Bonus Chapter 4

***Violet***

I limp out of the grocery store, balancing two heavy bags, but I still don’t regret wearing my new Miu Miu stilettos. As I pass a parked car, I catch my reflection in the window wearing a short blue dress with a low-cut back.
After Allie’s theory was confirmed months ago, I started wearing clothes that show my skin whenever I can since the angry red marks disappeared after the first Full Moon after Jordan’s death. It’s my way of showing myself that I will never allow that to happen again in my life. I will never have betrayal marks on my body ever again.
I’m so exhausted. I haven’t slept for almost two days now. I don’t want to have any more nightmares.
As I try to grab the fob while I walk, I wince at the pain in my hand. Fucking hell!
“Why are you limping?”
“AAAAH!”
I yell, turning his way. 
Oh, hell. This is my first mistake! Because standing there like some underworld deity—dressed in a fitted black shirt and washed-out jeans, arms crossed, leaning against his Porsche not too far from my car—Cedar rakes his gaze over me. 
His fresh haircut only sharpens the effect. Even behind those sunglasses, I feel the heat of his green eyes, tracing every curve of my body. A spark ignites under my skin, racing from the arch of my heel in these strappy shoes all the way up to where my own sunglasses rest, perched carelessly in my hair.
“What—” I clear my throat because my voice comes out too breathless. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
Cedar just raises an eyebrow. “Why are you limping?” he repeats himself.
I look at my right foot and shake my head because his commanding voice almost makes me respond instead of getting angry. I make an irritated noise. “Of course, that arrogant ass would tell you where I was. What an asshole.” I told Ian not to tell him! Ugh. “Are you taking lessons from my brother about sticking your nose into other people’s business?” 
Cedar just grins, clearly not taking offense, as I dig through my purse again for the fob.
“What is it?” he asks. His chin points to my foot before walking towards me. 
Goddess help me, I almost stop breathing, he’s so damn handsome! 
“You can tell me anything, Violet.” 
Fuck. Me. Hard. The way he says my name, like all my worries belong to him.
“Why do you care?”
“Of course I care about you,” Cedar says from a few feet away from me. He’s so tall that I have to tilt my head back to look up at him, and I’m not short by any means. Not to mention, I’m wearing high heels. He adds, “If you’ve got cramps—”
“Oh. My. Goddess!” I cut him off with my eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”
Cramps?
“Like I said, you can tell me anything. You don’t have to be shy. It’s normal—”
“Not for a male to say that!” I speak loudly, then realize we’re in a freaking parking lot. Then I lower my voice. “Ugh. Don’t ever mention that again!”
“Why?” I’m not sure I really trusted that glint in Cedar’s eyes. Seemed like he is a bit too happy with himself, which makes me wonder what the hell I’m in for. 
*Why*? Well, for starters, Jordan never wanted to know when I was on my period. Every time, he looked at me with a disgusted expression as if I were unclean.
To divert the conversation, I ask, “What are you doing here?”
Cedar effortlessly takes the shopping bags off my arm and then gently grabs my purse from my shoulder. 
“Hey, this is mine!”
He easily finds the fob and unlocks the car before opening the trunk. “Why are you limping, Violet?” he asks more firmly, making me stand still in my place.
I take a deep breath. He’s not going to let this go. Fuck me sideways! “I accidentally dropped the heavy blade-treatment bottle, the one I used to coat my knives so werewolf wounds won’t heal, right onto my own foot. Glass cut me up good, and now the wound won’t heal fast because of that goddessdamn liquid soaking into it,” I admit.
Cedar closes the automatic trunk door, returning to where I am. “And why is your hand hurt?” Interest fills his face.
How does he know? Oh, hell, now I’m going to feel even more stupid admitting it. 
I roll my eyes, crossing my arms. “I accidentally tried to clean my foot and ended up getting the liquid on my hand before I cut it.”
Goddess, I’m such a dumbass!
