Embrace Me At Dawn by Shayla Black Page B

not Lucan? Because his uncle already sits on the Council?”
    “ That’s one reason, yes. But for a time, Bram insisted Lucan could still win the others over.”
    “ So Ice dislikes Lucan because Bram preferred his friend over his sister’s suitor?”
    “ No.” Sabelle looked decidedly nervous now, hovering near the arm of the sofa, wringing her hands. “Bram insisted that the best way to get Lucan on the Council was to show his good connections and stability.”
    “ Everything with the Council is about appearances.” Anka rolled her eyes.
    “ Exactly. Bram insisted that if Lucan became mated to someone of good family who could bolster him, someone whose bloodline was above reproach…”
    Everything Anka wasn’t. Someone like… “You?”
    Anka choked the question out. But as soon as it left her lips, she knew the answer. Sabelle mating with Lucan would have made him not only an obvious contender for a Council seat, but virtually unbeatable, despite the fact that his uncle occupied another seat.
    The pretty witch nodded. “Lucan and I stood ready to speak the words. But I came to him fresh from a night in Ice’s bed, tears covering my face. Lucan called it off before the words were spoken.”
    To spare Sabelle, who had been obviously in love with her mate. Lucan had a big heart; he wouldn’t want anyone hurting, least of all the woman who had saved his life. And he had never nursed political aspirations. He would have accepted a Council seat to help Bram, not for any ambition of his own. But the very fact that he’d been willing to Call to Sabelle and have her speak the Binding to join their lives for the rest of their centuries ripped every one of Anka’s insecurities open and filled them with crushing pain.
    She blinked once, twice. She saw Sabelle’s pitying expression. Her heart thudded dully in her chest. Tears scraped the backs of her eyes like a thousand little claws scratching in evil glee.
    “ Anka.” Sabelle knelt at her feet. “Lucan never loved me, except as a friend. You have his heart still, I swear.”
    Did his heart matter now? If she held it, he’d certainly been willing to cast it aside and mate with a witch whose family and stature were far above her own. He’d been ready to embrace a proper mating with someone far better than her. For a century, he’d sworn her family didn’t matter to him. Every time he’d uttered those words, she’d been sure he’d lied gently to spare her. And now she knew the truth. All this time, Anka had been drowning in guilt for shacking up with Shock, heartbroken that she was hurting Lucan with her refusal to come back and her inability to explain… But Lucan had been moving on, ready to take another into his home, bed, and life.
    He might as well have stuck a knife in her chest and carved out her heart, leaving her hollow and bleeding, foolishly pining for a man who’d hidden the ugly truth from her with lies.
    She supposed that made them even.
    Anka jumped to her feet. “I must go.”
    “ Don’t. You’re misunderstanding totally. Lucan loves you, dearest. He is incomplete without you. I know he’d give anything to have you back.”
    “ No, he’d give anything to have the meek weakling who hung on his every word and did exactly as he bid. He didn’t want a real woman, Belle. He wanted one who fit into his world. He certainly never wanted one to be his world.”
    As she stumbled for the door, Sabelle at her heels, Ice blocked her. “She’s telling you the truth, Anka.”
    “ Were you eavesdropping, my caveman?” Sabelle sounded somewhere between cross and amused.
    “ Maybe just a bit.” A smile tugged at Ice’s face, which disappeared as he looked Anka’s way again. “I know Bram and Caden are quite worried about Lucan. He’s not bouncing back from losing you. He seems to lack will. I think his heart is broken.”
    Or he had missed out on having the sort of mate he deserved with Sabelle and now regretted the moment of weakness that