Austin's Lost Bride (The Sterns) Read Online Free Page B

out.
     
     
    Austin watched her walk away, slamming the back door behind her. She was truly lost to him. He realized that now and couldn’t stop the overwhelming regret sweeping over him. Every inch of his body and soul wanted to run to her, take her off her feet and ask for forgiveness.
    He wouldn’t. It was too late and he was too proud. She would never have him back and he was a fool for having briefly thought that she had forgiven him. Something so alien to him like begging wasn’t going to help. Some things can just never be forgiven.
    Like killing your fiancée’s father .
    Rebecca’s face had turned to grief and then to stone when he told her the story at the hospital. He had only told her that her father was dead, not even that he had killed him.
    But she knew.
    He never met her eyes as he spoke and she just knew what he had done. She commanded him to look at her face filled with grief and simply asked confirmation if he had killed him.
    Words tried to come out of his mouth but nothing escaped, not even his breath. He was utterly speechless and filled with shame. As her face went hard and her eyes filled with fury, he answered her. He wanted to explain, tell her why he did it, but she wouldn’t listen to anything.
    She handed him his ring and told him to leave. Forever.
    Killing her father wasn’t something he wanted to do. He wanted to save him, but Mannus escaped and there was no time. As much as he loved Rebecca, her father had been like a second father to him, and they were going to be his family. But no matter how terrible the consequences were, in his heart he knew he’d kill him all over again.
    Austin shook and cleared his head. He had no time for regrets. Mannus needed to die tonight and his preparations weren’t finished yet.
    He heard the shower turning off inside and touched his face where she hit him. She threw a good punch. Blood was still slowly coming out of his nose and he cleaned himself with the outside faucet.
    He felt the hairs on his neck stand up and quickly became alert, looking around for danger, subtly tensing his muscles to fight. In the corner of his eye he thought he saw movement in the neighbor’s window but when he looked up there was nothing there.
    Rebecca was making him twitchy and he went back to finish the stakes.
    He got back to his work and sighed moments later when he heard the front door open. Standing up on a log to peer over the fence he saw her walking down the street. She’d be back, he knew.
    He went back to work.

Chapter 4
    When he had finished his work, he decided to rest to be at maximum alertness when they went hunting. Sleep was restless and his mind wouldn’t let go of dreams of loving Rebecca. He was just as tired when he finally woke up as he had been before he went to sleep.
    So much for getting rest .
    Rebecca wasn’t there.
    She said we’d finish this together. Austin just couldn’t believe that Rebecca might have gone on to fight Mannus alone for a second time.
    He did another check of the safe house to make sure he didn’t miss anything she might have taken. A quick walk-through the rooms told him that everything was still in place. She hadn’t taken any of the items they had each prepared. She would want to have the stuff she had made, he knew. He also knew that she could have her own stash of items tucked away somewhere else, but his instinct told him that she wouldn’t go solo again.
    When he watched her leave hours ago, he assumed she’d be back well before evening. Dusk was still hours away this time of year, but they needed to get ready, head out, and track Mannus to wherever he was sleeping. Finding him before he woke again to feed and regain his strength was crucial.

    She’d been gone too long for a simple walk to blow off steam, and he knew that she wasn’t going to change her mind to pursue their target. She wanted Mannus dead as much as any hunter that had ever lived. Something had happened when she was out.
    He dismissed in