THE AWAKENING

Cassandra awoke to Serra sitting beside her. It was disconcerting to find the woman who openly hated her had been watching her while she slept. “What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving,” Serra said, her expression curiously flat. Cassandra expected tears or venom but Serra offered neither. “It seems I underestimated Tieran’s affection for you. I was mistaken in believing I was his True Mate. In our kind, we mate for life. I’d been raised believing that I would be the one to stand by his side. But fate had a different plan.”

“I’m sorry,” Cassandra said, empathy lessening her animosity. She could understand Serra’s feelings at the very least. She shifted, putting more distance between herself and Serra. “Where will you go?”

Serra, who had been staring at her hands, looked up. “Does it matter?”

“Well, yes. I know you think I’m some terrible person but I never meant you any harm. I didn’t even know about my heritage, much less your relationship with Tieran. We don’t have to be enemies.”

A small smile lifted the corner of her lips but her eyes remained cold. “You share our DNA but you know nothing of our ways. We cannot be friends. Tieran was right to send me away. I cannot make a life here with you and Tieran playing the happy couple. While his heart is closed to me, my heart still beats for him. It will take time and distance to heal that wound and I cannot do that here.”

“I understand,” Cassandra said quietly. “I love him. I will be a good mate for him.” Serra’s lack of response felt like a cold slap but Cassandra didn’t blame her. It was a difficult situation all the way around. “For what it’s worth…I’m sorry for everything you’ve lost.”

Serra attempted a half smile but Cassandra could tell it was all she could manage. Serra drew a halting breath and stood, gesturing to the plate of cookies on the nightstand.

from Hannah,” she explained, as if knowing she needed to explain that they didn’t come

polite inquiry as to the babies, and frankly,

could successfully make small talk with Serra after everything

someday, after things had settled…Cassandra watched as Serra closed the door behind

a hummingbird I’d be a two-ton cow by now,” she said to her stomach as she reached for the largest chocolate chip cookie on the plate.

However, by the third cookie, Cassandra began to feel sick. Sweat dotted her hairline and a general nausea rolled across her belly, cramping her

in her womb and Cassandra was gripped with

Tieran!

and crumpled to the floor, her last thought a desperate attempt to shove her fear into Tieran’s brain

the grave. She picked up the plate of left-over cookies and stared down at Cassandra with open

True Mate. Hannah would never send a plate of cookies to your room. You’ve taken everything from me. It’s only fair that I repay the pain in kind. You are his True Mate but you and your babies will die and Tieran will spend the rest of his life

as waves of agony gripped her muscles in spasm. “Tieran will never forgive you! He will hunt you down without mercy. Why would you

the pain he’s given me for allowing me to fall for him, knowing we could never be truly one. He deserves to know the wretched misery of loss. I will never love anyone like I loved Tieran. He stole something precious from me. It is our way to repay that cruelty in kind. If he