Cesar stared at me, horrified. “You need a keeper.”
I grit my teeth. “Wait, what are you doing? Hey! Put me down!” I gasp, caught by surprise, as he swings me up into his big arms.
‘Yes! That’s it!” Roxy says sultry and slowly, sounding like a she-wolf in heat in my mind. “Let our mate pick us up in his strong, tanned arms!’ 
“Carrying you inside,” he replies in a matter-of-fact voice. He opens the passenger door even with me in his arms. “You shouldn’t walk on that foot until the pain and swelling have gone down.” He scolds me. “Especially while wearing such high heels.” 
Cedar places me on the seat and takes hold of my seatbelt, then leans across me to buckle me in, his arm grazing my nipples, making me shiver. My nipples instantly harden. 
Please, don’t say anything about them, please!
I bite my lip. Thanks Goddess, Cedar says nothing. He puts my purse on my lap with a knowing smirk, though.
I close my eyes and only open them when I hear the car start. I glance at him. Cedar fishes his phone from his pocket and taps the screen to life. My breath catches—right there, front and center, is a photo of Lily mid-training at the gym. She’s rocking a tiny pink headband, her face scrunched in fierce determination, like she’s about to take on the world.
“Why is my daughter your wallpaper?” I ask, arms folding.
“Lock screen isn't safe,” he says, thumb brushing the edge of the screen like he’s protecting the tiny warrior there. “Especially when I’m traveling. No one gets to see her.”
Lily has been ignoring my messages. She hasn’t responded to me in weeks. “She seems focused...” I say softly, turning my face to the window. I realize I didn’t tell him my address and yet he drives in the right direction. 
Damn it, Ian! 
“She’s strong.” I don’t look at him, but I hear the smile on his face. “She doesn’t miss training!”
“Lily?” I frown in disbelief. Then I shake my head. “I mean, uh, have you guys been hanging out?”
“She didn’t tell you?” He glances quickly in my direction.
I don’t answer. My eyes start to well up with tears. I think he’s feeling my discomfort because he doesn’t say anything else until he pulls up in front of the house I’ve been living in for the past two months.
The next thing I know, he’s got the bags in his hands and is undoing my seatbelt. “What? No, no, I can get there. I can walk! Goddessdamn it! Let me go! Ugh.” He swings me up again into his arms before closing the car door. 
“For Goddess’ sake! It’s pointless to argue.” I say, crossing my arms over my purse.
“I told you. You shouldn’t walk on that foot until the pain and swelling have gone down. Now, which door should I take you in?” 
“You really don’t have to carry me in. It’s just a teeny sting, I’ll be fine. I *am* fine!” 
The look Cedar gives me can melt a snowman as he walks to the house. “Violet, I know we don’t know each other well. I’m a pretty easygoing guy. But there are some lines you don’t cross with me. And there are some things I don’t bend on. This is one of those things. You’re not walking on your foot until the swelling has gone down, and it doesn’t hurt. Now, either I carry you in here, or I take you to the hospital.” 
“Hospital? Goddessdamnit, it’s just a little swelling!” I say, yet I have to swallow heavily and pray to Goddess that he doesn’t notice that I’ve started to get turned on since I saw him in that parking lot. “To the left. There.” I point to my bedroom, and then he sets me down on the bed.
“I’ll make you something to eat before bed. It’s getting late,” he glances out the window after studying my face.
I’m so tired that I don’t even argue with him. Still, I find myself saying, “I don’t want your help. I don’t want you!”
His bright green eyes with a cocky glint drop to my chest. *To my nipples*. “I can see that.” 
My chin snaps toward the neckline of my blue dress, and sure enough, my nipples are giving me away. 
Oh, hell. I cross my arms to block his view.
“They don’t bother me at all.” Cedar licks his bottom lip slowly, with intention, before one cheek hitches up in a lopsided smirk. Then he turns and walks back toward the door. 
