Chapter 57


    #Chapter 57 – Blood


    “You would have refused, Evelyn!” Victor yells, mming my kitchen door behind him as he stalks into


    the room behind me.


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    We just spent thest half-hour shaking hands and smiling at people’s congrattions. I kissed my


    boys,ughed at Wird’s jokes about surprises, smiled for pictures, all the while seething on the


    inside, waiting for the moment when I could tear him apart.


    As soon as there was a break, I caught Victor’s eye. It wasn’t hard – he’s been waiting for this too.


    Without a word, we both stalked off towards my cottage.


    “Yes, Victor,” I say, spinning to face him. “I would have refused, because you took the one thing from


    me that I have left! You took my freedom,” I say, banging on his honed chest with my fist. “And now


    you’ve got me all wrapped up in documents, your little pet, here at yourmand.”


    He growls down at me, perhaps not as cool under my pressure as he thought he would be. “So go


    ahead, Victor,” I hiss, bringing my face close to his in a challenge. “Boss me around. That’s what you


    want, isn’t it? All this talk about protection and family, but all you want is control. So go ahead,


    command me.” My lips pull back as I growl. “Make me do your bidding.”


    Victor fully bears his teeth then and he moves towards me, seeking to dominate me with force of his


    will, but I don’t stand down. His eyes dart downward, taking in all of me – my whole form in white linen


    andce. “Go ahead, Victor,” I whisper, cruel. “Do it.”


    He spins away from me, a snarl ripping from his throat. “Evelyn, you’re taking this out of hand.”


    “I’m doing no such – “


    “Evelyn,” hemands, mming his hand against the wall. “It is a simple issue. If I had told you, you


    would have refused. So I was obliged to force your hand, for your own protection.”


    “No, Victor,” I say, crossing my arms across my chest. “You had a choice between two options: to tell


    me, or not to tell me. But only one choice would have yielded you what you wanted, and so that’s the


    choice you made. And you’re trying to assuage your own guilt by suggesting to me that there wasn’t a


    choice at all!”


    “It’s for your protection, Evelyn,” Victor continues to insist, his back to me. “You now have my official


    protection, and have been reinstated as an Alpha-born woman, the rights of which – ”


    “I don’t want those rights!” I cry, flinging my arms to the side. “I ran away from those rights, which


    ruined the first twenty-two years of my life! I changed my name so no one would ever tie me to the


    person I was, an alpha-born female, ever again!”


    “You’re a fool, Evelyn,” Victor says, turning and stalking back to face me. “As a woman marked with


    Alpha status you are protected, you cannot be touched,”


    “Living in a gilded cage,” I cry again, though softer this time, overwhelmed by my emotions. “Protected,


    but tied – ”


    “I am not tying you to anything,” he says, taking my face in his hands, showing honest remorse at my


    distress.


    “You’re tying me to you,” I return, pressing my own hands against his and staring up into his face. We


    stay like this for a moment before I plead, “Please, Victor. Let me go, let me be Rogue again. I can’t…I


    can’t live like this.” Tears seep free from my eyes, collecting against Victor’s fingers.


    “Evelyn, if you’re mine, your father can’t get to you,” Victor says, soft. “He can’t touch you, can’t take


    you away, can’t take your boys away. Don’t you see? In one day, I’ve made you all safe from him.”


    “Don’t you see, Victor? You’re ying into his game. He wanted this.”


    Victor takes a step away from me and drops his hands, his face now wary and curious. “What do you


    mean? How could he have wanted this?”


    “I don’t know,” I say, exhausted and at the end of my emotional rope. “I don’t know what he gains from


    this, but I do know that he called you to his house for a reason. He pushed your hand for a reason.”


    “He said horrible things about you, Evelyn,” Victor says. “Terrible things – sought to make me hate you


    – ”


    “Or sought to make you want to protect me, Victor,” I say, hanging my head. “Wasn’t that the result?


    You’re ying checkers with someone who is a master at chess, Alpha Kensington. And you’re ying


    right into his trap, whatever it is.”


    Victor stalks away to stare out the back window, trying to figure it out. I copse into a chair at the


    kitchen table, exhausted now that my rage has gone. I nce at the clock on the stove. It’s only 1:00.


    How am I supposed to survive the rest of this day?


    The back door swings open and Amelia enters, Edgar close on her heels. “What are you two doing,”


    Amelia whispers furiously. She hurries over to Victor and grabs his hand. “Everyone saw you disappear


    in here together, and the press is waiting for interviews, Victor. Can you pleasee out and control


    this situation?”


    “We were just discussing the change,” Victor says, gesturing to me. “If you couldn’t tell, Evelyn was…


    surprised.”


    Edgar kneels down next to me, taking my hand. “Are you okay?” he asks, his voice careful and full of


    love. I smile at him and nod.


    “Oh, sure, she was surprised,” Amelia says, rolling her eyes. “No concern for my surprise in that


    moment. No rushing off to an abandoned cottage tofort me. Come on.” She grabs Victor by the


    right hand and pulls him towards the door.


    As she goes, Amelia nces at me and then stops dead in her tracks. She c***s her head to the side


    and then take a few steps closer, staring at my face. Her eyes quickly flick between my face and


    Victor’s poorly-bandaged left hand, which is now leaking blood.


    “Better get cleaned up before youe back out, Evelyn,” Amelia sneers. “You’ve got something right


    here.” She taps her right cheek and I raise my hand to feel that, indeed, it is sticky. I look at my fingers


    as Amelia pulls Victor out the door behind her. They away red, with blood. Victor’s blood, from when he


    held my face in his hands.


    “Are you okay?” Edgar asks, moving to the sink and wetting a paper towel. He quicklyes back and


    dabs at my face. “Did you get cut?”


    “No,” I say, “It’s nothing. Just a little blood – from the boys, the ceremony,”


    “Mmm,” he says, smiling up at me. “I knew in all that white they were bound to get a little blood on


    them. Didn’t think it would spread to you as well.” He carefully wipes my cheek until the toweles


    away clean. “There. All set.”


    “Thank you, Edgar,” I say, smiling and cupping his cheek in my hand. “You’re so good to me.”


    He kisses me softly. “You’ve had a tough day,” he says. “But I promise, I won’t leave your side for the


    rest of it. Come on. Let’s get you a slice of cake. The sugar will do you good.”


    We stand up and head out of the cottage, back towards the party. Edgar securely wraps my arm


    securely around my waist as we walk, guiding me as I put my head on his shoulder and rx. But even


    as I feel myself calming, there is something within me – my stomach, my gut, somewhere…new, that I


    didn’t know existed. That, like apass that has found a new north, pulls inexorably elsewhere.