Free Breeding Cycle by T. A. Grey

gut, but he didn't feel any pain. Vane punched the first man in the face and he fell heavily to the ground. The third man came at him from behind, trying to lock him in a hold, but Vane ducked and slammed his elbow into the man's face in an explosion of blood.
    "Sarina!" he yelled, then cracked the last guard in the gut with three quick, hard jabs. The man groaned and collapsed to his knees. Vane sprinted out of the cabin and after Sarina.
    The car door slammed shut and sped away in a cloud of gravel, dirt, and smoke. Over the gunning of the engine, he could hear her voice screaming his name.
    He fell into a hard sprint, his legs eating up the distance between him and the car. But then the engine roared and the distance between them got further and further apart. Until the car whipped around the bend and sped off down the road.
    Vane stopped running, his steps faltered, and he tripped over some rocks, barely managing to right himself. His breath exploded from his lungs in sharp, burning bursts of air. His heart tightened until he was sure it was bleeding in his chest.
    He had failed. He had failed miserably. And now she was gone.
    "Sarina," he whispered, his throat tight.

Chapter 16
     
     
    Three days passed and still Sarina couldn't stop the tears from coming. The pillowcase beneath her face was wet, and she was exhausted from the whole situation.
    The large mansion no longer felt like her home. She felt like an alien in a foreign world. Her father refused to speak to her. Although she got the hint that he was more than a little angry after he gave her a personal guard, installed cameras in her room, and took out the phones and internet.
    She had no way to communicate with the outside world. To try to find Vane. She sighed, made herself sit upright, and pushed the shaggy hair out of her face. Oh, how she missed him. Without him, she felt as though a piece of her was missing. And it hurt missing that piece, God did it hurt.
    Going to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face, Sarina looked at herself in the mirror. Dark shadows hung below her eyes, and her skin looked gaunt and pale.
    She hated what she was about to go through. Hated herself for being afraid, and hated not knowing what her father might say. Stealing herself for what was to come, she left her bedroom and went to find her father. Her new ‘personal guards’ trailed behind her.
    "What do you need, Lady Sarina?" asked her guard, Rener. She wanted to sigh at his question. Now when she left her own bedroom, she was questioned. She had the strongest urge to say 'my mate's cock', but refrained. Barely. To start speaking stupidly now would only hurt her chances of seeing Vane again. So she ignored him instead.
    After checking his bedroom and the kitchen, she found her father seated at his desk in the library. He stiffened when she entered, though he didn't raise his eyes to meet hers.
    "Father, I'd like to talk to you."
    "As you wish," he replied, but continued writing.
    Sarina gnashed her teeth together and went to stand before his desk. "I want you to stop this nonsense, father. Cameras? A guard? Why I ask you? I am a grown woman."
    "So is that why you spread your legs like some whore to a man you hardly know? Is that what a grown woman does, Sarina?" His coarse words were like a slap to the face. Yet somehow, instead of wanting to cry she felt anger. Real, seething anger.
    "Don't you dare call me a whore! I gave myself willing to Vane because he is a male of worth, and I'm his mate."
    Her words must have struck a blow, because her father exploded from his seat and came around to grab her by the shoulders. He shook her with his each of his words. "You accepted his mating proposal? You accepted it!" Sarina didn't register the strange movement until her face was turned sharply to the side and her cheek was burning hot and stinging.
    "You, you hit me. You hit me," she accused, her hand covering the burning pain.
    The king's mouth opened and closed several