Before leaving the room, though, Cedar taps the wall twice and doesn’t look back when he says, “Lily is fine. I have more pictures on my phone that I took of her and Az if you want to see them.” 
I don’t answer. I just look down at my hands in my lap. 
“She misses you.” 
I hold back my tears until Cedar leaves my bedroom.

🐺 🐺 🐺

*“I curse you to never find your fated mate!” The evil witch casts the spell with a vicious smile, showing her blood-stained teeth at me.*
*However, my brother immediately steps in front of me and receives the curse.*
*“IAN!” I cry and cry and cry!*
*It’s all my fault!*
*Everything around me disappears and I sit on the floor, hugging my knees and suddenly I realize that I am no longer a child.*
*“Hi. I’m Jordan.” I look up, his smell fills my nose. It’s good! “Mate!”*
*Everything changes, and suddenly, I’m crying. “What do you want now, Vi?” Jordan asks, sighing. “Are you going to be like this all the way?” He curses loudly. “I was there, wasn’t I?”*
*“Were you?” I ask. This isn’t the fated mate I met. “Never mind.” I shake my head, dismissing the subject before it causes another fight. We had already fought before getting in the car.*
*“Is this because I talked to Patricia?” he asks, but I don’t answer. He knows it is. “This again, Vi? I told you, I did not stare at Alicent!”*
*“I saw the way you looked at her. I can feel you, Jordan!” I yell. “You don’t know how hard it is to feel your emotions for other females! Damn it! I felt all your emotions when you looked at her. I felt the mark you made on my neck pierce it even further… burn! As if I were being suffocated. That’s how I feel every time you look at Patricia like you did tonight.”*
*“Oh, my Goddess! You’re so dramatic. I looked at her for less than a second!” he yells.*
*Jordan’s supposed to be my fated mate. He shouldn’t feel that way about any other female.*
*“How can you do this to me?” I ask desperately. I feel his mark on my neck burn. I feel so much anger for him doing this to me.*
*I cry louder. And then everything changes again.*
*I’m walking alongside Kelly while reaching for Jordan’s hand on my other side. He takes it but he doesn’t hold it. Not the way Dad would hold Mom’s hand. Not even the way I spot other fated mates.*
*Jordan’s grip is too loose as we walk. His fingers barely clasp mine. All it would take is a quick flick, and then he’d be free. Fine. If he wouldn’t hold tight, then I wouldn’t do it either. I unlace my fingers through his. If he wants to escape from me, he doesn’t have to work for it anymore. I don’t know why I still bother. He always holds my hand like this, I don’t know why, but I still have hope that, out of nowhere, he will change.*
*I turn my face towards Az and Lily ahead. It’s crazy the way they always gravitate around each other. Like even though they are playing with other kids or talking with anyone, they are still wrapped up in each other. I smile at them.*
*A longing settles in my gut. My wolf whines in my mind.*
*I want that feeling. To know my soul is safe in someone else’s hands. I couldn’t even imagine what that would feel like. Not when my fated mate doesn’t find it difficult to desire other females. Like he’s doing to Allie right now. Again.*
*“Can you please stop?” I say through my clenched teeth to Jordan without looking in his direction.*
*My vision blurs, everything changes, and suddenly, Jordan is in front of me again, his gaze darkening. “It was your fault your brother got the curse.”*
*I open my mouth in shock. “I can’t believe you said that!” I whisper in disbelief. “Sometimes it does not feel like you’re truly my fated mate, Jordan.”*
*Deep down, I feel guilty for not having investigated it, for not having got it before, for not having trusted my gut. But then everything changes again and I’m screaming so loud that my ears hurt, but the biggest pain is in my back with the appearance of several marks of Jordan’s betrayal.*
*It’s a loop. But before I reach the worst ending point and start all over again, I feel someone touching me gently.*
“No! No!”
Cedar shocks me by gently picking me up and lifting me into his lap. I stiffen. I’m not used to being held on someone’s lap. 
