Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five
Catherine paced in Dominic’s room as she waited for Chloe. She looked at the clock on the wall. 5:30. It had been two hours since her dream with Graham. Was he on his way? Had he found her scent? Would he be too late?
Catherine took a deep breath. She could still smell his apple cider scent on her skin. It had been so real. When she first saw him… She thought she’d fallen asleep and was dreaming. The dark circles under his eyes, the gaunt expression and the lingering exhaustion on his face told her he was really there. She remembered how his expression had shifted when he first held her and it nearly split her heart in two. She vowed that when this was all over, she would never leave his side again. Even if he had to infiltrate a cave full of rogues, she would raid it with him.
A knock on the door made her stop her pacing. The door opened and Chloe was unceremoniously shoved inside. The poor woman staggered a few steps and crumpled to the floor. Catherine rushed over and knelt down beside her. Chloe groaned and laid flat against the floor. If she looked bad the first night she was here, Catherine didn’t know what word would best describe her state now.
“He’s taking everything from you, isn’t he?” Catherine asked.
Chloe licked her chapped lips and nodded. “I’m… so…” Chloe sighed. “Tired.”
“Come on, let me help you up,” Catherine suggested.
She placed her arms under Chloe’s legs and behind her back. She focused on her core and lifted up. Catherine tried to ignore the pang of worry that raced through her when she managed to lift Chloe as if she weighed nothing. She walked to the bed and laid Chloe down.
“What do you need?” Catherine asked, placing a cold cloth to her forehead.
Chloe choked on a sob. “Toma.”
Catherine’s eyes stung with tears. “I know. He’s coming.”
“You don’t know that,” Chloe started to cry. “He hates me. He… he was going to reject me.”
“No, I do know. He’s coming for you. Graham said so.”
Chloe’s eyes opened. “What?”
Catherine glanced around, unsure if there were cameras hidden in the room. “Hold on.”
Catherine ran around the room, rummaging in drawers until she found what she needed. Notebook and pen in hand she returned to the bed and started writing.
I found Graham. Lucas and Theo drugged him so he would sleep. I told him everything and he’s coming.
After Chloe read the note she covered her eyes with her hands and started to sob. Catherine gripped her thigh to let her know she was still there. She waited several minutes as the relief of the news worked its way through her. After about five minutes Chloe was able to collect herself. With red eyes she held her hand out for the notebook. As she scribbled, tears started to stream again.
Did Graham say Toma was with him?
Catherine smiled at Chloe before responding.
Yes, his exact words were, ‘Toma is here for Chloe.’ He’s here for you, Chloe. He’s with Graham and he’s going to stop this.
Chloe read what she wrote and started to cry over again. Catherine wanted to ask what Curtis was putting her through. The state of her body spoke volumes but she was still curious. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Chloe’s shoulders until the tears slowly died. Chloe eventually pushed Catherine away.
Okay. Graham is coming. Did he say anything else?
Catherine shook her head. I’d say to wait until we know he’s here. Don’t give in yet, Chloe. We just have to get through this dinner and by tomorrow hopefully we’ll get an alert that they’re here.
་་་་་་་་་ང ་་་ ་པ ་་I་ ་I་་པ་ ཏུ་་ བ་ས་ ་་
normal. It was an emerald green silk number that showed off a portion of her cleavage but had thick straps and showed none of her back. She wondered if it was to impress the council member Graham told her about. She let her hair do as it wanted and didn’t attempt any makeup. As she helped Chloe limp down toward the dining hall at 6:55, there was more of a spring in her step and a lightness in her shoulders. Graham was coming.
Two guards stood at the dining hall entrance. They opened the door in unison. Chloe and Catherine entered. There were only a few people standing around the dining room this time. Though they were not the same faces as before, she knew them just as well. Catherine tried to focus, to keep her arms around Chloe so she wouldn’t fall. It was a difficult ask though, when she saw her adoptive parents beam at the sight of her.
“Luna Catherine!” they cheered together.
Luna Catherine?
Catherine’s anger flared and her eyes immediately tracked toward Dominic. “What the hell are these people doing here?”
“Hello, Love,” Dominic greeted, ignoring her hostility to walk toward her with extended arms. He tried to reach out to peck her cheek but she stumbled back, nearly knocking Chloe to the ground in the process.
