Bought By The Beast

CHAPTER 13: The Breaking Point

Caspian didn't come back that night.

I felt him through the bond, running through the woods surrounding the safe house, pushing his body to exhaustion in a desperate attempt to outrun emotions he couldn't control.

It didn't work. I felt every spike of rage, every wave of self-loathing, every moment he hated himself for not being able to accept what I couldn't change.

By dawn, I was exhausted from a sleepless night and another round of violent nausea that left me shaking on the bathroom floor.

David found me there.

"He's still out there," he said quietly, sitting beside me. "Been running all night. His wolf is close to the surface. Not good."

"Nothing about this is good."

"No. It's not." David handed me a damp washcloth. "But it's also not sustainable. You two can't keep doing this. The bond won't allow it."

"The bond doesn't seem to care what it allows. It just keeps torturing us both."

"Bonds don't torture. People do." He paused. "And right now, you're both torturing each other by not dealing with the real issue."

"Which is?"

"That neither of you actually knows if you're really pregnant. You're operating on medical records from Marcus. A male who has every reason to lie to you. To manipulate you. To drive a wedge between you and Caspian."

His words sank in slowly.

"You think the records are fake?"

"I think Marcus is a manipulative bastard who benefits from you two falling apart. And I think before you destroy your bond over this, you should get actual medical confirmation. From a doctor who isn't on Marcus's payroll."

Hope flickered in my chest, dangerous and fragile. "Where would we even find a doctor we can trust?"

"I know someone. Lycan physician. Discreet. Owes me a favor." David stood, offering his hand. "But you need to convince Caspian to come back first. Because this needs to happen with both of you present."

"He won't listen to me."

"Then make him listen. You're his mate. The bond gives you power over him whether he wants to admit it or not. Use it."

I'd never tried to use the bond to compel Caspian before. Wasn't even sure if I could. But desperate times and all that.

I closed my eyes and focused on the connection between us. Felt him out there, still running, still fighting himself.

And I pulled.

Not physically. Emotionally. Through the bond. Pouring every ounce of need and desperation and love into the connection until it was impossible to ignore.

Come back. Please. I need you.

Through the bond, I felt his resistance. His determination to stay away until he had control of himself.

I pulled harder.

Come back to me. Now. Please, Caspian. I'm falling apart and I need you here.

The resistance wavered. His love for me, his need to protect me, warring with his need to protect me from himself.

I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of losing you. Come home.

Finally, I felt him turn back toward the house.

Thirty minutes later, he walked through the door. Still shirtless from shifting, covered in dirt and sweat, his silver eyes wild.

"You called me through the bond," he said, voice rough. "That's not fair."

"Nothing about this is fair. But we need to talk. Really talk. No more running."

"Rielle, I can't."

"David thinks the medical records might be fake," I said quickly, before he could leave again. "He knows a doctor. Someone we can trust. Someone who can tell us for sure if I'm actually pregnant."

That stopped him cold.

"You'd do that? Get tested?"

"Of course I would. I need to know. We both need to know." I moved closer, cautious. "Because if I'm not pregnant, if Marcus was lying, then we're destroying ourselves over nothing. And if I am pregnant, at least we'll know for sure. Can make decisions based on facts instead of fear."

Through the bond, I felt his desperate hope. His terror that the hope would be crushed. His overwhelming need for this nightmare to be over.

"When?" he asked.

"Today. Now. As soon as David can set it up."

"I'll make the call," David said, already pulling out his phone.

Caspian stared at me across the kitchen. "And if you are pregnant? If the records are real? What then?"

"Then we figure it out. Together. Like we should've been doing from the start."

"I don't know if I can, Rielle. I don't know if I'm strong enough to accept another male's child."

"You're the strongest person I know. And you love me. That has to count for something."

"It counts for everything. That's the problem." He ran his hands through his hair. "Loving you this much, needing you this desperately, while knowing part of you belongs to someone else, it's destroying me."

"Part of me doesn't belong to anyone else. All of me is yours. The pregnancy, if it exists, is just biology. It doesn't change who I am or how I feel about you."

