Claws Read Online Free PDF Page B

now;
and forever.”
    “I love you, Eli,” she cried again as
she took a step closer. “I know you love me still. I can see it in
your eyes. Don’t tell me you forgot the time we shared?”
    “Yes, I remember it all very well,” he
stated with a sarcastic laugh, furious at her for reminding him.
The desire for her kept him backing away, forcing himself to
refrain from giving into the musky secretions she made now, luring
him to her, letting him know she wished to mate. The animal within
him pawed at the ground to leave. The human man felt resentment.
“You coming to me with the stink of Gideon or Jericho still on you
are the fondest of my memories, Tania.”
    “I did it for the tribe!” she snapped
and glared at him. “We all decided it. Even you! Now you would
throw it in my face to excuse mating yourself to another? How
convenient for you! I don’t recall you kicking me out of your bed
ever!”
    Eli was furious. He was shocked at his
elation to know she woke up and chose him, only to remind him what
he used to settle for, taking scraps of her love. He thought of
their children, their grandchildren; the many great-grandchildren
they had now between them. All of it was nothing compared to what
he had with Vivvie.
    “No, I didn’t have many standards where
you were concerned, Tania. None of us did. We agreed to mate for
the betterment of the tribe. Later we fought over you like ravenous
beasts. How that must have appealed to your vanity. Even when I
declared my love for you; it wasn’t enough. You couldn’t give the
others up.”
    Tania looked outraged. “That’s not
true! It was always you that I loved, Elijah. Please, don’t say
such cruel things to me.”
    “Why? They’re all true,” he scoffed and
his eyes began to glow with anger. “You liked having three Alphas
at your whims and in your bed, Tania. Admit it! That’s all it ever
was!”
    “And you just pined away for me, did
you?” Tania jeered and her golden eyes filled with tears. “You made
the rounds quite regularly among the woman then. Every damned
female who raised her tail got your attention. You dare throw that
in my face now?”
    “I refuse to fight with you over the
past, Tania.”
    “It’s not the past for me,” she argued
and tears slid down her ivory cheeks. “It was only yesterday you
forced me to go to my room and make a decision. I didn’t think that
would take so long.”
    “Where were you all these years?” Eli
asked, ignoring her impassioned words. “Where did you go when you
left my dream that night?”
    Tania avoided his eyes and he tensed.
He could always tell when she hid something from him. “I don’t know
where it was. It was dark and sometimes I was aware; sometimes
not.”
    “We’ll talk more tomorrow. I want to
know what you saw there. I have many questions,” he said and his
blue eyes appeared sad. “I’m married in my mind and my heart,
Tania. Vivvie is my life. I know you think you were betrayed. I
can’t help what I feel now.”
    “I will never accept this, Elijah!” she
cried bitterly. “We belong together!”
    “I’m mated to another. If you don’t
understand that then you will be hurt, Tania,” he said uncaringly
and walked away, shifting and bolting away from her.
    She watched his paws flying across the
meadow, rage reflected in her eyes to hear him profess to adore his
new mate. The desire to find his mate and rip her apart made her
hands begin to tremble once more. She squeezed her palms together
tightly to stop it. Usually that worked. Tonight it did
not.
    ~ ~ ~
    Vivvie stroked her daughter’s fur as
Elaina dozed. Tears left her eyes red and swollen, brightening her
gaze. After she thought of everything involved; she couldn’t do it.
She flushed the pill down the toilet and threw away the evidence.
There was no sense in Eli realizing how desperate she
was.
    She knew her actions would never be
forgiven. These laws were rigid and unbending. Abortion was against
the law unless it