“You went out?” I hadn’t heard anything all night, in fact, I don’t even remember falling asleep.

“Funny what a little sleep spell can do. Now get up, go shower. I hung some clean clothes on the back of the door for you.” “What?”

He grabs my arms and pulls me to my feet. “Go shower.”

“Why?”

“Can’t have you looking like that over breakfast.”

“No, I mean why are you doing this?” I stare at him

“I’m trying to show you that I’m not the asshole you think I am.”

I snort.

“They really have you believing that I’m some kind of monster, don’t they?” He shakes his head. “I would never do that to you.”

He reaches out for my face but I retreat. “Is that what you say to all of them? You butter them up, worm your way in and make them believe something that is entirely false? I don’t fall for it like the others. You keep acting like you are doing all this for me. You’re not, you are doing it for yourself, plain and simple.”

“What will it take for you to realise that this is real?”

“Real? I don’t think you know the meaning of the word.”

His eyes narrow, I had hit a nerve. He grabs my shoulders and spins me around, pushing me towards the kitchen. A small smile creeps across my lips. Maybe he was finally seeing that I was not someone he could win over.

Cooper directs me to a chair. “Sit!” He snarls

As I sit he pulls my arms around to my back. He reaches for something and I feel the cool metal of a chain as he wraps it around my wrist. “Let’s try this a different way.” He grabs my head and forces it over. His callous fingers brush my long hair off of my neck.

“Get off of me.”

“You won’t be able to resist me if I mark you.”

“Don’t fucking touch me.” I growl, pulling at the chains. “I am not your mate. You want to know what my birth name is? It does not start with a D.” I lie. “It’s Monroe, Klaus Monroe.”

His fingers pause in my hair. “You are lying.”

“No, I’m not.” I had been prepared to go so far, but there was no chance I was letting him mark me. I would be tied to him until one of us meets our death.

My chair is dragged across the floor.

He squats down, locking his sage green eyes on mine. The blue flecks are darker again, it seemed to

1.n

happen when he was on the verge of losing his composure. “What is your name?”

vent

“Klaus Monroe.” I state clearly and confidently.

“Liar.”

“And you’re an idiot if you don’t believe me.”

“I can smell you. You can’t deny that.”

“Maybe it’s your mind playing tricks on you. Maybe you are so fascinated by me that you want to believe it’s true. I’ve seen stranger things happen.” His strength was definitely not the ability to tell if someone was lying. Idiot.

He softly taps my cheek and turns away. “What’s your favourite topping? I’m going to make you the best damn pancakes you have ever tasted.” “You mean you are going to poison me?”

“No, why would I do that? I have told you already, Klaus. I like you, I like you alot and I want you by my side?”

He was delusional

“What about your true mate?” He was certain it was me, though I will never accept someone like him.

“We will see.”

He turns my chair back around to the table and slides it forward until I’m sitting at the table properly. He moves away, half talking to himself as he pulls out what sounds like a hundred ingredients.

The reflection in the window shows his lips moving but now no sound comes out, it was like he was talking to himself and it’s only when I caught sight of his eyes that I knew he was linking someone. It had to be Samara