<b>+25 </b>Bonus


    I pulled over and scrolled through them with shaking hands. The pictures were everywhere. Me and Jane at the bar. Jane outside my hotel room. Headlines screaming about an affair.


    There were missed calls from E. Three of them.


    I called her, but it only rang twice before going to voicemail.


    “E, it’s me,” I said frantically. “Whatever you saw, whatever you heard, it’s not true. Jane drugged me. She was working with your father. I’m on my way home right now. Please, just wait for me. Don’t do anything until I get there.”


    I hung up and kept driving.


    By the time I pulled into the driveway, the sun had long since risen. I burst through the front door, calling E’s name.


    Hunter appeared from the kitchen. “Alexander? You’re back-”


    “Where’s E?”


    “She left about an hour ago. Said she had an appointment with the doctors.”


    I was already heading back out the door. “If shees back, tell her to wait for me.”


    The Anthonies‘ house was a fucking hour away, and E still wasn’t answering her phone. I managed to make it there in forty- five minutes, parking crooked in their driveway and running up to the front door. I pounded on it until Anthony answered with a startled expression on his face.


    “Where’s E?” I barked before he could speak.


    “She’s downstairs. We’re about to begin the procedure.”


    “The procedure? What fucking procedure?”


    Anthony didn’t answer. With a snarl, I pushed past him and took the stairs to the basement, nearly breaking my neck in the process as I tripped down thest step. Theb was at the far end, and through the ss window in the door, <b>I </b>could see E.


    She was sitting in arge chair that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. A metal dome was positioned around her head, and I could see electrodes taped to her temples and chest. Tony was adjusting something on a control panel nearby.


    I burst through the door. “Stop!”


    Tony jumped, nearly knocking over a tray of instruments. “Alexander? What are you doing here?”


    “I need to talk to E.” I started toward her, but Anthony grabbed my arm, pulling me back.


    “You can’t. The procedure has already begun!”


    I looked at E. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and even. “I don’t give a shit. Wake her up,” I ordered.


    “We can’t.” Anthony’s voice was firm. “Once the procedure starts, it has to run its course. Interrupting it now could cause serious damage to her body.”


    “How long will the procedure take?” I asked.


    “Two hours. Maybe three.”


    Cursing under my breath<b>, </b><b>I </b>pulled away from Anthony and walked to E’s side. Up close, I could <b>see </b>the rise and fall of her chest, the slight flutter of her eyelids. The crystal beneath her shirt was glowing faintly, pulsing in time with the machine, which was<b>… </b>strange.


    “What exactly is this procedure supposed to do?” I asked.


    +25 Bonus


    “We’re using targeted electrical stimtion to encourage the crystal to regenerate your mate bond,” Tony exined quietly.” The crystal has been absorbing and storing energy since it embedded itself in her chest. We’re essentially redirecting that energy, using it to rebuild the neural pathways that were severed when she gave up the bond.”


    “And if it doesn’t work?”


    The doctors exchanged a nce.


    “We’re not sure,” Tony said.


    I whirled on them. “What the fuck do you mean, you’re not sure?”


    Another pause.


    “This is an experimental procedure,” Anthony replied. “We’ve never done anything like this before.”


    I sank into the chair next to E’s and took her hand. It was warm. For now. But why the hell had she agreed to this? Why was she so hell bent on…


    I shut my eyes. Fuck. The pictures. She thought I really had cheated on her, and that restoring our mate bond could fix it. As if any of this were her fault.


    “Dammit, E,” I whispered. “Why didn’t you wait? Why did you have to jump into another n without talking to me first?”


    There was no answer, of course. I wouldn’t get one until she woke up.


    If she woke up.


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    <strong>Sara Lili</strong> is a daring romance writer who turns icyndscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of d’s breathtaking cold.