"Doesn't it?" His voice dropped. "Because every time I look at you, all I see is him. Kieran. Touching you. Being with you. Creating something I should've created first."

"You're the one who claimed me. You're the one who marked me. You're my mate, Caspian. Not him. Never him."

"But he was first."

The words hung between us, raw and painful.

"Is that what this is really about?" I asked quietly. "Not the pregnancy, but the fact that I had a life before you? That I'm not some untouched virgin you could claim from the beginning?"

"I don't care that you're not a virgin. I care that there might be permanent evidence of another male. Evidence I have to see every day. Raise as my own. Pretend to be okay with."

"Nobody's asking you to pretend."

"Then what are you asking?"

"I'm asking you to wait. To give me a chance to find out if this is real. And if it is, to at least try before you give up on us."

David hung up his phone. "Doctor can see us in two hours. North side clinic. Says he'll do a full workup. Blood test, ultrasound, the works."

"Ultrasound," Caspian repeated, his voice hollow. "So we'll see it. If it exists."

"We'll know," I corrected. "One way or another, we'll know."

The two hours crawled by like years.

I showered and changed, trying not to think about what we might find out. Trying not to hope too hard that Marcus had been lying. Because if I let myself hope and then found out I really was pregnant, the disappointment might break me.

Caspian stayed downstairs, silent and tense. Through the bond, I felt his spiraling thoughts. His desperate prayers to whatever gods might listen that this was all fake. That I wasn't pregnant. That we could go back to being just us.

The drive to the clinic was silent. David drove while Caspian sat in front, staring out the window. I sat in back, one hand unconsciously resting on my stomach.

Was there a baby in there? Or was it all in my head, symptoms created by stress and Marcus's manipulation?

The clinic was small and discreet, tucked between two abandoned buildings. The kind of place you went when you didn't want anyone knowing your business.

Perfect.

The doctor was an older lycan, maybe sixty, with kind eyes and steady hands. Dr. Brennan. He greeted Caspian with familiarity.

"It's been a long time," he said.

"Twenty years, give or take." Caspian's voice was flat. "Didn't think I'd be back here under these circumstances."

"Life has a way of surprising us." Dr. Brennan's eyes shifted to me. "You must be Rielle. David tells me you need confirmation on a potential pregnancy."

"That's right."

"Come with me. We'll start with blood work, then move to ultrasound if needed."

Caspian started to follow, but Dr. Brennan held up a hand. "Just the patient for now. You can join us for the ultrasound if we get that far."

Through the bond, I felt Caspian's protest. His need to be there. His fear of what might be found.

"It's okay," I said softly. "I'll be fine."

He nodded once, jaw tight.

The examination room was small and cold. Dr. Brennan was professional and gentle as he drew blood, asked questions about my symptoms, my medical history.

"The nausea is daily?" he asked.

"Multiple times a day. Can't keep anything down."

"Fatigue?"

"Constant."

"Missed period?"

"Three weeks now."

He made notes, his expression neutral. "I'll run the blood test first. Results take about thirty minutes. If it comes back positive, we'll do an ultrasound to confirm viability and gestational age."

"And if it comes back negative?"

"Then we discuss other causes for your symptoms. Stress can do remarkable things to the body. So can trauma. And bonding to a lycan while your body's still adjusting, that can create all sorts of hormonal chaos."

Hope flickered again, dangerous and painful.

"I'll be back shortly," Dr. Brennan said, taking the blood samples.

I sat alone in the exam room, trying to breathe, trying not to spiral into worst-case scenarios.

I could feel Caspian in the waiting room. Felt his barely controlled panic. His desperate hope warring with his certainty that hope would only lead to more pain.

I sent comfort through the connection. Tried to let him feel that whatever happened, we'd face it together.

He sent back anguish. Raw and overwhelming. The kind of pain that comes from loving something so much the thought of losing it becomes unbearable.

I love you, I sent through the bond. No matter what. I love you.

The bond pulsed once. Warm. Achingly tender. Then went quiet again as he rebuilt those walls.

