Chapter 67
“No.” I protest. “It isn’t possible, whatever happened between us in the past, however badly Ethan might
want the kids, Ethan would never harm his mother. He’s been devastat ed by her loss.” I exin, feeling
confused but increasingly confident Eric is on the wrong track.
“Devastated by loss, or guilt?” Eric suggests ominously.
“The investigators said a woman killed her.” I remind him, “If Ethan had done it her head wouldn’t have
even been on her neck anymore.”
“Well of course they did, you’re being framed for the crime
Jane, it would have to look like a woman did it whether it actu
ally was or not.” Eric insists. “And that man almost killed me for merely suggesting the pups weren’t his.
You think he wouldn’t take extreme action to keep them?”
“You don’t know Ethan like I do.” I insist, “He loved his
mother.”
“You’re right, I don’t know him like you. But I know how he talks about you and your family when you’re
not there and he’ s not trying charm you, I know the kinds of things Alphas do
to
behind closed doors to stay in power.” He leans forward, “You have a big heart, and your empathy for his
loss is blinding you.”
“My big heart isn’t the only problem with your theory.” I sigh, “Ethan doesn’t only want the kids, he wants
me too. He can’t have me if I’m behind bars.”
“He kept you out of prison once before didn’t he?” Eric asked, “didn’t you say there were assault charges
which had been dropped? Wasn’t that the start of all your problems with
him?”
–
Suddenly I realize he’s right. If I was med for Petra’s death, Ethan could keep the kids and take me
prisoner again, as an excuse to punish me without putting me in jail – just likest time. A moment ago I
was flushed with indignation, but now I feel all the blood draining from my face.
“What exactly happened with you two?” Eric asked. He clearly pieced together part of the story through
my ount of my interrogation and clues over the years, but I’ve only ever told Linda about just how bad
things got.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I can’t help but think Eric might not want me so badly if he knew how
low Ethan had brought me. That self destructive spark inside me is r ing up again, because I can
already feel myself thinking I won’t have to decide about dating Eric if he decides he doesn’t want
“It was a misunderstanding, one gone terribly wrong.” I murmur. “Eve concocted the entire scheme, but I
don’t know
how she did it.”
“What happened?” Eric questioned again.
“I’ve never been able to talk about it.” I admit, but even as I say it, I don’t feel the usual pressure tying my
tongue, the
helpless silence locking the truth inside me. “It was my gradu ation trip after college. It was just supposed
to be a simply girl’ s trip, but we were attacked by rogues the moment we got across the border. They
were waiting for us, and the moment we came in sight they attacked. The strange thing was that they
only went for Petra.” I exin, amazed I’ve even been
able to share this much.
“This is so strange,” I admit, “I wonder if Petra’s death somehow broke the spell. I’ve never been able to
get one word out about that day.” I continue. “They attacked Petra, they were going to rape her and it
was like I waspletely frozen. I wanted to help her, I kept trying to intervene but I was para lyzed. I
couldn’t speak or twitch a single muscle. Until Eve tried to step in, and then I could move, but not in any
way I chose. I
lunged for her, I took her down. I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t want to and couldn’t stop. It was like
I was someone else’s puppet.”
Eric reaches out and takes my hand, offering me silent support. The words are pouring out of me now,
and I catch myself speeding up, as if I’m afraid I’ll lose the ability to speak again before I can finish. “After
Eve passed out, the rogues just disappeared. I knew then and there it was a setup. They could have
attacked all of us I mean I was Luna, I was most valuable, but they only chose Petra and then they left
for no reason. I got my body back, but not my voice. I couldn’t say a word to defend myself to anyone,
even Ethan.”
—
“It took me a while to figure out that Eve was behind it, but I saw what happened after. Petra had never
liked me, but now
she hated me andpletely adored Eve. Eve lost her wolf in the attack and so Ethan moved her into
the penthouse, and they started an affair, and Petra was advocating for them to be married.”
“And Ethan?” Eric encourages, “What did he do?”
“He convinced Eve and Petra to drop the charges against me, but he didn’t let me go unpunished. He
demoted me from Luna, he made me nothing more than his concubine. I wasn’t permitted to work, I
stopped having anything to do with lead ing the pack and was takenpletely out of the public eye. I
wasn’t allowed to leave the house without his permission.” My voice shakes as I recount those horrible
days. “My entire life became servicing Ethan. I basically lived in house arrest, wait ing for him to decide
when he wanted a fuck and listening to Eve’s stories about their love affair.”
“I thought he’d thrown me over for her and was just keep ing me as a toy.” I close my eyes, unable to
look him in the eye. “Later I learned that there was never anything between them at all. Ethan took my
status but he couldn’t stay away, he couldn’t bring himself to throw me out. So in his mind, he thought he
was depriving me of my privileges as punishment for my crimes, but in reality I was just imprisoned for
some thing I didn’t do – degraded and demeaned for over a year.”
“What hurt the worst is that he believed them so easily, he believed I would just abandon Petra and
attack Eve for trying to help her. I couldn’t speak to defend myself, but he just ac cepted their word. We’d
been together since we were fifteen
―
he knew me better than anyone. And then, like he’d just snapped our bond in two, he treated me like a
cheap whore.”
The hand Eric has over mind is shaking now, and he pulls
me towards him. I don’t even realize I’m crying until he wipes the tears from my eyes. “It’s not your fault,
sweetheart.” He murmurs, hugging me tightly.
I let myself takefort from him for a few moments.
don’t feel the way I do when Ethan touches me full of excite. ment, butterflies and heat, but I do feel safe.
When I pull away, swiping at my cheeks, I nce around the shop to make sure our little scene didn’t
draw too much attention. Luckily there weren’t many other customers.
—
“I know how hard that was for you,” Eric acknowledges tenderly, “but there are a couple of things I’m not
sure you re alize you admitted, Jane.”
“What do you mean?” I question.
“You just told me Eve’s wolf was paralyzed in the attack.” He reminds me. “If she doesn’t have a wolf,
how did she attack Petra?”
Blinking, I frown up at him, “Maybe she was lying.” I guess, “she lied about everything else.”
“How do you know she was lying about the affair?” Eric presses.
“Ethan told me.” I confess, realizing how weak that would
sound to him. “But I also never saw any signs of it other than
what she said. I never smelled her on him or caught them at it.” A disturbing thought enters my mind, “Of
course, I never saw signs of her wolf either.”
Eric purses his lips. “Okay.” He sighs, dragging his hand through his hair, “And Petra, your paralysis – did
it ever ur
to you they were in on it together?”
–
“What do you mean?” I press.
“Well if the spell was broken by her death… maybe she’s the one who cast the spell in the first ce.
You said she never liked you, even before that.” He reasons.
“She thought I was a gold-digging omega, she always wanted Ethan with an Alpha female like Eve.” I tell
him.
“So maybe she and Eve worked up this scheme together to get you out of the picture, and Ethan simply
didn’t cooper ate.” He suggests.
“That’s possible.” I agree.
“And the other thing,” He forges ahead, “you just de scribed a man who was so obsessed with you that
he was will ing to enve you rather than give you up. Who’s to say he wouldn’t do the same thing
again? If he’s capable of doing that to the woman he supposedly loves he’s capable of any
thing.” Eric proims gravely. “Eve doesn’t have a wolf, and her motive from framing you is strong, but
it’s not as strong as Ethan’s. He had ess, motive, ability and now he has every excuse to keep you
and the pups here for good.”Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.