her own He’d been ready to e with someone far better than her For a century, he’d sworn her family didn’t matter to him Every tiently to spare her And now she knew the truth All this ti up with Shock, heartbroken that she was hurting Lucan with her refusal to come back and her inability to explain… But Lucan had beenon, ready to take another into his hoht as well have stuck a knife in her chest and carved out her heart, leaving her hollow and bleeding, foolishly pining for a ly truth from her with lies

She supposed that o"

"Don’t You’retotally Lucan loves you, dearest He is inco to have you back"

"No, he’d give anything to have theon his every word and did exactly as he bid He didn’t want a real woman, Belle He wanted one who fit into his world He certainly never wanted one to be his world"

As she stumbled for the door, Sabelle at her heels, Ice blocked her "She’s telling you the truth, Anka"

"Were you eavesdropping, my caveman?" Sabelle sounded somewhere between cross and aed at Ice’s face, which disappeared as he looked Anka’s way again "I know Bra back fro you He seems to lack will I think his heart is broken"

Or he hadthe sort of retted the h his fingers

"You both think he loves aze to Ice "Would you have ever stopped looking for Sabelle if she had been taken froain once you found her?"

Ice gritted his teeth, and cursed in a soft whisper, looking away

Anka had her answer "Of course you wouldn’t Because Sabelle is your heart, your soul, your other half You know her You know that you love and need her No matter what she said or did, you would never rest until she was yours again Lucan let o with barely a protest Think on what that means, Ice"

As she inched between hio He’d only done so because he knew she was right and had no arguic Lucan had thrown in thewould only pound the final nail in their coffin deeper Though Lucan had never said a word on this score, Anka knew her bloodline and fah for him And now that he knehat she needed in bed, what she craved…well, he’d write her off entirely as daates, and soed witch as his newMaybe there was so with her, and she deserved this toxic relationship she shared with Shock Whatever the case, she was locking Lucan aith the rest of her past andon with her future She was now free to become exactly who and what she wanted to be, his expectations be da sessions ended, she’d do everything in her power to cut him from her life--and her heart--forever

Chapter Five

Lucan walked into the training rooleaned fros he wanted to say to his former mate He understood Anka’s needs now--in theory, anyway Everything the fetish club owner had explained cast a glaring floodlight into her psyche And he was stunned All those decades he’d lived with and loved Anka, never realizing that she was sub her will to him, while he’d never met--or even sensed--her needs Guilt crushed hi different?

Flipping on the lights, he paced to the boxing gloves, absently unknotting the laces A door slammed behind him, and he zipped around to welcoue

But it wasn’t his Anka alked toward hioddess swayed in his direction She wore her pale hair pulled away froeously feh The thick rope of tresses hung over one shoulder, its tail swinging lazily against the bottom curve of her breast Those luscious orbs he’d once caressed and suckled tenderly were now hugged by a tight black tank top The gar in to cinch her tiny waist A pair of black leather pants cupped her lean hips and slender thighs before tucking into black boots that laced up to her knees, coht All in all, she looked like a cross between a kick-ass feaped mutely at her, aware that his jaw had hit his chest soo He knew this woman intimately, still loved her with every beat of his hollow, broken heart But the Anka he’d known preferred to blend into the background The one standing before him noith a raised brow demanded his full attention without a word She rabbed him by the cock and squeezed unmercifully

"Anka?"

The curve of her little smile mocked him She meant that expression to be a barricade His demure Anka had been replaced by a spitfire ould scratch and claw and fight for what she believed in He needed her to believe in hiain

"You told me that y and the like, you said No such problem today, I trust?"

It wasn’t a question, but a dare Clearly, soed in the last twenty-four hours Soe inside her, and Lucan wanted details In the past, he ht have cuddled her on his lap and simply asked what troubled her One look at her fiery aauntlet at his feet, daring him to live with her defiance or rein it in The barricades around her heart and ain, scaling the battle