Not get married?” Harper’s eyes widened. “I didn’t picture
you for being an old cat lady.”
“I was just joking.” Taya giggled.
A giggle. That was good. Harper drew in a sigh of relief. She was probably just overreacting.
Taya had always been the well-behaved and sensible one.
Ever since they were little, Taya was the cautious one in their duo. She would never act recklessly, so there was nothing for Harper to worry about.
After Harper and Taya chatted a bit more about the mating ceremony and the moonlight ritual, Damian came to pick Harper up. He had changed their flight to Malaysia to the evening, and Taya happened to be free, so she dropped them off at the airport.
After telling Harper and Damian to have fun, I waved goodbye to them.
After getting home, I went to the bathroom to wash up.
My mind was a jumbled mess.
It was very strange. Being touched by Roman made me feel disgusted.
However, I didn’t feel disgusted when Greyson…did what he did.
It wasn’t fully pleasurable, and he was rough, but when it was happening my mind was filled with the image of Griffon.
Was it because I missed him so much that I mistook Greyson for him?
Was it because I wanted Griffon to want me like it seemed Greyson wanted me last night?
S hame washed over me. What right did I have to think about Griffon now? Someone else had touched me, taken me.
I was dead to an Alpha like Griffon now. Forever tainted.
I was so tired, I didn’t have the energy to think about it anymore. After taking a bath, I went into my bedroom.
I slept until the next afternoon. It was nearly three, and my drowsiness seemed to be getting more serious, more prevalent. But for my heart condition and the fact I was in the last stages of heart failure, it was to be expected.
Brushing it off, I focused on holding on for as long as possible.
Everyone died sooner or later. My turn was just coming sooner rather than later.
I went into the kitchen and made a simple dinner of chicken breast and some carrots, then answered a video call from Harper.
They had already arrived in Malaysia and were playing by the sea.
The sky was much bluer than in Arcadia, and the seawater was clear to the bottom. Nothing like the rivers and lakes here in the Midwest.
Harper was glowing, radiantly happy, and I was so very happy for her and her new mate.
“Taya, it’s so beautiful here! We have to come back so you can see it,” Harper said.
“I’d love that,” Taya responded softly.
After chatting for a while about everything Harper had seen and eaten already, Damian called for Harper; it was time for their boat ride.
Just as I was about to put down my phone and go back to eating dinner, WhatsApp dinged with a message.
From Greyson.
[Nightshade, presidential suite, come and see me.
I clenched the phone tightly and typed furiously. [How dare you to ask me to see you again?
There was only a slight pause before his response came through.
I want you.
I stared at those words, my face heating.
[You committed a crime yesterday, yet you dare to message me so boldly!]
After I sent it with trembling hands, I immediately screenshotted it.
Although I didn’t have any surveillance videos of him entering or. exiting the hotel room, surely these messages would count as some sort of evidence I could turn over to the shifter police.
Rather than respond with words, Greyson sent photos.
Rage consumed me.
He’d taken nude photos of me!
I zoomed in on them, looking closely. The angle of them was strange. It almost looked as if I had taken the initiative!
Come here. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee where these photos will appear.
How could someone be even more despicable than Roman?
I gritted my teeth and took a screenshot of all the messages. I’d hand them over to the police tomorrow.
[It doesn’t matter if you call the police, then don’t forget that you asked me to go to the hotel.]
I held my phone so tightly, I was afraid I might snap it in two.
[The person I contacted was Roman, not you. You pretended to be him and committed the crime!]
But when I saw his following message, I trembled.
[Who knows whether I’m Roman or not?]
Da mmit. He was right. He hadn’t left any evidence to prove that he’d pretended to be Roman, and the surveillance video only showed that Roman had been to my room.
The pack police would a*sume that I’d called the police because I failed to reach an agreement with Roman about having s ex with him. And they wouldn’t be entirely off-base.
Other human women had done the same thing when they didn’t get what they wanted out of a shifter male. And since wolf shifters were so much more powerful in every way, their only option was to try to get the law on their side.
I was quickly running out of options, and it was beginning to feel like this Greyson had planned for every possible outcome.
Little human me didn’t stand a chance.
Taya: [Even so, what you sent to me can be used as evidence.]
Greyson: [You asked Roman to come to the hotel to k ill him. Are you sure you want to take such a big risk to catch me?
I froze.
Goddess help me. He knew that I wanted to ki ll Roman, and he also knew that I had drugged him. Or at least planned to.
And if this guy had already thought through everything the way it seemed he had, he probably had the evidence that I had drugged the wine, that I had a dagger with me…
Was there any way out of this? Or did Greyson have me backed into a corner?