She couldn't let Nathan see that truth. She chose to escape.
"No, Mom... it's not like that... I love him..." she gasped, and then, as if her body could no longer sustain the weight of her lies, she fainted.
"Mom, did you really have to be so harsh?" Nathan snapped, though the fire in his voice was gone. "She’s already broken!"
Mrs. Hill looked at Nathan’s agony. Despite her resentment, he was her own flesh and blood. She turned to Alaric, pleading, "You see it too. Nathan is living like a stray. You are the Alpha of this family—can you really just watch him rot?"
Alaric looked at his son, sighed heavily, the sound like a tired beast settling into the earth. "Let's talk about it later."
Nathan, disregarding everything else, scooped Victoria up and rushed for medical help. Mrs. Hill an
