Ashley’s POV.
It was becoming more difficult to keep up the charade with Caleb. I felt absolutely nothing for him, and only got close to him recently so I could feed my mom information on what was happening with Rolan and Pandora.
When I informed her of the birth of their kids, she flipped out and punched the wall of the hideout that I arranged for her while we waited for her lover, Zach, to come get her out.
“Ashley!” I heard a furious whisper from the guest room. When I saw my mom, I almost passed out from the shock and fear that engulfed me.
“Mom! What the hell are you doing here?” I yelled quietly, making sure my tone communicated my disapproval of her actions.
“Come in here. I need to talk to you.” She said and dragged me inside the room, closing the door gently.
“You could have sent me a message. I would have come. It is really dangerous for you to come here. So many things could go wrong and Caleb will not hesitate to throw us both in jail if he finds out that I broke you out of jail.” I complained bitterly.
Even though I felt nothing but just feelings enforced on me by the mating bond, my true feelings belonged to Rolan and I was not going to give up on getting him to become mine.
“”Mom please, you have to go. Caleb is in the shower now, and he must not see you here. I can’t handle all of that right now. I contacted the man you asked me to, and he somehow got you out. I am done with this mom. You are not fine. You need help” I said to her, knowing that Caleb was in the bathroom, and he usually spends a lot of time there.
This will give me roughly thirty minutes to get rid of my mom’s scent, if not, Caleb will definitely see through my plans.
Suddenly, the door was pushed open and Caleb stormed inside.
“I was right not to have trusted you!” He spat out just before a gunshot rang out.
I closed my eyes awaiting death as I thought that Caleb certainly shot me in anger. A few seconds went by, and I felt nothing, I opened my eyes to see Caleb’s bloodied shirt as he hit the floor with a thud.
“Mom! Oh, shit! No, no no!” I yelled and rushed to Caleb’s side. I held him close and watched as the blood spurted from his mouth.
“Caleb, please stay with me! I beg you please!” I cried and held him, his blood pooling at my feet.
“You should have picked my side, Ash. I truly cared for you. You didn’t just break my heart, you broke my body and soul too.” He said before his eyes closed, and I felt his pulse becoming faint.
I jumped up and rushed over to the phone, as I was dialing Rolan’s number to tell him what was happening so we could save Caleb’s life. My mother came from behind me and snatched the phone, shattering it on the wall.
“What did you do that for? How could you do this, mother? He was my mate for crying out loud. Even if you have no mercy for him, what about me? Have you thought about how killing my mate in front of me would make me feel?” I yelled at her.
“You’ll heal with me. Come here, we have to go. These people have taken so much from you than you care to admit. All so you can be close to Rolan, the same man who threw your beloved mother in jail. Everything I have done, I have done for you and your ungrateful brother.” She fired hotly at me, her eyes burning with rage.
“You didn’t have to kill him. What am I going to do?” I said, my hands shaking and my legs running cold. My heart was pounding so hard that every breath took an effort.
“I did. You will never grow to become the woman you are meant to be if you have your mate dragging you down. What life would he have given you? Come with me, let us go be with your real father.” She yelled, and my eyes opened wide in shock.
“What did you just say?” I asked, doubting if my ears heard correctly.
“Zach is your real father. We had sex during our first week of hanging out together. Blame it on your cheating father who fueled my need for revenge. That’s why he had to go. Caleb would leave. Do you think he cares so much about you? Wait until he sees someone better, and he dumps you as fast as Pandora did when she found her real family.” She scoffed. I saw some truths in what she had said and glanced at Caleb’s bloodied body on the floor.
I went close to him and kissed him gently on the lips.
“I am truly sorry that you got caught in the crossfire. You have been the kindest and most loving. I love you now and forever Caleb.” I said and kissed his lips gently. There was no air coming from his mouth, so I figured that he was dead.
If I called anyone now, it would only implicate my mom and me. I also couldn’t stand to see the look on Pandora’s face when she heard of my giant obsession with her husband.
“Get up. We have to go now. Zach is at the border waiting for us.” She said and dragged me up from where I knelt beside Caleb’s body.
“What about Wilson? Is he not coming?” I asked, hoping that I could finally go back to living my old life filled with fantasies of everything else I wanted besides Rolan.
“They killed him. Rolan had him killed. He didn’t want you to see him all this while because of that. Zach went to confirm, and they said there was no inmate there with that name.” She sighed sadly as she dragged me out through the door.