Chapter 281
Ellie’s POV
Lucas stepped into the clearing and stopped when he saw me.
He held something up. “Well,” he said, “I’m here. What did you want to talk about?”
I blinked. “What?”
Frowning, Lucas held out the thing in his hand. It appeared to be a small, white envelope. The very same kind I had received.” You sent me this, didn’t you?” he asked.
“I didn’t send you anything, Lucas.”
My friend stared at me in confusion. Standing, I walked over to him and snatched the envelope away. I pulled out the letter inside and sighed.
Just as I suspected.
The handwriting looked close enough to mine that I could see how Lucas had been convinced, but it wasn’t mine. The letters were slightly too neat, too deliberate, like someone had been very careful about emulating my own style.
“I didn’t write this,” I said. Then, when Lucas still looked confused, I said, “You know, I received a very similar note. One that just so happened to look like it was supposed to be written by you.”
Lucas and I stared at each other for a long moment, then looked at the picnic spread out on the forest floor. I could tell we were both coming to the same conclusion.
“Dominic,” I sighed.
Lucas glanced at me sideways. “You think he planned this?”
“Almost positive.” I ran a hand through my hair and dragged the inside of my cheek through my teeth, thinking. “He’s been looking for proof of an affair since almost right after the wedding. Last night he…” My voice trailed off. I really didn’t feel like getting into the details right now. “We had an argument. A bad one. I think this was his way of manufacturing the evidence he couldn’t find on his own.”
Lucas was quiet for a moment. “That’s a lot of setup,” he muttered.
The thing was, it wasn’t just the setup that was making my heart pound. It was what came after. Because if Dominic had fabricated this whole thing just to “catch” me, then maybe he wasn’t looking for a reason to divorce me.
He was looking for leverage. Something to hold over my head, a reason to justify doing exactly what he had threatened last night.
Trapping me in this marriage, grinding me down until there was nothing left of me but what he wanted me to be.
I knew all too well what would come next, once that happened.
“Lucas,” I said.
He looked at me.
“I think I need to leave.” I blinked quickly, dispelling the tears that had suddenly begun to prick at the backs of my eyes, unbidden. “I can’t stay here. I thought maybe things were different enough in this life that I could manage it, but after last night … I’m not sure if he’s going to let me go. Divorce might not be on the table. And you and I both know how this could end.”
Lucas’s eyes guttered.
“Come back with me,” he said, reaching for my hand. “To my pack. I’ll protect you.”
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The thought sent a pang through my chest. My wolf, my instincts, didn’t want to leave Dominic. The mate mark on my neck seemed to protest at the very notion.
But right now, it felt like the only way. Dominic was descending into a downward spiral that would only get worse from here. I couldn’t stay and risk getting hurt again.
Or worse: killed.
After a moment, I nodded and let Lucas take my hand. “We should hurry,” I said, brushing the fingers of my free hand over my mating mark. “I can sense him looking for me.”
Lucas nodded once and began pulling me in the opposite direction of the house. “My car is parked along the roadside,” he said. The wind was howling now, sending the picnic scattering across the clearing. I almost didn’t hear his voice over the sound. “It’s a couple miles’ hike. I had to hide my car because of the note.”
I followed along, nearly jogging to keep up with Lucas’s long strides. We had just barely made it back onto the trail when the rain started. It was a drizzle at first, but it didn’t last long. The drops came down fat and heavy, and the wind made the tops of the pines sway in the sky.
Within minutes, it was a downpour. Lucas, still holding my hand, shouted something at me over his shoulder.
I didn’t hear it over the noise of the rain and the wind.
Soon, the path grew slick with mud and water. Small streams began to spill down the middle of the walkway, making my boots slip. Lucas pulled me faster, shrugging off his jacket to put it over my head and shoulders.
I was moving too fast up an incline when my foot came down on a patch of mud at the edge of the path and slid.
I went down hard, catching myself on one hand and one knee. Pain immediately barked up my ankle, making me cry out.
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