He stares at his Alpha, still lying unconscious in her bed. The rage in him flares up, but he must push it back down. She is still in serious danger of never waking up from this. He has never heard of a Shifter that suffered such a bad injury and didn’t heal with time. Apart from death, of course. They tell him that she was as close to death as she could get while still being alive. Her head was so severely smashed in and her neck and back were broken. He still doesn’t understand how this happened from a fall down the flight of stairs.
“Hey,” Zoey says, coming over and taking his arm. “She’ll wake up.”
He looks down at her and growls, “She had better do because she owes me an explanation.”
“She was scared, Linc. She didn’t want to lose you,” Zoey says carefully.
“It is no excuse,” he says and shrugs her arm off him. She was complicit in this lie and he is still furious with her, with them both, for letting him believe Chrissy was pregnant with his child. “I will never forgive her for this. Or you.”
Zoey backs off, knowing she has angered him. “You must stand by her side, Lincoln,” she says. “No matter what, she is your Alpha.”
“She is a Substitute,” he sneers, using that word. “My real Alpha will come back to me.”
“Linc!” she says sharply. “You can’t let the others hear you say things like that.”
“I don’t really care. I lived long enough without a Pack, I don’t need it,” he says.
Her sharp intake of breath doesn’t bother him. Liv is the only thing that he cares about. He is only waiting for Chrissy to wake up so that he can tell her to get the Hell out of his Pack and his life for good. She played a card that risked his future with Liv, and he will never forgive her for that. He feels the darkness cover him that much more, but he shakes it off. He can feel himself descending into a really dark place, and Liv is the only one that can fix it. He has waited long enough for her to return to him. Now, he must take action.
He turns his back on Chrissy and Zoey snaps at him, “She told me about your obsession, Lincoln. You have to let it go.”
“It is not an obsession!” he yells at her. “I love her.”
“And she let you go. You are falling into a pit, Linc, we can all see it. It is not good for you,” she says.
“Don’t think you know what is good for me,” he says. “You don’t know me.”
“This is going to get you into trouble,” Zoey says. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, and with this attitude, don’t expect any of us to back you up.” She stalks off and he is glad.
He leaves to go back to his own bedroom and to his fantasies of Liv. He wished he had taken more care with her when she came here a few weeks ago. Kissed her more, held her tightly, told her one more time that he still loves her. He made a hasty decision to come back to Earth and cut himself off from her, and until she either comes back to him, or he finds a way to get back to the Underworld, he will spend his days dreaming about her and his nights waiting for Other Liv to return to him, so that he can play out his fantasies with a subpar version of his beloved.
Deep down he knows what he is doing is wrong, but she came to him in his weakest moment and she looks just like her. Liv will understand when he explains it to her, he knows that she will.
He smiles as he sees Other Liv already waiting for him on his bed, just as he likes her. He closes the door on the rest of the world and locks it.
Chapter 12
The Underworld, August 2014 – Xane
“Mm, it’s about time,” he murmurs as he rocks his hips against his wife’s. He is deep inside her for the first time in weeks. He thinks she has been cautious because of the miscarriage and he has let her be, even though it has been killing him not to be with her. “So wet,” he mumbles as he feels her cum coating his cock. He feels a vibration go through her and she cries out as she thumps around him and he lets go, unable to hold on any longer.
“Sorry,” he says to her as the last of his seed is pumped into her body. “I was dying over here.”
“It’s okay,” she says and snuggles into him. “I have been cautious, you know…”
He knew it. He is relieved that it was what he thought and not that she didn’t want him anymore. “I know,” he says. “But you are safe with me. I promise you.”
“I feel safe,” she says as he twirls her long, dark hair around his finger.
“Xane,” Xerxei says after a moment of happy silence. “Can I ask you something and you promise not to get mad?”
“Baby, you can ask me anything right now and I won’t get mad at you,” he replies salaciously.
She giggles shyly. It is very becoming on her. He loves how strong she is and that she can kick his ass, but he does love it when she shows her softer side to him.
“I want us to let CeeCee go,” she says, and he stills. He wasn’t expecting that. He had been expecting a row on the whole Xyla-and-Devon situation, a situation he is still not best pleased with despite Xerxei’s obvious attempts to sway his mind.
“We agreed, it is done,” he says stiffly.