“Remember my conditions,” Catherine whispered.
Dominic scowled but quickly fixed his face. “By tomorrow night you’ll be Luna of MoonStone. I thought you might want to celebrate with your parents.”
“They are not my parents,” Catherine hissed.
The two people who raised her both shared expressions of shock. “Well, I never. You ungrateful…”
“Hector,” Martha warned with a sheepish smile directed toward Dominic.
Hector glanced between the angered alpha and his worried mate. “Right, my apologies. Luna Catherine, I understand you may be upset with us but I beg you to see things from our side.”
“Your side? You raised me as if I were your own only to betray me in the worst way possible.”
“Catherine,” Chloe breathed, her strength waning.
“Sorry, let me get you in a seat,” Catherine whispered. She walked to the nearest chair and helped Chloe to sit. Once she was certain Chloe wouldn’t fall from her seat, Catherine spun to confront Dominic. “These people aren’t my parents. You paid them to take care of me.”
Dominic smiled. “Of course I did. Did you expect me to allow my mate to be raised in an orphanage? With scraps for food and rags for clothes?”
Catherine’s fists clenched at her sides. “Yes, you’re right. Tell me, how much did you pay them for my well-being?” She glanced over at her faux parents who shrunk under the question.
“100 grand a year,” he told her, trying to brush some hair behind her ear. By doing so he brushed across Graham’s mark and she knocked his hand away angrily.
“100,000 dollars? Specifically for me?”
“Well, yeah!”
She turned to face her parents. “Did you ever check to see what they were spending the money on?”
“No, what could they do with that kind of money other than spend it on you?”
For a moment, for the briefest of seconds, Catherine wondered how differently things might have been if Dominic chose to be there for her from the beginning. He was psychotic, deranged, a killer… but he did care for her. If only in an unhealthy way.
“I hate to break it to you, Dominic, but even under their roof I was fed scraps and was dressed in rags. I wasn’t allowed sweets. I couldn’t go to parties or attend school dances or field trips. I was sheltered, imprisoned and mentally abused.” Tears welled in her eyes as she allowed herself to see her childhood for what it was: preparation for a life spent under someone else’s thumb. Dominic chuckled behind her.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five
“Love, I’m the one who dictated you not be fed sweets for your figure,” Dominic started. Catherine turned to stare at him. “I didn’t want you to wander off on school field trips. 1 certainly didn’t want you out late with other boys or at dances where those same boys could hold you close. Sounds to me these folks did exactly as they were told.”
Hector and Martha smiled at their alpha and bowed their heads in submission. “Thank you, Alpha.”
“Take a seat, Catherine. We have a lot to prepare for. We’re expecting one last guest but he messaged to let me know he was running late,” Dominic said. He gestured for her parents to take their seats. He held the chair out beside him for Catherine. Still in shock, she sat without any protest. “Good girl,” he whispered in her ear.
The praise brought her back to her living dream. Good Girl, Graham had whispered to her when she told him how she’d defended herself. She clenched the table edge in her hands. She closed her eyes.
Graham? she called through the mind link.
Was he close enough to hear? Was he on his way? As the seconds passed, she felt her hope fading. Dominic and her parents discussed MoonStone gossip and how he planned to celebrate Catherine becoming Luna. She ignored Hector’s incessant reminders that they hadn’t yet been given their last payment. Servants placed grilled chicken and more potatoes in front of her and she sighed. Were the girls in Blackmoore doing okay in the kitchen? Did they even notice her absence? She would give up her gift, her birthright to be Luna if she could just have her mate and her job in the kitchen.
Dominic’s laughter cut off suddenly and Catherine glanced up. His Beta was standing beside him. Though no words were exchanged, she knew they were communicating through mindlink. Dominic’s expression became murderous. His eyes flicked briefly to her before narrowing in suspicion.
“I’ll be right there,” he said aloud. Dominic’s Beta left the room in a hurry while Dominic dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I have something to deal with real quick. Stay,” he ordered her with a pointed look.
Catherine watched Dominic leave the room. Something was definitely wrong. As the possibilities swirled in her mind she cast a glance to Chloe who shrugged her shoulders. Catherine played with the food on her plate.
Baby? A voice called in her mind. Catherine’s fork clattered to the plate. She clapped a hand over her mouth and tears flooded her eyes. Baby, I’m in.