But I’m weak and crying too much to push him away.
He draws me in close, and tilts up my chin, wiping my face gently. “It’s okay, Violet. I have you. He can’t hurt you anymore. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.” 
I must have yelled Jordan’s name. 
I slump against Cedar, unable to hold myself up. I’m exhausted. He rubs his hands soothingly up and down my back. A feeling of safety stole over me. I should probably move. But I just can’t. 
I press my face against his neck and breathe in his scent. Goddess, it has an instant calming effect. I feel better immediately.
I tense for thinking that. “Let me go!” 
“No. I need to hold you in my arms. I want to make sure you can sleep without having another nightmare. All right?” 
Drawing back just to look at his face. “Tell me the truth. Why are you here?” I bite my lip, trying to ignore the fact that I haven’t taken my hands off him. 
Cedar rubs his thumb along my lower lip. His gaze focuses there before exhaling and shifting his green eyes to me. “To protect you. Your brother found out Kelly is in town. Someone spotted her. I destroyed everything and everyone in Razor’s pack, but she might have contacts outside the pack.” He frowns slightly. “You need to get back to Blackmoon. It’s not safe here.”
I try desperately to calm my heaving stomach. 
Oh Goddess! Oh Goddess!
Would this nightmare never end? 
“You really think she knows where I am?” 
“Yes,” Cedar says, leaning forward with a sympathetic look on his face. “We think she’s been watching you. Waiting.” 
I swallow heavily as bile rises in my throat. This whole time, I thought I was finally free. Every day, I’ve been fighting panic attacks, and every night, I’ve been woken in sweat from my nightmares, only to race to the bathroom and throw up; the only thing that has kept me sane was the thought that it was finally over. 
I have shifted apartments, I’ve gotten new alarms, I’ve never gone back to our house in Summerville. 
“I—I—excuse me!” I abruptly stand, then race into the bathroom. I barely make it to the toilet before vomiting. Huge heaves shake my body as I sob. 
The bathroom door opens, and then Cedar is there, one hand holding back my hair as he rubs my back. “It’s okay, Vivi. Calm down. You’re safe. I’m here. I’m here.” 
Just listening to his voice helps me claw back the panic. 
Bit by bit I bring myself under control. When my stomach finally stops heaving, he helps me stand, holding me close as I brush my teeth. Wetting a white washcloth, he runs it over my face, soothing my hot cheeks and sore eyes. 
“Don’t worry, sugar, you’ll be protected by the best there is in the state, hell, maybe the whole country.” 
I scrunch my nose. “You have a really oversized ego.” 
“That’s not the only thing that’s oversized.” He smirks as I roll my eyes. He adds, “We’re going back to Blackmoon tomorrow morning.”
I press my lips together for a moment before turning my face to the side so I don’t see his disappointed expression as I say, “Okay. Now get out of my room. You’re suffocating me.”

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Cedar***

I make my way to her room. I’ve been awake for three hours now. I only slept for two hours, but then I’m used to it. I’ve been on alert all night in case she gets another nightmare. Whether she likes it or not, she’s my fated mate, and I’m going to take care of her, even if it means going against her will.
I knock on the door but she doesn’t answer. 
I knock harder. 
Still nothing.
She hasn’t run away. I know it because I can sense her presence on the other side.
Fuck, she must be sleeping soundly. But we have to get out of here soon. It’s not safe to stay.
I open the door and walk in. When I’m a few feet away from her bed, my heart nearly stops as I spot her. 
Violet is lying on her front with one leg cocked up. Her silk white camisole has ridden up just enough to show me the curve of a plump buttock and a hint of her pussy lips. 
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Immediately, my cock hardens, and I feel like a pervy asshole. I reach out and flick the duvet over her naked backside. 
Affection filled me as I watch her. She is sleeping peacefully, maybe I should let her rest a little longer. Suddenly, her chestnut eyes open. 
She looks up at me. 
Then she screams.