GEORGIA
I couldn't rest when I got home. I paced the floor of my new estate, my mind spinning with desperate thoughts.
I needed an escape. I needed to clear the suffocating, heavy scent of him from my nose. The mate bond was a biological prison, and I was terrified of losing my war against it.
"Mommy, are we still going out as you promised?" Valeria asked, tugging on the hem of my trousers.
I looked down at her bright, hopeful face. I made a fast decision.
"Yes, angel," I smiled, forcing the anxiety away. "Put your shoes on. We are going to the carnival."
An hour later, the twilight sky painted Central Park in shades of deep purple and indigo.
An exclusive, high-society charity carnival took over a sprawling section of the park. Thousands of twinkling fairy lights were strung throu
