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"Get the fuck out of here"

Lucan shot Shock a sreat Enjoy it I have no doubt I’ll see you in ten ed fro, he closed his eyes and braced hi Anka to Shock’s dubiously tenderhe’d ever done The second tiht accept the prat as her true mate forever, was th of the love they’d shared for over a century Histo hiate hiuilt for not being there when Mathias abducted her And for not understanding her needs before their ed, defeated, any ti inside his He would take care of her, no reen," Braback chair just outside the door

Lucan quickly explained everything Millie said after his departure After Bram picked his jaw up off his chest, he sent Lucan a solemn stare "So now you wait?"

"Noait" He fucking hated it and didn’t kno the hell he’d stand it

"Drink?"

"No If the few I’ve already had haven’t relaxedwill But I am her true mate I have to be"

"Perhaps that’s the reason neither you nor Anka have truly let go Sabelle told hts were often wrapped entirely around you I don’t knohat’s driven her to make half the decisions she has"

"Fear? Maybe she thinks that too ain She’s scarred That bastard flayed her flesh wide open and drained her so that she couldn’t heal She feels less than perfect, though in ht minutes more to find out if I’ll have the opportunity to convince her of that"

Bram nodded and didn’t try to fill the silence

Anka screa the hair on the back of his neck stand up Her suffering ripped at his co to rip down that door and hold her He would slay dragons for her, darowled so low and short A demand A crash followed, then another horrific screa the wall resounded next Shock cursed All the while, Lucan held his breath, hoping Anka would come to her senses and realize that he was the only man for her

"It doesn’t sound as if Shock is having an easy time of it," Bram observed

"No" Thank God

Then all fell quiet again Lucan tried not to take that as a bad sign and fought to erase the frown creasing his face

"Why do you suppose Morganna hit Anka with a fertility spell?" Brarateful

"That’s the question, really" It had circled in his own head once or twice "I can’t ianna merely wanted to reduce the numbers of the Doomsday Brethren, she wouldn’t bother toin it for Morganna to eneration of Doomsday Brethren She doesn’t know Anka at all, so why do her a ‘favor’?"

"Agreed Even if Morganna read Anka’s deepest desires, why expend the energy to er’s wish coanna is terribly logical Fro we know, she’s impulsive and wretchedly teered her?"

Braain, if she did, why not siical at all"

Before he could reply, another of Anka’s blood-curdling cries split the air Shock’s low voice echoed off the walls, the tone coaxing Then frantic footsteps pounded across the floor, a frenzied fu closer to the door, digging his fingers into his thighs to stop hi it open

"Anka!" Shock barked on the other side

She cried out in answer, a fearful sound of denial Scuffling filled the air, then a thud Unnerving silence followed It dragged on Lucan waited, paced, wondering what the hell was happening behind that door

Then a sound he’d dreaded hearing: the rhyths

Low moans bounced off the walls next, hers, Shock’s It didn’t take long before the teave an i and low, a sound that dripped pleasure and shriveled Lucan’s gut Fuck if he didn’t want to crumple into a heap of misery

So that was it; Anka had accepted Shock over hi her need and would soon fill her with seed With his youngling

Soher true mate

The sympathy on Bram’s face was more than he could bear "I’m sorry"

Lucan squeezed his eyes shut Defeat slid like a thick sludge through his veins He felt the last of his breakfast chug in his sto life would be spent with surrogates having polite exchanges of energy, never knowing affection or tenderness Certainly not devotion And never love

Anka had chosen Shock Would they it really make her happy? Would he watch her favoriteseen them a million times? Would he rub her cold feet in winter? Or run her a stealass of hen stress worked her into a cute little tizzy? Would he kno tenderly she needed to be loved when she looked lost after talking about the death of her mother?

Before now, he had bet his very heart that the answers to all those questions were no Apparently, he’d been wrong

Sing the rising bile, Lucan forced hiet the fuck out of here One foot in front of the other Only a few more to the stairs Bram leapt to his feet and fell into step beside him

"You’ll understand that I can’t train her anymore," Lucan murmured

His life had shattered permanently Once, he’d believed that he and Anka would somehow reunite Now, he knew better He felt…stunned Broken Soon, the anger and grief, the abject despair he’d known recently, would hit him He would drink heavily, rail at anyone ould listen, then bury himself at home in a life of total solitude How could he have been so bloody wrong about as in Anka’s heart?