Page 75 of When Roses Burn

My hips involuntarily bucked forward. The chains rattled when I jerked back again while I struggled to maintain control.

I won’t be like them. I won’t bind myself to anyone or anything. I will get through this, but I have to do it on my own.

I needed to withstand this without chains. I had to prove to myself that I could get through this without giving in to the demands of the Needing.

“You have to free me,” I whispered.

I winced at Knox’s cold, harsh laugh. “And why would I do that?”

“Because…” I gulped as I tried to wet my parched throat. “Because… I have to… I must get through my Needing alone.”

Lifting my head, I met his burning orange eyes. He’d rested his elbows on his knees and settled his chin on his clasped hands. Orange fur covered him to his elbows, and his shoulders hunched unnaturally forward as he tried to restrain the beast.

I didn’t know how long I’d been chained; it felt like hours or days, or years, but I could do this.

“Tell me about the curse, Briar.”

“I already told you everything I know!” I sobbed. “I can’t give you answers to something I don’t have.”

“Why did you tell your mother?”

I closed my eyes against the tears of frustration burning my eyes. “Nothing you do is going to change my answers. I’m sorry… I’m so… so sorry for everything that happened to you, to us, but I’ve given you all I know. I gave you everything. I’m your mate⁠—”

“No, you’re not,” he interrupted savagely. “I marked you as such when the animal I was supposed to be emerged to do so, but that animal’s gone, and the beast will never mark you. You’re not my mate; you never will be.”

His words were so cutting that for a minute, they pushed aside the hunger of my Needing. He no longer considered me his mate.

“I have forsaken you as such.”

This time, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, but it was anguish propelling them, not frustration. I should have known he wouldn’t want me as his mate anymore, especially after everything that passed between us recently.

I should have known it, yet I didn’t. I’d been foolish enough to think we at least still had that bond between us, but we didn’t. He was right, a different animal marked me; the beast had never done so.

Another sob escaped as my head fell forward. I blinked away the fresh tears burning my eyes; I wouldn’t let them fall.

“The curse, Briar.”

Rage tore through me. “I don’t know anything about the curse!”

His eyes narrowed and his knuckles turned white as he studied me over the top of them.

“My mother hates me as much as you! Why would she tell me anything about the curse?” I demanded.

The truth of my words sank in like a knife to the heart. He hated me.

“And why should I believe you?” he asked.

“Because I’m telling the truth, but that doesn’t matter to you!”

He studied me for an uncomfortably long time, but at least his questions had finally ceased. I wasn’t sure if he believed me or not, and I didn’t care; I was too busy fighting my out-of-control body to deal with him.

“You have to free me; it’s the only way I can prove my difference from them,” I whispered.

“And what do you plan on doing?” he inquired.

“Surviving.”

When his head tipped to the side, one of his fangs flashed in the light. He may say that he’d never claim me as his mate, but the beast wanted to mark me.