Chapter 33
Ophelia
Iwanted to hide in his room all day, since it felt like my cheeks would always be red. Everyone in the house had to know that I’d slept with Henry, and even though I suspected there would be no judgment—maybe some congratulations or teasing—it still took more courage than I had to swing out of bed and march forth as confidently as Deirdre no doubt would have.
When Henry left, I scrambled to take a shower and find some clean clothes, and remembered to find the pajamas and underwear he’d thrown all over the place the previous night. My head ached with... well, with something. It wasn’t embarrassment, not exactly. Just…wonder at where I’d found the confidence to ask for what I wanted, to offer what I was willing to give, to... to ride him like a cowgirl and love every second of it.
I laughed and covered my face, shaking my head. Bright moon above us, I never would have predicted enjoying it that much. Or enjoying watching him watch me, watching him enjoy me. Listening to him growling and groaning and grunting... I’d been right. He made the most amazing noises during sex, and it just fed into the lust that had consumed me all night.
And again in the morning.
I paused in the middle of his room, lost in the memory of the gentle rocking and grinding that had been so, so amazing as we were both just waking up, hidden by the covers. There was no way in hell I could leave him. Wherever he went... I nodded to myself and took a deep breath. Deirdre had been right. Something clicked into place and it was like I was part of something bigger, something better. I needed him and wanted him, wanted to just be around him.
Maybe Montana wouldn’t be so bad. Nola was a lot to take, but maybe she’d settle down once Henry was there to manage the pack. And I could imitate Deirdre as an icy witch and see how things went.
I was almost feeling good about the rest of the day when I looked at my phone. A missed call from a blocked number. My stomach turned over. That was how Rocko reached out. He used spells to conceal himself and didn’t bother with mundane private numbers. He just messed with the phone until it showed what he wanted it to show.
Which still didn’t explain how he found my number. That phone was a cheap burner, purchased with my last twenty bucks at a rest stop before my car broke down. I’d used a fake ID for it. Rocko shouldn’t have known...
Unless he was here. He was here in the city and knew where I was. Which meant he knew about the pack, and Deirdre, and everything else that had been going on. Maybe he’d been hunting me, biding his time, for the full two weeks.
Maybe I’d brought trouble right to the pack’s door, just as I feared.
As I stared at the phone, it rang. I jumped, my heart racing, and gulped for air as it once more showed a blocked number. I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to talk to him or hear his voice.
But if something was going on, if he had a message for me, it was possible that he’d take it out on someone else in order to force me into the open. I squeezed my eyes shut but still picked up the phone, still pressed it to my ear. Bell and Book help me, please don’t let it be...
“Ophelia,” he said, his voice like a snake moving through dead leaves. “Why do you keep running, my dear?”
“This is over,” I said, as clearly and firmly as possible. Maybe he would finally understand. Maybe he would believe I was done with him. It hadn’t mattered before, but maybe... “Leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“That’s not how this works.” He chuckled, a dry whisper that made my skin crawl. “You made a deal, girl. You can’t walk away from it. You owe me. And there’s no one else who would want anything to do with you, not as damaged and broken as you are. You’re too dangerous to be left out there on your own. Everyone knows it. Including you.”
My heart sank as the familiar words sunk in. I’d always known how dangerous I was. Not even my parents wanted to be around me. No coven I’d ever been around thought I was worth the trouble. But...
I glanced at the bed, the sheets still rumpled and maybe even warm from where Henry had lain, and a sliver of doubt worked through the wall of certainty that I was worthless and damaged. No. Henry didn’t believe that.
Even if I couldn’t believe him all the way to my bones, he was confident enough for both of us. “No.”
Rocko’s shocked silence answered.
Before he would whisper more dangerous words in my ear, I planted my feet firmly and dredged up some of the confidence that had empowered me to ask for what I wanted from Henry, just a few hours earlier. I wasn’t the same girl who’d slunk back to Rocko more than once, tail between my legs, after he’d been proven right.
He wasn’t right. He damn well wasn’t right.
“I’m done with you, Rocko. You’re wrong. I know exactly who I am and what I’m capable of. Leave me alone. If I hear from you again, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Oh my,” he murmured. “Isn’t that impressive. Little kitten found her claws. Good for you, little Ophelia. It’s too bad you’re too late, dear.”
Too late? My mouth went dry. He’d done something awful, just like I’d always known he would. “What did you do?”
Rocko’s voice creaked and splintered, shattering through whatever security I’d found. “This handsome young man who’s been following you around... Did you know he turns into a wolf when prodded?”
Oh holy moon. I clenched my hand into a fist and glared at the wall as magic bubbled in my blood and started to swirl around me. It threatened to burn through the phone and sever that connection, to leave whatever wolf Rocko had in his hands. “Release him.”
“What will you give me in return?”
It echoed too close to something Henry had said the night before and I shuddered, pushing away the thought. No. Rocko was evil. He didn’t deserve space in my head. I would keep everything Henry said close to me, every precious word. “I won’t kill you in your sleep. Release the wolf.”
