Page 49 of Born to be Broken

Her black brow arched. “Forgive what you can only call the circumstances that caused me pain?”

He knew what she wanted. Growling like a beast, Shepherd gave it. “I mated with Svana and dishonored you.”

“You did.”

“I did it to save your life.”

Claire arched beneath him, wanting to get away. “You are lying.”

His hands squeezed her fingers so hard it hurt. “I did it because I could not harm her. She is my only family… Because I was concerned she would take you from me. I gave her the attention she came for to distract her, so you would not be considered a threat.” Almost frantically he admitted, “The whole time, I was thinking of you.”

“That is disgusting.”

Shepherd did not know how to answer such a thing, so he chose silence. While the knot persisted, he held her unwilling hands, he purred and nuzzled, but Claire had lost all traces of softness… In fact, she only looked sad.

When at last his knot diminished enough for him to pull out, he did. “Get dressed.” Shepherd stood with grace a man of his size did not deserve. “I will take you to see your sky now.”

Claire had lost interest in going outside. She wanted nothing but sleep. “You don’t need to waste the effort. I no longer want to see it.”

Shepherd gripped her arm and pulled her to stand when she began to roll over. “You will put on a dress at once.”

After cleaning up the expected river of semen that came from her womb, Claire grabbed her dress from the floor and pulled it over her head. The giant clothed himself and returned to her, holding out a blanket, waiting for her so that he could wrap her shoulders with it in place of a coat. There were still no shoes.

“Give me your hand,” he grunted.

Claire complied and his massive paw closed over her small wrist, leaving cold metal and a grating sound of cuffs being fitted. The opposite end he fixed to his own wrist, Shepherd warning, “You will behave.”

“I don’t take forty-three lives lightly.”

He lifted her into his arms. “Your recent effort has not gone unnoticed.”

Once she was settled against his chest, they left the room.

Shepherd took her down an alternate path that ended at a service elevator stinking of his men. The door closed, the contraption jerked, and the long ride began.

He was taking her to the upper levels, a region she had only ever visited once a year as a girl. Or at least that’s what she thought. When the door opened, a decadently decorated hall appeared. The walls were well-appointed, clean, and filled with soft crystal lights. There were no windows, and when Shepherd began to approach a sinister looking door, Claire began to think the male had tricked her.

He was going to punish her again.

He tapped a code into the door’s console, the hiss of decompression letting them know it had unlocked. Shouldering it open, Shepherd took her inside. The vault closed, bolted, its click exceedingly final.

He set her down. Claire’s feet were touching plush carpet that looked like it was out of an old-world picture book. There was golden wallpaper, paneling made from actual wood.

Mostly, there was glowing light.

Eager to reach the window, she stepped forward only to find her arm still chained to the man behind her. Claire was confused. “This is not outside.”

Shepherd escorted her forward, his torso warm on her back. “I never agreed to allow you outside. I believe the arrangement was that I would allow for you to see your sky.”

Technically he was right, and Claire knew there was absolutely no point in arguing.

The prospect the small room afforded was unlike anything she’d seen in a house: a vast display of rugged tundra. The window was an actual part of the Dome; if she touched the glass, she would be touching the only thing between her and hundreds of miles of snow—a thing forbidden.

Reaching forward, ignoring the uncomfortable handcuff and arm that followed to allow her movement, Claire put her hand to the glass and felt its chill. Wild nature was her view, in a warm room, where she was chained to an Alpha to ensure good behavior.

The room’s furnishings had been removed, leaving only that beautiful rug and a single large chair. It was angled at the window, filled with a man who drew Claire into his lap. With the lights on, Shepherd’s looming presence at her back was reflected in the glass, his attention acute.

Meeting his stare in the reflection, Claire admitted, “Men have been put to death for touching the Dome.”