Chapter 17

Shawn was drowning his sorrows in a bar when a guard rushed in.

"Shawn, trouble! Quinn threw Leah into the lake!"

"What?!" He rose, the jug breaking to bits on the floor.

He hurried to the lake, arriving just as Jason bore a wet Leah to the shore. Quinn lay nearby, crumpled up, his face ashen.

"Quinn!" The sight of him brought her to him. She threw herself on him, crying. "It was an accident, she slipped!"

Smack!

The resounding blow stemmed her eloquence.

His palm stung and his eyes were aflame with fury.

"You she-devil, you!"

Quinn put her hand to her cheek in consternation.

"You struck me? I'm bearing your pup!"

He gripped her wrist, almost crushing it.

"I was blind to let you fool me all these years!"

He turned to Leah, being held in Jason's arms, and the eyes of Shawn were filled with regret and pain. "Leah, I—"

"Clear out!" Jason said, carrying me away without a glance.

Shawn stood rooted to the spot, his heart writhing.

Quinn tugged at his sleeve, her voice breaking.

"I made a mistake, Shawn. Please forgive me?"

He shook her off with disgust. "Guards! Lock her into the storeroom of the bar. No one lets her out without my say so!"

"Shawn!" Quinn shrieks, struggling. "I'm carrying your pup! You can't do this!"

He laughs coldly. "If that pup's harmed, you'll answer for it."

The tavern, the only one in the borderland market, draws a rough crowd. As night falls, Quinn huddles in the storeroom, tears long dried.

A faint click slices the hush as the lock yields. She lifts her gaze to a tall silhouette stepping inside. The gloom hides his features, yet at this hour the visitor can only be Shawn.

"Shawn!" She rushes to him, overjoyed. "I knew you wouldn't abandon me!"

The wolf says nothing, roughly pinning her against a pile of crates. Quinn's thrilled, leaning into him. "I knew you still loved me…"

Clothes fall away, passion rising. She's lost in the hope of winning him back, oblivious to anything amiss.

Crash! The door flies open, torches flooding the room with light.

Quinn gasps as she sees not her beloved Shawn, but some burly, scarred stranger on top of her. She screams, and, pushing him off her, flies to cover her nakedness.

Shawn stands in the doorway, his face black with rage and the fury radiating out from him.

"Quinn!" she crawls to him, as he towers above her.

She sobs, "I thought It was you! Forgive me! O for our pup's sake!"

"Pup!” sneers Shawn, and kicks her hard in the stomach.

“Who knows whose bastard that is?"

Quinn gives a cry and curls up as the blood flows between her legs and spots her skirt.

“My pup!” she whimpers, her face like that of a corpse.

“Save my pup!"

Shawn watches her writhe with unfeeling eyes.

“Get a healer to see her,”

he tells the men about him.

"Then throw her into the brig."

He turns then and walks away with a cold, final air.