Kay climbed back onto her side of the bed and propped herself against him, cradling her head into his shoulder blade. She was content, falling back asleep almost immediately. Whatever all of this meant, she wasn’t sure she wanted to fight it. Everything seemed to have led her to this place and to him. He was the last thought on her mind as she fell asleep again, finding that even her dreams were subject to his presence.
In the twilight of her subconscious, she was walking alone along a cliff. Everything around her was unfamiliar and she was scared. There were whispers in the dark, men that seemed to want to do her harm. One was familiar. Cullen. There was no getting away from him, it seemed.
From nowhere, he charged her, not in human form but in his bear form. She panicked, no match for an alpha bear. Closing her eyes, she prepared for the destruction he would unleash on her, but the air was instead filled with sounds of growling and howls. Afraid, she opened her eyes to see Bradley on top of him, his bear pinning Cullen’s to the ground with ferociousness like she’d never seen before.
The dream had ended there. Kay jolted awake, looking around in confusion. It took a moment for her to realize it was nothing more than a dream and that she was safe in bed with Bradley. He pulled her back toward him, seemingly oblivious to anything more than she was no longer pressed against him as he slept. Kay curled back against him and looked out into the darkness of their bedroom, still a little shaken by the bad dream.
Eventually, she dozed off again, sleeping soundly until morning.CHAPTER SIXTEENKay woke up the following morning feeling more certain about things than she had in a long time. It was as if she had conditioned herself to accept things had to be one way or another, with nothing in between being a possibility. Her old clan had left its mark with their outdated views on women, especially omegas. They weren’t meant to be strong, with ideas of their own. They were to be supportive mates and mothers, used as the clan saw fit. That is how her life would have been had she stayed and married Cullen.
Here, though, things were a bit different, she had the natural perception of Bradley that he would expect her to be a homemaker and mother, eventually, if they took their fake relationship to a much more real level. Her thoughts were interrupted as Bradley told her goodbye, already dressed and headed out to get some work done.
She finished getting dressed and pulled her hair up into a ponytail before making her own way downstairs. It was oddly quiet in the house today. None of the usual shifters were dotted around the community room. Had she taken her decorations too far? Made them feel uncomfortable somehow? Puzzling about this, she went to the front door and opened it and her heart sank.
“Hello, Kelly or is it, Kay now?” Cullen asked, lowering the hand he had been poised to knock with back down by his side.
He was not alone. Behind him were several other members of the clan. Kay’s veins turned to ice as she stood there, frozen. She was unable to speak or move. How had he found her and why? Why would he go through the trouble of seeking her out?
“I’ve come to take you back home,” he said flatly.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said indignantly.
“Yes, you are. You and I have a wedding to attend.”
“What wedding?” she said, though she feared she already knew the answer.
“Ours,” he spat back at her.
“We aren’t having a wedding, Cullen. I never consented to marriage.”
“Do you really believe that it requires your consent?”
See? There is was, the attitude her old pack had toward women summed up in one brief sentence. It wasn’t really even up to them who they chose to marry and have children with in her old clans’ eyes.
“It doesn’t matter now. I’ve already married someone else.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I most certainly did,” she replied, holding up her left hand to show him her wedding band.
“Come on, Kelly. You and I both know you paid to have your name changed and came out here to sign up for some bogus marriage. I know all about it. Who did you think you were dealing with? Do you think I don’t have friends everywhere? What a waste of time and money. You should have just done the right thing.”
“The right thing? Marry a man I don’t really know and that I dislike what I do know of him? There is no law in our clan that says I have to marry someone just because he asks,” she replied, feeling alarmed. She glanced over his shoulder to seek out help. There was no one. Where was everyone?