Maybe if I had another plan to offer her. A different pack, another option. Maybe if I was willing to leave my pack, live with hers. But I can't abandon mine. My absence is part of the reason everything's fucked there. The pack needs me.
No, if I care about Sedona-truly care-and I do, then the only right thing is let her walk away.
Even if it means my chest caves in from the weight on it.
~.~
Sedona
I sense the second Carlos drops back and lets me go.
I know I should consider it a gift, but it wounds me as much as his deception. I march forward toward the hotel, refusing to look back. I don't want to see his expression. Don't want to think about what he's feeling now.
Is she pregnant yet?
I can't fucking believe his council is here monitoring us still. Have they been watching everything? Our meeting in Tucson? Paris? I hate them. I really do. I hate them with a bitterness that runs so deep I might drown in it.
But no. This anger is the other side of the coin to being a victim. Which I'd decided not to be.
They don't control me. They're not going to shape my life or my future. They're especially not going to shape my pup's future.
I run up to our hotel room and throw my things in my suitcase. I'm going home. Maybe I'm running scared. Yeah, I am running scared. But I have more than my own safety to consider. I have the safety of my baby.
And seeing that council member here shook me up. Badly. Every hair on my arms stands up as I replay the scene. He was watching us.
I may have thought I escaped when I left Mexico, but I didn't. They're still here with me.
And they still believe I'm their breeder.
Tears blur my vision as I grab my suitcase and head out of the hotel room. I half expect Carlos to be standing outside the room, or downstairs in the lobby, or on the sidewalk outside the hotel, but he's not. No one stops me when I hail a cab and ask for the airport.
I know there's a chance I won't find any flights out at this time of night, but I don't give a crap. Every cell in my body screams for me to get out of here, fast. I need to get back to my family. To my pack, who will protect me.
Carlos can't be trusted. I don't even know if I can believe anything he said, anything that happened between us. It could have all been a fabrication to get me pregnant.
I'm glad now I didn't tell him.
There's a chance he's just as evil as his council.
That thought hurts worse than any other. To believe Carlos duped me or played me, that he never cared, leaves me clutching my chest to rid the searing pain.
I want to believe his feelings were real. But it's not enough. He may have a biological need to be near me and protect me because he's marked me, but it doesn't mean he loves me. It doesn't mean we're well-suited as mates.
I was vulnerable and I read too much into his attention but I need to harden myself now.
For my pup's sake.
~.~
Council Elder
I snap open the tiny vial of blood and inhale deeply.
Good. The American is pregnant. I had a few humans bump into her and get a blood sample. It isn't enough for a lab test, but I can tell by the scent.
Carlos is no longer needed. If he gives us any more trouble, we'll kill him off faster than he can whine don't call me mijo.
And now I have his female's DNA too. Perfect for my gene manipulation tests. Soon I'll have harvested samples from every specimen of shifter on Earth. Enough to build a comprehensive DNA workup and determine the factors that improve or limit the ability to shift, to heal, to reproduce.
What happened in my pack will never have to happen again, because I'll be able to manipulate genes to create super-wolves, splicing in not only the best traits from werewolves, but also from other shifters.
I walk through the warehouse with a clipboard and match each species with their blood sample data. A tiger throws itself against the metal bars, snarling at me as I stand in front of him.
"This one is beautiful. Where did you find him?" I ask Aleix.
"Bought him from an Iranian, but he comes from Turkey."
"A Caspian tiger? Very rare find. The animal counterpart is extinct. Good work. I'll pay a hefty bonus for this one."
"I'm counting on it." Aleix folds his arms across his chest. He wants me to pay up now. I've made him and his brother Ferran extremely wealthy over the past ten years. They don't participate in any of the hunting of shifters-only the purchasing and storage, the blood draws and lab workups. Aleix is the businessman, Ferran is the bioscientist.
They wouldn't be in for any of this, except I've promised to cure their sister of the genetic disease causing her to slowly waste away. The truth is, I could've cured her years ago, but I know as soon as I do, Aleix and Ferran will fold and they're too valuable to me. Better to keep them working, seeking answers.
The Harvester needs his henchmen.
Carlos
Thirty-five hours since Sedona left me.
Every minute, every hour, feels like an eternity. Every breath takes effort to pull in. Every heartbeat pangs my chest.
I hire a car to drive me from el D. F. to Monte Lobo. I always feel heavy when I return to my home, but this time the weight of it makes it hard for me to even move. This must be what it feels like to be one hundred years old, the ache of every year pressing on your bones. Except in my case, it's the weight of every minute away from Sedona.