Free A Mate's Revenge by P. Jameson Page A

their meal of stale crackers, canned peaches, and plain tuna. Cael had found a bottle of wine in one of the cabinets, but then they’d remembered she shouldn’t drink. As far as meals went, Besh had had worse. Like the time—
    No. She wouldn’t think about any of that. She had to focus on the positive.
    Her hand dropped to her belly. It was completely flat. No sign of the life within. But she could feel it, her connection to the young. Her wolf was docile as a housecat.
    “We should talk about things,” Cael suggested. His gaze shifted awkwardly. The laughing man from earlier was nowhere to be found.
    But she’d known the carefree Cael wouldn’t last. There was too much junk between them. Stuff that would take years to overcome. If ever. And she was resigned to that fact. Was almost… okay with it.
    “Yes. We should.”
    He moved to the couch and she followed, taking a seat in the chair instead.
    “I thought a lot about what happened all those years ago,” he began. “Last night, I was angry. I still am, to be honest.” His gaze leveled on her, his jaw ticking twice before he spoke. “I hate that we were apart so many years. I hate that you didn’t give me a chance to fight for you, for us. And I hate that you…” He raked his hands through his hair. “That you were with him . I hate that he had what should have been only mine. But most of all… most of all? I hate that he hurt you.”
    Besh swallowed, but her throat burned so bad, it wouldn’t go down. Her ears rang and throbbed with the effort not to cry. This was the truth and it hurt. Cael would never be able to look past this and see that she was the girl he’d fallen in love with years ago. He could overlook a lot, her mother’s demands and the way she’d caved to them, but betraying him, giving herself to a cruel wolf like Jax, and years of misunderstanding, that was where he drew the line.
    “You know the thing that angers me the most, Isa? It’s that he knew that deal would hurt you worst of all. He knew he could forever use it to control you. And now that he’s dead, you’d think the control would stop, but it doesn’t. It won’t. Not until you decide to let it go.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Cael stared at her, seeming to see deep inside to her soul. “Tell me, what is the one thing you want more than anything?”
    Besh frowned. There was nothing she wanted. She would just take whatever she was given.
    “There was only one thing, but I have it now.”
    “And what was it?”
    “To no longer bear Jax’s mark.”
    His eyes flashed with emotion. “And now what? Now that you’re free, what do you want? Anything. If you could have anything, what would it be?”
    “But I’m not really free,” she said quietly. “I belong to you now, and I owe you everything.”
    Cael’s head jerked back. “ Owe me? Is this a bond of servitude? Is that how you feel?”
    She did owe him. Her life, in fact. But it was more than that. With Cael, she’d bow to him willingly. Because she loved him and wanted to give herself to him. It was submission at its purest. So he owned her, but she didn’t resent it. She wanted it.
    He shook his head. “Never mind. We’ll straighten that out later. What do you want, Isa?”
    “Now that Jax is gone, I’m fine with whatever I get.”
    “See? That’s what I mean. You don’t desire anything. Your passion… where is it?” His eyes burned her. “You’ve been told no so many times, you’ve given up. And he still has control.”
    God. He was right. The only thing she’d ever fought for was to keep the ones she loved safe, and to protect her womb. Now that there was no more threat, she was like a feather in the wind. She’d land wherever and be satisfied.
    But what was so wrong with that?
    “I don’t need much. I don’t see why that’s a problem.” She tilted her chin up.
    Cael stood to add the last log to the fire. When he turned to her, his face had changed. There was a devious glow to his eyes.