Shattered Bonds
This chapter contains spoilers for the entire series. It’s taken from The Lost Moments, so if you haven’t read the books yet, read at your own risk. For those who have—and who want to understand why Sierra did the awful things she did in Books Three and Four—this is your chance to follow along. Each week, I’ll be posting a new chapter from Sierra’s POV in order, showing her side of the story as it unfolds during the events of Books Three and Four.
Amber’s slap was deserved, but I had to admit, I was surprised. I’d been counting on her to forgive me because if she did, everyone else would, but she was clearly furious with me, and as I watched her disappear with Ben, I felt overwhelming sadness.
“We need to talk right now,” Justin said, walking over to me and grabbing my arm.
I didn’t fight it because I knew this was coming the moment when he realized Elijah was his, nor did it surprise me when he took Madeline’s hand and teleported us to a portal.
“Shouldn’t we stay there?” Madeline asked Justin. “I mean, they will probably want to take her to jail, too. It’s where the cunt belongs.”
“The Fae Enforcers will want to talk to her,” Justin responded as he pulled me through the portal. “The family will assume I’ve taken her back to my house, and she can be arrested there. She’ll be in jail for at least thirty years if there’s justice.”
I hated when people talked about me as if I weren’t there. I’d thought those days would be over now that I didn’t have to work with the other four anymore, but it seemed Madeline and Justin would keep it going. I remained quiet, however, knowing if I spoke up, more insults would be directed my way, and I knew I deserved it, anyway.
Maybe a jail cell would be better than being around people constantly insulting me.
Justin waited until we got to his house before turning to me, glaring.
“Be honest, Sierra. Was this whole thing between us fake?” he demanded.
I stared at him, shocked. Of all the things I expected him to say, I’d never expected him to ask that.
“Of course, it wasn’t fake!” I exclaimed. “How can you even ask that?”
“Since all the shit came out about you and Carly, we’ve all wondered if you two changed just to have a safe place to stay,” Justin responded, folding his arms, still glaring at me. “But now we know what was happening with Carly, however, I can’t forget the stories about you ensuring you were always safe, even before Carly. So, it just makes me wonder what you’ve been trying to pull all these years.”
“Nothing!” I said, hating he’d even think that about me. “You and me, and the rest of it was real, and I can show you! I used to think coming to this realm was a dream come true for me. I came into magic I never thought I had… I mean, even when Amber went away to Foothills, it didn’t seem real until Carly and I came to this realm, and our magic was awakened, and then I met you! My moon mate!
“I felt like I was living in my favourite fantasy books or movies, and then it was taken away overnight! Nothing I did was fake except get close to the immortals. And I can show you! I’ll show you everything, except a lot of it you probably won’t like,” I added as I thought of how close I was to Fergus for a time and sighed.
“But before I show you, so you’re not caught off guard when you see my memories—” I stopped and looked away, wishing he’d stop glaring at me.
Madeline had moved closer to project my memories, but I couldn’t let Justin see this without giving him some kind of warning.
“The person I cheated on you with was Fergus,” I said, still not looking up, not wanting to see the expression on his face now.
“Ow!” I yelped as, once again, I felt a stinging sensation across my face, and I looked up to see it had been Madeline who struck me. She moved closer to hit me again, but Justin stepped forward and grabbed her hand.
“Stop hitting her. Violence isn’t the answer,” he muttered, not looking at me, but I was convinced his eyes were shining, which made me feel worse.
“You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?” Madeline demanded, and I looked up to gaze at him, but he still refused to look in my direction.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Justin said. “Let’s see the memories she didn’t show everyone. The Fae Enforcers will probably want to see them, too.”
Madeline glared at me again before moving closer to me. I allowed her in, showing her the memories from before I came to the Fae Realm so Justin could see that everything was real.
I knew it didn’t matter, even if he was still in love with me deep down. Too much had happened between us for it to work, but he deserved to know that I had loved him and still did and that none of it had ever been fake.
I allowed Madeline to show him everything from when Carly and I realized we were too harsh on Amber, to Mom hitting me, to us going into the Fae Realm and everything else that had happened since we met, all the way to right before we showed up at the ritual, doing my best to let him see many of Elijah’s first moments, such as his first steps, which I’d been lucky enough to witness.
I wasn’t sure how long we all stood there until the last memory played out, but finally, I was back in my old living room, breathing hard after having to live through it all again, and Madeline, who was normally more gentle, had pushed herself into my memories to the point I was left with a throbbing head afterwards.
“I say we go straight to the police station from here,” Madeline told Justin, who nodded.
“You go on, but I’ll be there soon. I’m sure the rest of the family is there; if they aren’t, they will be,” he responded, running a hand through his hair. “Although, after seeing all that, I don’t think they’ll be too harsh on her. It seems Fergus was forcing her do most of it, and if she didn’t, it would mess up the plan, and the contract would backfire against them.”
Madeline nodded, shooting me one final glare before turning sharply and leaving the room. Justin pointed to the couch, silently gesturing for me to sit.
“I’ll be leaving after we talk,” he said, his voice hard. “And don’t even think about trying to run. I’ll put up a barrier to ensure you don’t escape.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” I replied as I made my way to the couch and sat down. “But Justin, everything I did was to protect everyone.”
“You stole my fucking child from me!” he shouted, his frustration boiling over. “I never would’ve agreed to that! You decided for both of us and never thought to tell me I had a little boy! It’s bad enough you did that to your own sisters!”
