That night, despite the fact that the previous day had been so emotional, I slept well. Perhaps it was because Victor was buried and it felt like I’d gotten some sort of closure. I’d never get the revenge I’d always wanted but at least he couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.
The pain in my heart reminded me that my mother was going to die. Victor was going to take one last victim in death, and the loss of my mother wasn’t something I was ready to face. I pulled myself out of bed and got ready for the day ahead. I wanted to stay in bed and hide from the inevitable but hiding wouldn’t stop it.
I’d just finished getting dressed when I heard a knock at the door. I expected it to be Kyle but I was surprised to see Blake. I hated that just the sight of him made my stomach flutter with excitement. I had the urge to reach out and touch him but I stopped myself. I couldn’t let us touch until I could trust that he wouldn’t leave me.
“What do you want?” I asked him in a clipped tone, hating that, despite how he’d treated me, I was still attracted to him. I deserved his contempt but it didn’t make it easier to handle. If this was how I felt before we touched, I didn’t want to know how strongly I would feel once we’d made the connection with just a slight touch.
It was easier to deal with him when he’d been angry with me.
“I wanted to talk to you,” he said.
I bit my lip as I contemplated his request. Honestly I didn’t want to be in a confined space with him because I didn’t want him to accidentally touch me.
It wasn’t just that, since the more I was around him the more I wanted to give in to the desire to reach out and touch his skin with my fingertips. I didn’t know if that was the destiny of mates that pushed me to him or if it was just a basic attraction that made me want him.
He was like a drug I was addicted to and, no matter how much I fought, I knew the temptation would be too much to resist.
He was attractive, there was no disputing that. I remembered the first time I saw him leaning against a locker at school. I swear my heart had skipped a beat. His light brown hair hung across his forehead and I had an urge to run my hand through it. His green eyes were so beautiful and I could spend ages just staring into the depths of them.
My fascination with him had just grown from the first moment I’d seen him and the flutter inside my stomach grew stronger with every day that followed. Then one day he’d sat beside me in the cafeteria. I wished we could go back to that time when we didn’t have all this betrayal and deceit between us. In that moment he’d liked me and I’d liked him; it had been so simple.
Now we were mates fated to be together, but he hated me and I didn’t trust him at all. It was complicated.
“Fine,” I relented, stepping back so he could enter my room. His eyes scanned my small room. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for.
There was nothing personal about my room. It was like every other room. I didn’t have any photos or personal effects that would tell someone that it was my room. He turned to face me and I closed the door.
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked, already knowing he was going to push the whole mating thing again.
“Is there something going on between you and Kyle?” he asked, getting straight to the point—there was no beating around the bush. I hadn’t expected that and my mouth dropped open in surprise.
The question was so unexpected it took me a couple of seconds for the innuendo behind that question to hit me.
I frowned and then I burst out laughing.
Blake’s eyes narrowed and he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. I laughed so hard I nearly fell over. He remained quiet as he took in my reaction. It was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard and it was a few minutes before my laughter died down. I wiped the tears that had escaped and tried to keep the smile off my face.
“It wasn’t funny,” he stated with his face free of any emotion.
“It’s hilarious,” I countered. “What on earth made you think something was going on between Kyle and me?”
“You guys seem close. He seems very protective of you. Hell, he even gave you a nickname,” he explained as he scanned my features. He was jealous of Kyle.
“We aren’t close. I’m not close with anyone,” I argued as I crossed my arms in a defensive move. “I can’t help the fact that he gave me a nickname and I don’t know why he feels protective over me.”
He studied me for a moment. It was like he was trying to figure out if I was lying or telling the truth.
“I told him he could leave now that I was here and he said he wasn’t going to leave.”
I had no idea why Kyle hadn’t left yet, since it wasn’t like I needed two of them to watch over me.
“I’m not sure why you care,” I said, making a dig at him.
He studied me for a moment.
“Do I have to remind you that you belong to me?” he stated with the fierceness of the alpha that he was and a possessive sweep of his gaze. Being the beta of Cade’s and his pack at the moment was only a temporary arrangement. He was an alpha and there was no disputing the air of power that emanated from him.
“Funny, that. When you found out that little bit of information, you turned your back and walked away,” I reminded him. It was still hard to think about the rejection. Even now it still hurt.