Thirty minutes felt like thirty hours.

Finally, Dr. Brennan returned. His expression was carefully neutral.

"Well?" I asked, my heart in my throat.

"The blood test is conclusive." He paused. "You're not pregnant, Rielle."

The words didn't register at first.

"What?"

"You're not pregnant. The HCG levels are completely normal. No indication of pregnancy at all."

Relief crashed through me so intense I started crying. Great, heaving sobs that I couldn't control.

Not pregnant.

I wasn't pregnant with Kieran's baby.

Marcus had lied. The medical records were fake. All of this, all the pain and distance and heartbreak, had been for nothing.

"Are you sure?" I managed to ask.

"Completely sure. I ran the test twice to confirm." Dr. Brennan handed me tissues. "Your symptoms are likely stress-induced. The body can mimic pregnancy symptoms when under extreme duress. Combined with the hormonal changes from a fresh lycan bond, it's not surprising you're experiencing nausea and fatigue."

"So there's no baby."

"No baby."

I needed to tell Caspian. Needed to see his face when he found out.

"Can he come in now?" I asked.

"Of course."

Dr. Brennan opened the door and called Caspian in.

He entered slowly, his silver eyes locked on me, searching for any sign of what he was about to hear.

"She's not pregnant," Dr. Brennan said simply.

Caspian froze.

"What?"

"She's not pregnant. Never was. The medical records from the auction house were falsified."

Through the bond, I felt Caspian's disbelief. His desperate hope. His fear that this was another trick, another lie.

"You're sure?" His voice was barely a whisper.

"Completely sure. I ran the test twice. No pregnancy."

Caspian's knees gave out. He caught himself on the exam table, breathing hard, his whole body shaking.

"No baby," he said, like he was testing the words. "No Kieran. No, there's no pregnancy."

"No pregnancy," I confirmed, tears streaming down my face.

He looked at me then, really looked at me, and the walls around his emotions came crashing down.

Through the bond, I felt everything. Relief so intense it was painful. Joy. Overwhelming love. And guilt. So much guilt for how he'd treated me, how he'd pulled away, how he'd almost destroyed us over a lie.

"I'm sorry," he choked out. "God, Rielle, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay."

"It's not okay. I pulled away from you. Wouldn't touch you. Made you feel like, like you were less than because of something you couldn't control. Something that wasn't even real."

"You were hurting."

"That's not an excuse." He crossed to me, his hands finally, finally touching me again. Cupping my face with shaking hands. "I should've trusted you. Should've gotten this test done immediately instead of spiraling. Should've fought for us instead of running away."

"You're here now. That's what matters."

"I almost lost you. Almost broke the bond because I couldn't handle my own jealousy and possessiveness."

"But you didn't. We're still here. Still bonded. Still us."

He pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe. But I didn't care. This was what I'd needed. What we'd both needed.

I felt his love flooding back. Unrestricted. Overwhelming. Everything he'd been holding back crashing over me in waves.

"I love you," he said against my hair. "So f*****g much. And I'm never pulling away from you again. Never building walls. Never running."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Dr. Brennan cleared his throat. "I'll give you two a moment. But Rielle, you should still rest. The stress has taken a toll. And drink more water. The nausea should subside once you're able to relax."

"Thank you," I said. "For everything."

He nodded and left us alone.

Caspian pulled back just enough to look at me, his silver eyes bright with unshed tears.

"No baby," he said again, like he still couldn't believe it.

"No baby."

"Just us."

"Just us."

He kissed me then. Soft and reverent and full of promise. The kiss said everything words couldn't. Sorry. Thank you. I love you. I'm here. I'm not leaving.

When we finally separated, both of us were crying.

"Let's go home," he said. "Real home. Not a safe house. I want to take you somewhere we can actually be together without hiding."

"What about Marcus?"

"f**k Marcus. We'll deal with him later. Right now, I just want to be with my mate."

We left the clinic hand in hand, the bond between us stronger than it had been in days.

And for the first time since Baltimore, I felt like we might actually truly survive this.