MATED TO MY BULLIES
Real, chosen, freely given love.
"I love you," Stephen whispered, his voice carrying clearly through the thin door.
"I love you too," Seraphina replied, and the mate bond shattered completely, leaving me gasping and empty and more alone than I'd ever been in my life.
I don't remember getting back to the servants' quarters. I don't remember lying down on my mattress or pulling the thin blanket over my shaking body. All I remember is the moment when the last thread connecting me to Stephen Blackwood snapped, leaving me with nothing but the echo of his voice saying words to another woman that he'd never said to me. I had thought I'd already lost everything. I was wrong."