Bitter Truths: A Twisted Arranged Marriage Romance (Crimson Falls Duet Book 2)

Bitter TruthsCrimson Falls Duet


Dani René


Contents
Foreword
Playlist
1. Darius
2. Scarlett
3. Darius
4. Scarlett
5. Darius
6. Scarlett
7. Darius
8. Lycan
9. Darius
10. Scarlett
11. Lycan
12. Scarlett
13. Lycan
14. Scarlett
15. Lycan
16. Lycan
17. Scarlett
18. Lycan
19. Scarlett
20. Lycan
21. Scarlett
22. Lycan
23. Scarlett
24. Scarlett
25. Darius
26. Scarlett
27. Lycan
28. Scarlett
29. Lycan
30. Scarlett
31. Lycan
32. Darius
33. Scarlett
Epilogue
Looking for more?
Prologue
Chapter One
Acknowledgments
Also by Dani René
About the Author


Published by Dani René (www.danirene.com)
Copyright © 2021 by Dani René
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events, locations, or any other element is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design: Jay Aheer, Simply Defined Art
Cover Photography: Eric Battershell
Editing and Proofing: Illuminate Author Services


Foreword
Hearts break. Tears fall.
The future is dimmed without his light.
But I’ll be strong…
The Hunter may have me, but I won’t stop believing the Wolf will find me.


Playlist
You Belong to Me - Cat Pierce
Change My Ways - Gotts Street Park, Pip Millet
Breathe - Tommee Profitt, Fleurie
Day is Gone - Noah Gundersen, The Forest Rangers
Wicked Game - Ursine Vulpine, Annaca
Scars - Michael Malarky
The After You - Miakoda
Miss YOU! - CORPSE
When It’s All Over - RAIGN
If you’d like to listen to the rest of songs that inspired this story, the playlist is on Spotify. Click here


1
Darius
Revenge is a dish best served with a side of vengeance.
I spent my life in the shadows, wanting to hide from the truth that I was nothing more than a product of my father’s indiscretions. And even in the darkness, I knew the truth—nothing can mend what my father had broken.
Now I’m here, waiting, racing through the woods after a pretty little girl I learned is my niece. Her grandmother, my biological mother, had me when she was young and abandoned me. She left me with my father, then went off and married someone else. Anger surges as I recall the day she told me her story. When I asked for proof, she gave me the test results.
Darkness shrouds my actions as I near her running form, her white dress torn and dirty from her escape, but I’m almost there. I’m so close I can smell her fear as it emanates from her supple skin. I can hear her short breaths, and I can’t stop my cock from jolting. Perhaps I shouldn’t think about her sweetness in that way, maybe I’m broken, but seeing her run from me makes me hungry to have a taste.
Just a bite.
It couldn’t hurt.
The woods are dense, but through the dark brown of the trunks, I focus on the white, the slight frame of the beauty that’s running for her life. But what she doesn’t know is I’m a hunter, one that can so easily capture her, but the chase is a part of who I am. It runs through my veins. Shaw blood burns hot when we’re chasing our prey. Even Lycan knows this, and perhaps that’s why he told her to run. He knew I’d enjoy this. He must’ve.
The last thing she heard was my brother shouting for her to run from me. And now, as I howl out into the darkness, I inhale her fear along with that sweet nectar of her perfume.
When she reaches the breach in the trees, a scream catapults from her lips when she realizes my family is waiting. The bikers who took me in as a young rebel are there, their arms wrap around her, and the moment she’s bound, I stop behind her, knowing my breath is hot in her ear.
“Your wolf is dead,” I tell her while fisting my hands at my sides. I want to hurt her, but that will come. And when it does, she’ll wish she was dead. A sob of pure agony tumbles free from her mouth, and I can’t help but smile.
Slade throws her into his truck, which had been waiting as I chased her through the woods. The SUV I hired is still parked near the house where Lycan’s men will find it. I made sure of that. When they do, they’ll see exactly what I want my brother to find.
I shot him. Twice.
Leaving him for dead was part of my plan, but a part of me wonders if he’ll ever survive the wounds I inflicted. And I wonder if he’ll get the gift which I left for him before he takes his last breath.
Bear pulls up beside me on his bike. The truck behind us keeps a safe distance, but I can practically feel Scarlett’s rage from the backseat. I didn’t plan on taking her. I wanted her dead, along with my brother, but stealing her is definitely a bonus.
Call it collateral. Grace will never want her granddaughter hurt, which means she’ll ensure I don’t take my anger out on the girl. Without my emotions, I can easily make Scarlett bleed for being born, but I’ll keep her alive to ensure I get my money.
Hatred is the only thing I feel. Guilt no longer rules my life. When Grace told me what had happened in the past, she gave no inkling that I was even loved, so why should I care about her, or her little granddaughter?
I thought for a moment that Lycan would see the truth, that he’d finally stand beside me, but the moment affection flashed in his eyes for the girl, I knew I had lost him for good.
I waited, craved even, just to see my brother again, the boy I grew up with. But he was long gone.
For years we’d been at war, and now that war has ended by my hand. I focus on the