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Her response satisfied theof his callused hands against her fingers extended

Claire used the opportunity to put distance between theenerally left her in peace

When she eht her tray of breakfast Scrunching up her face at the offering, she made a noise that displayed her reluctance to eat it Apparently the junk food of her last reen fluid that s it, and then sat in stupefaction when after twenty er to come back up

The Alpha seemed pleased, then he left

Alone, Claire chewed her lip and found again that the painting of Shepherd atching her It was still there, left out in such an obvious position, still waiting for so her hands, she reached for it, aware that even in the hours she had been free of hiued her

It struck her then that the Alpha had hardly left her side in her waking hours, or even physically left her touch in days Whatever had happened between her arrival and the night spent in slumber on his lap must have left him content that she was established back in his power completely

He was right

Claire would reas… for Maryanne She would do as he wished to give thee, stoood captive as she looked for a way to help Thólos by the singularity of her situation

But it was strange to be alone in that cell, wide awake, and alone forback at that dae, the hard set of his jaw, even the beauty of his lips, she grew uneasy at the apparent change in him She had verbally attacked him when he could not use his normal recourse—already knotted, he could not fuck her, and had seeh the thread Yet Shepherd had not yelled, or punished Instead he had ad, and when their bodies were untied the man had even supplied what she had demanded before she'd lost her temper—he took her to see her sky, let her wake in the sunshine… then asked her personal questions

The thread hu? Are you not pleased?

She was not pleased, she was suspicious

The wave of instant soothing reassurance was i to her that there was no need to panic Even Claire had to agree The nightio back on a hunger strike Or she could break the mirror in the bathroom and slit her wrists She could just refuse to breathe

She still got to choose

A wave of apathy broke, all good feelings from the vieept into ennui Claire needed to think objectively, she needed to not feel A finger began to trace the outline of the portrait's jaw She made herself remember

Svana… Shepherd's beloved

Claire had accused hi twisted by Svana, but that could not be completely accurate They had twisted each other in their sick, unbalanced relationship The ht out in the Undercroft had earned her attention because he already had darkness in him

Shepherd had suffered; his mother had been raped until she died How many children suffered, how e? What did he really expect to accomplish here?

Furthermore, why had he captured her if he had a lover that had been his for ages? It was acy he claimed to desire from his mate Otherwise Shepherd would have reproduced with Svana Why not couple with his beloved?

There was so a child that Shepherd had been unwilling to share Recreating the tih his actions, her reactions, and the consequences of her escape attenated her as a result of her first escape, injected his fertility drugs into her before she had even regained consciousness It was such an extreme response, and the more she allowed herself to think about it objectively, to see past her feelings, the clearer it became It wasn't just the baby; he wanted her devotion, illing to force it by anyin his power to keep her just for himself, obsessed over it, and hid her away to the point of paranoia He even thought he loved her