convinced that I loved you. You even testified on my behalf!” He laughs again. “You stayed devoted until the end.” He spits at my feet, and I recoil just as I’m yanked away. “Stupid woman. Your roll is done, now get the fuck out of my sight.”
My vision clouds as Collin’s painful words cut me to pieces. I’m bleeding, hemorrhaging from within. My heart is splitting open inside me, and I’m dying as I bleed out.
Collin’s lying. He has to be, but then I catch Cali watching me from across the room. Her sympathetic and forlorn expression says it all. I told you so. I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen.
And that look is the nail in my coffin.
Collin’s hauled away. He doesn’t look at me again. His jaw is set, his expression like stone.
But my tears don’t come. I watch as the man who I thought was my mate is taken behind the courts. He’ll be locked away, gone from me forever.
And the pain that is flaying me alive from the inside out is too much. I squeeze my eyes shut. I will myself to create a shield, a barrier, something, anything, to stop this unbearable pain.
And when I open my eyes, I’ve died and been reborn, only the new person I’ve become doesn’t feel pain.
She doesn’t feel anything at all.
Chapter 41 – Collin
One month later
I hate myself, and every day I despise what I did to my mate.
The look on Brianna’s face when I told her I never loved her will stay with me until I die.
I hurt her beyond repair. I said cruel, vile words to the woman that I love and worship.
But I had to.
It was the only way to give her a fulfilling life—the only way she would forget about me and move on.
But the pain…
The goddamn pain that sears through me every time I remember what I did to her…
This is my punishment.
This is what I have to live with, and it’s more agonizing than anything the damned courts could have thrown at me.
I clench my hands into fists and roll onto my back. The hard mattress in my tiny cell feels like concrete. The days here have become one monotonous never-ending haze. I’ve been moved to a permanent prison within the fae lands. I’m no longer confined to a cage, but that’s only because they have cells here strong enough to contain rogues.
Considering I’m no longer a rogue, the irony streaks a bitter smile across my face.
The other supernaturals in my prison block are from all walks of life. Werewolves, vampires, witches, sorcerers, sirens, and fairies prowl around their cells. The close contact with the other wolves means I won’t turn rogue again, but none of that matters now.
My mate is gone.
I hurt her intentionally.
I hurt her unforgivingly, all so she would leave me and make a life of her own.
But the pain of losing her has ripped me in two.
I mechanically go about my daily existence now and do what’s expected of me. I follow the rules, keep to myself, and go through the motions. This is my life now. My choices led me to this, and I deserve nothing less. I have the rest of my days to regret the murders my wolf committed and the rest of my life to mourn the woman I love.
∞ ∞ ∞
“Ward! You have a visitor.” The fairy guard taps his magically-infused baton against my cell’s bars. Sparks emit from it. “Turn around. Hands behind your back.”
“Who’s my visitor?” I ask and stand from my bed.
He doesn’t answer as he waits for me to turn and accept my cuffs.
My parents have visited me several times in the past month, each time promising to find a way to set me free so I won’t be “unjustly” imprisoned for crimes I “didn’t” commit. Even though I’ve told them on numerous occasions that my wolf did commit all of those murders, they don’t believe me. As always, their blinders remain in place.
But my parents always visit on weekends, and today’s a weekday.
My heart lurches as I realize who it could be.
The guard finishes and opens my cell door. My guards have begun treating me like the other prisoners lately, not keeping the designated distance between us like they do for other rogues. They heard about Brianna’s testimony and how the SF confirmed I didn’t kill any innocents in the time she was with me. I’ve found them watching me on some days, their confused expressions letting