“Can’t you see I didn’t have much of a choice once Fergus figured out the three of us were pregnant—”
“You had every choice!” Justin interrupted, his voice rising more. “You could’ve said no and gotten the hell out of there! You could’ve done anything but steal Amber’s child and force Carly to give up hers—and while we’re on that subject, how fucking dare you drag my sister into this! I should’ve known Isabella better. How could you have—”
“I didn’t force anyone,” I cut in. “All four of them signed the contract without reading it and agreed to work with me! It was the best plan we had.”
Justin let out a bitter laugh. “The best plan? You guys had a plan! You were going to use other people until you learned you, Carly, and Amber were pregnant. At least I didn’t have to worry about a child out there!
“Amber, though—she was driving herself insane trying to find Owen! She had the worst blow, out of all of this. She’d just lost Jared, and then you went and stole her children, you—someone she loved and trusted. What you five did messed her up, and I don’t know if she’ll ever recover from it!”
“It was the best plan!” I insisted, my voice cracking under the weight of the argument. “You think I wanted to steal her children? After what happened tonight, you have to see it was the only way! You were all doomed when we showed up!
“Fergus wanted you all under the spell of despair, hopeless. That’s why he wanted the children there! Do you know how often I wanted to grab them, bring Elijah to you, and return Owen and Chloe to Amber?
“I hated every second of it! We could’ve gotten other people to see each other for the first time, but what if they’d died? It was guaranteed Fergus would let our children be there because he’s a sick fuck!
“He wanted to watch the horror on your faces when you saw your kids for the first time! I hate to break it to you, but fifty billion lives matter more than yours, Amber’s, or Carly’s feelings!”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Justin demanded, his voice shaking with rage. “None of us would’ve argued with that, but you could’ve done something to make sure they were all safe! You could’ve stayed in contact with us, told us it was important to protect them until that night—”
“The contract wouldn’t have allowed that,” I snapped, my teeth clenched. “We were trapped, Justin! If I’d broken it, people we loved would’ve died—you would’ve died!”
“You should’ve figured something out!” Justin shouted, stepping toward me, his hands igniting with flames.
For a moment, it looked like he was about to attack, but he extinguished them just as quickly.
“Because of you, four people—including two of my siblings—are dead! Hilda and Kellen? Gone! The Hoofers lost two of their children. Ben is living with the guilt of murdering his brother—because of you!
“You caused so much pain and suffering with your ‘plan’! Brenda might’ve been able to figure out something to keep everyone safe while you betrayed Fergus and the immortals.
“Yeah, I’m glad we’re all alive, and so are the fifty billion others, but you should’ve tried harder to stop all this from happening. Some of the things you did to Amber were downright cruel—taunting her with an illusion of her baby? Not telling her about Chloe?
“I thought I knew you, Sierra, but you’ve been a selfish person who always chooses the easiest way out—even if that means sleeping with the enemy!”
“What I did saved everyone, and I stand by that,” I said weakly, even though doubt gnawed at me.
I wasn’t sure if I genuinely believed it anymore, but I refused to show weakness in front of Justin.
“Of course you do,” Justin replied, rolling his eyes in disgust. “Well, let me make one thing clear. I’ll allow you to see Elijah sometimes, but I’m heading straight to the Fae Enforcer Office after I get some sleep at the Hoofers to ensure you never have custody of him. And I’ll win, especially when they see your memories. If it weren’t for the fact that keeping him from you completely would hurt him too, I’d make sure you never saw him again. He’s been through enough!”
“You can’t do that!” I shot to my feet, panic surging through me. “You can’t take my child from me!”
Justin’s eyes burned with fury. “You did it to me! You kept him from me for five years! You made decisions about my son that I never agreed to. Now it’s my turn to decide.
“We’ll see what the lawyers and the enforcement office say, but I doubt they’ll fight me on this. You’re a wanted criminal, Sierra. Even if most of the things you did were under Fergus’s control, do you really think they’ll just overlook it all?
“You kidnapped your sister, one of the most important portal openers, and stole her children! You’ll be lucky if they don’t lock you up for good. And even if they don’t, you’ll never have custody of Elijah again. You’re not fit to be a parent.”
Tears blurred my vision. “You can’t… I thought maybe we could do this together—”
“Are you serious?” Justin’s voice dripped with contempt as he cut me off, his face twisted with disgust.
“What, did you think we’d get back together? That we could play happy family? Isabella was right about you. You’re delusional. I hate you, Sierra. I’d rather date Amber’s obnoxious friend Lydia than ever consider being with you again.
“Hell, I’d rather be alone for the rest of my life. Choosing you was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. The only good thing that came from us was Elijah, but apart from him, you are the worst thing that ever happened to me!”
The words hit me like a physical blow, the force of the moon mates’ rejection tearing through me. I had felt this pain before, but this time, it was so much worse.
It ripped me apart, a brutal reminder of the bond that was now irrevocably shattered. My chest tightened, the ache unbearable as the weight of his words pressed down on me. I felt like I couldn’t breathe like everything inside me was collapsing.
“Now, you stay right here,” he spat, his tone cold and final. “I’ll be back. And if we’re lucky, you’ll be leaving in handcuffs.”
Justin turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, I let out a scream, raw and guttural, the sound of everything breaking inside me. His rejection pulsed through me like a fresh wound, but worse still was the crushing realization that I was about to lose my son, too.