Chapter 7 Entangled
Entangled
Monte
I jolted awake. Someone—or something—was on top of me. I had no idea where I was or why my skin was on fire, and most importantly of all, who was attacking me. All I knew was that heavy arms were crushing me down, and fingers dug deep into my skin.
Writhing and flailing, I fought to break free, my back pinned fast against the mattress. My lungs burned for lack of air, and when I gasped for more, the crushing sensation only got worse.
I could hear nothing but grunts and growls all around me, and a new panic clawed its way into my chest.
I had just woken up under another wolf.
What would Felix think if he walked in and saw me like this?
A whimpering mewl broke free from my lips, but no matter how hard I tried, I only found myself sucked deeper and deeper into the rumbling, suffocating prison.
“Will you stop that?” a voice snarled. A very familiar one, in fact.
I went still. No. It couldn’t be.
But even though the sound was groggy and sleep-slurred, I could recognize Felix Redrow’s voice anywhere.
In all the horrendous possibilities that had raced through my mind, not for a single moment had I considered that perhaps I had just woken up in the crushing embrace of my husband.
I flopped back with relief, as I tried to puzzle through the haze of last night, more confused than ever. The last thing I remembered was telling Felix the floor looked far too hard to be comfortable, and that I wouldn’t mind sharing the bed with him.
His only response was to grunt and hunker down in his little den of blankets.
And yet, he’d come to lie beside me after I fell asleep. I rolled my eyes beneath their lids, a smile curling my lips. Typical Alpha.
But if I didn’t remember him coming to my bed, what else had I missed?
We didn’t… did we?
No. That was impossible. Mating was supposed to be intense, overwhelming. There was no way I could have slept through something like that.
My gaze flicked down, taking quick stock of my clothes, checking for any proof of a mess. I was relieved to find that they were still on, exactly as I’d last seen them.
I drew in a slow, steadying breath through my nose before turning just a fraction to sneak a look at Felix. The steady rise and fall of his chest seemed to show that he wasn’t really awake yet. Unless I was mistaken, that rumbling was a snore building up.
It was a uniquely endearing and vulnerable privilege to learn the details of my husband’s sleep habits. At the same time, it was alarming how much stronger he was than me, and how easily he had held me down without any conscious effort whatsoever.
A deep, rumbling groan echoed through my entire body. It was immensely disconcerting to realize that I hadn’t been the source. I hadn’t known that Felix was even capable of making that sort of noise, but it was exquisite to have one more husbandly sound to add to my growing collection.
The more I learned about him, the easier it was for me to navigate this life that I shared with him. Temporarily shared with him.
I let out a snort and Felix’s reply was a deeply unconscious grumble, followed by his ungraciously rolling away from me.
I eyed him with quiet suspicion, wondering if he was feigning sleep to save us both embarrassment, but no, he was well and truly out of it.
My train of thought was swiftly derailed as Felix began to lazily stretch, taking up nearly the entire bed and putting the whole of his magnificent body on display. This time, his primal groan awakened something primal within me, which only intensified when he threw an arm across my body.
A muscular, powerful arm that I was now viewing in an entirely different light. Yeah, maybe a little too appreciatively.
My heart hammered wildly as my eyes roamed over him, ravenously taking in every curve and dip of muscle. My ogling session quickly came to an end when his incoherent grumbling stopped. His body tensed beside me before those thick lashes fluttered open.
Our eyes locked.
Oh, fuck.
Oh, fucking fuck.
Every instinct screamed at me to do something—pretend to sleep—no, too late for that. I could roll off the bed, disappear into thin air. Anything but lie there like an idiot.
Felix moved first. With extremely deliberate and mechanical movements, he disentangled himself and rolled to his end of the bed before rising, with his back stiff and turned to me.
He stood there for a moment, rigid and silent, and the awkwardness was so heavy I thought it might choke me.
So, naturally, my brain decided the best thing to do was open my mouth.
“Good morning,” I gambled.
He grunted. Then pulled on his clothes. His mood seemed to get progressively worse by the second, so that by the time he left the room, he had stomped his way to the doorway and closed the door just a tad louder than was strictly necessary.
