The Lion’s Forbidden Mate

“If you had half a brain in your head, you would have taken a step back and thought about what you were doing before you let that man stick his co*k inside of you and squirt a bas*ard inside of you. But now, you’re a little too late. Now that you’re pregnant, I don’t really see any chance we can avoid the war. Because honestly, Violet is more than a sl*t that struts around on stage for the masses. She’s the golden girl of the second largest Pride in New York City and they’re going to be very pissed when they find out her betrothed has been sticking it to backwoods girls. It’s going to be a war like you’ve never seen before and there are going to be thousands that end up dead because you let him sleep with you. I don’t know what you were thinking, but for the first time in your life, I’m going to need you to actually start thinking and stop being such an idiot.”

Lucy was silent still, not wanting to say anything to her because she had a feeling that no matter what she ended up saying, it was going to be the wrong thing for Lynn to hear. She just sat there and stared at Lynn, waiting for her to do something. But, Lynn just watched her for a moment, studying her and taking measure of the woman who had nearly destroyed everything she had created.

“You’ve given me quite the ulcer for the past few months,” Lynn said, taking a drink of her wine. “But I think now that we’re being honest with each other, I have the unique position to offer you a piece of advice and I think you should really take it when I tell it to you, because it’s going to be the only way that you can give us peace after you’ve done all the damage that you have. I’m going to give you this one chance and I really hope that you take it.

“So here is the offer I’m willing to give you, and please think of this as a strong suggestion and not just something I think you should do. Think of it as your only chance of actually making amends for what you’ve done. I’m going to tell everyone that you had a family emergency and you’re going to go back to that little Podunk town of yours and you’re never going to breathe a word to your friends, family, or even a stranger when you’re drunk forty years down the road about who the father is. You’re going to take that secret with you to the grave and you’ll never breath another word of it to anyone.

“And in return, James will never find out where you came from, if you haven’t told him already. He’ll wonder whatever happened to you and what happened to his child, but that won’t matter, because he’ll do his duty and he’ll marry Violet without anyone having to know the opposite. You’ll vanish and everything will be just fine in the world. Because, if you don’t do this, James won’t be able to avert a war that will claim the lives of countless people who are caught up in the middle of it. You wouldn’t want to be the cause of that Lucy. You’re not the kind of person that can keep that on their conscious.”

All Lucy could do was nod to her, realizing she had made the most terrible mistake she possibly could have. She had been so selfish and caught up in the reality of arranged marriage that she didn’t actually stop to think about why James was arranged to marry Violet. She didn’t think there was anything behind it except the fact that they were two powerful families looking to become even more powerful. How could she have been so foolish? How could she be so heartless and such a child about all of this? She was endangering countless lives with this little scheme of hers. This wasn’t the kind of person that she wanted to be. She didn’t want to ruin everything.

“I’ll give you until we reach Denver,” Lynn said after a moment of letting Lucy think it over. “Once we reach Denver, you’re going home. I’m not going to have you sticking around any longer than that. Do not attempt to talk to James and do not attempt to do anything more than you already have. This is something that can only be fixed by you disappearing altogether.”

Lucy nodded to her, not saying a single word as the tears welled up in her eyes. She was going to have to make plans. She was going to have to figure out her escape and what came next. She wanted to tell James that she loved him and that there was nothing she hated more than leaving him, but there was nothing to it. She couldn’t get word to him and if she did, it might alert him to what was inevitably going to happen.

She was going to end up spending the rest of her life alone and while that was painful and hurtful to her, she knew it was the only way to save the lives of all the people in the crew and those that she didn’t know. She was going to have to make sure that there was something inside of her she could carry on with. She needed to be able to handle the loneliness and the isolation. She couldn’t even tell Becca or Justin where she was going. She was going to have to vanish into the night. That was going to be hard. That was going to be the most painful thing she’d ever done before.

“You can go now,” Lynn said cuttingly, staring at Lucy. “I don’t want to see you in my life, other than the reports that I’m given. If you show your face to me, there better be a damned good reason for it.”