“I said I’m not done yet, princess.”
“Well, I am.” She planted a foot down firmly. “Please. Leave.”
He shot up quickly, rubbing his temple with his palm. “What the hell are you saying, Isabelle?”
“I’m s-s-saying you need to go.” She had to do this now, before she lost the nerve. “You got what you wanted.”
“What I wanted?” he roared, and in a second, he was in front of her, towering over her. “You don’t know what I want, princess.”
“All right, all right, I forgive you,” she said. “Now we can move past all of this?”
“Move past all this?” He glowered, waving his hand. “And what’s ‘all of this’?”
She clenched her teeth. “This. We got this out of our system, and now we can move on.”
“You think that’s what it’s about?”
“Isn’t it?” she shot back.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “No, it’s not. We’re True Mates.”
How the hell did he know? She supposed he figured it out when he realized they conceived Evan the first time. “So? That doesn’t mean anything except we’re biologically compatible.” That didn’t stop you from walking out on me, she added bitterly.
“You could be pregnant now.”
“That’s not guaranteed the second time around,” she said. “My parents didn’t have me until much later.” Oh God, she was an idiot. Even though that was true, there was still the possibility. This couldn’t happen again.
“Isabelle—”
“Look.” She took a calming breath. “I know you have rights. Evan is your son, and I acknowledge that. We can talk about visitation and custody, but only if you leave now.”
He opened his mouth and then closed it shut.
“Go.” she pointed to the door. “Please.”
Her wolf clawed at her in rage, tearing her insides to ribbons. But she couldn’t give in, not again. Yes, they were True Mates, but she couldn’t go through that again. She’d be a fool to give him another chance to hurt her.
“This isn’t over,” he warned her, but pivoted on his heel, picked up his discarded clothes, and left the room.
When she heard the door slam shut, she collapsed on the carpeted floor. “This is for the best,” she told herself. Maybe if she said it enough times, she’d even believe it.
Chapter Twelve
Outrage, anger, and a deep despair were all threatening to overwhelm Ransom as he let the door slam shut behind him. Maybe I deserve it. For leaving her. For letting her and Evan down.
He got dressed as he stomped down the hallway, determined to get away from her. His wolf protested loudly, snarling and growling at him. It wanted to go back. Back to their mate and their pup. He hadn’t even had time to see Evan and hold him again.
Well what did you expect? Just because they had sex, everything was going to be fine? A happily ever after? Not after what he did. Sure, he would have left her again if it meant protecting her from that man, but had he known about Evan …
He stopped in his tracks and then turned around, taking two steps back toward her apartment.
But no, he couldn’t.
Not yet.
Taking a deep breath, he made a decision.
To let go and forget about revenge on Grant Anderson.
The decision was easier than he thought it would be. Despite the fact that years of his life had been consumed with pursuing revenge, now that Isabelle was within his reach, now that he had Evan to think about, it didn’t feel like a waste at all. It was either this or never being with them.
The plan would have to be forgone. Sure, there was one hitch, one person that might not agree, but he’d take care of that, too.
Only Isabelle and Evan mattered now. And having them both back in his life—not in half measures like custody agreements to be debated on by lawyers and judges, but totally, completely his. As a family.
His wolf nodded. Finally, something they could agree on. “But how?” he wondered aloud.
Things were about to get messy. She would eventually have to tell her family and everything would be revealed, if they hadn’t already guessed, if what Sabrina was saying was true. Her family would surely hate him and try to keep them apart. Grant Anderson would never let his precious girl be sullied by the likes of him. Plus, the fact that he left her in the first place wasn’t going to help his cause either.
If only he could have her alone for a couple days. Just to get her away from her family’s influence and—
An idea popped into his head. Isabelle wasn’t going to like it, but she wasn’t leaving him much choice. He was determined to win her and Evan at any cost, even if it meant playing dirty.
Slipping his hand into his pocket, he took out the gold coin he’d nearly forgotten was there. Here we go. “Cross?”
A few seconds passed and … nothing. He tried again. “Cross?” This time, the air shimmered with a familiar power, and the hybrid appeared beside him, dressed only in boxers and an annoyed look on his face.
“Sorry to call on you so late,” he said. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”
“I take it things didn’t go well?” Cross asked. “Or did they?”
“No,” he groused. “But I’m hoping you can help me.” And then he told Cross his plan.
“Absolutely not,” Cross said vehemently. “Have you gone crazy?”
Yes, but that was the only plan he knew would work. “You owe me, remember? When I said I would come back here to help you with the mages. I’m calling that favor in now.”
“You do know you could get arrested for that,” the hybrid pointed out. “We both could. Not to mention, the Alpha—”
“We’ll figure something out,” he said. “Now, will you help me or not?”
Cross stared him down, but when Ransom didn’t budge, he huffed out a breath. “God knows what you’ll come up with if I didn’t. We’ll need to prepare a couple of things.”
“We need to get it done soon.”
“It’s one o’clock in the morning,” Cross reminded him. “And Sabrina’s waiting