Oddly enough, he never seemed to slam doors.
That was one thing I’d noticed about him.
I felt breathless, but it had nothing to do with fear of his temper.
We had slept in the same bed!
Surely that was a step in the right direction… but I shouldn’t be discounting his mood so hastily, either. No matter which way I cut it, the Alpha was annoyed with me and this entire situation.
With a sigh, I rose and prepared myself for breakfast. I was letting my imagination get away from me again.
Felix had probably just slept on the bed because he’d finally admitted to himself that the floor really was uncomfortable.
I was reading into things, and I had nobody but myself to blame for being disappointed this morning.
Not ten minutes later, after I’d freshened up and given Felix a few extra minutes’ head start for good measure, I followed him down and was shocked to find that he was still at the table.
I’d been certain that he would rush through his meal and hurry off to avoid awkward table conversation, and I had to suppress the surge of implacable hope in my chest. I needed to stop reading into his meaningless whims, otherwise I’d really start believing that he wanted to make this marriage work. For however long we have.
Felix glanced up at my arrival before turning his attention back to his food. If anything, seeing him give food his undivided attention was even more shocking than his continued presence. There wasn’t a single list or document in sight to keep him busy.
“Hey,” I said, as I sat down across from him and set about serving myself from the array of platters between us.
Felix’s eyes followed my hands, and I felt my neck warm up.
“Hey,” he said back eventually.
Such a basic courtesy really shouldn’t have filled me with such a sense of relief, and yet it did.
I started on my own food, and Felix continued with his. Within a short time, he’d devoured the pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit, and potatoes, and finished three mugs of coffee in the time it took me to get through one.
I pretended to focus on my plate, moving food around more than I ate it, but it was impossible not to feel his gaze on me. I risked a quick glance up and nearly choked on my toast.
Felix was staring right at me.
I grabbed my coffee and swallowed a few gulps to wash it down, the heat burning all the way to my chest. Then I went back to eating like nothing had happened, cutting into my eggs and taking another slow bite, as if my heart wasn’t trying to climb up my throat.
When I looked up again, he was still watching. Our eyes held for a beat too long, the silence stretching until I dropped my gaze first, pretending I suddenly found the rim of my plate fascinating.
This odd little dance went on for a while. I’d sneak a glance, and he’d already be staring. Each time it happened, I found myself a little less flustered. And instead of trying to ignore it, I started to wonder why he was staring.
When the answer hit me, I almost didn’t believe it, but I could see it in his eyes, a guarded, challenging look.
He wanted me to bring up the sleeping arrangements, so that we could have an argument.
He was daring me to say something, probably just itching to explain himself, that he had only slept on the bed with me because the floor was too hard, but he was too reserved to bring the topic up himself.
Instead of giving him the satisfaction, I complimented Ara on the lovely breakfast and kept eating. I tried to hide my amusement, but it must’ve shown anyway.
Thus thwarted, Felix spent a few minutes eyeing me with increasing exasperation before finally giving up.
“I’m off to the clinic for the morning. Council chambers this afternoon,” he announced to the air as he left. He didn’t even bother to glance over his shoulder as he skulked away.
It was the first time he’d ever actually told me his plans for the day.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was a reluctant peace offering.
Of course, he then pulled the door swiftly shut behind him and left me no chance to reply, so in a way, he might have taken it back with him as soon as he offered it.
Still. Progress was progress.
I finished my breakfast with a shamelessly foolish grin on my face. Ara gave me an intrigued look, but refrained from asking as she took away the plates.
With a spring in my step and feeling a bit optimistic about the day’s developments, I met the day head-on.
First, Ara and I tended to our usual chores around the houses—or rather, I trailed after Ara to keep her company while she actually got things done, helping out with the heavy stuff every now and then.
At midday, we took a round of daily visits to the southern edge of the territory.
Ara drove, and I got to sit back and enjoy the view.
All in all, I was beginning to find my footing as Omega of the pack, for as long as I was wedded to Felix, at least. However, there was one member in particular who was making the transition both easier and much less comfortable, and I wasn’t sure that the former was worth the latter.