Chapter 7 Entangled #2
Once I returned from my rounds and parted ways with Ara, I found myself cornered in the back gardens by the wolf in question, a very solicitous individual.
“Everything going alright?” Jared asked, leaning against the wall.
He always seemed to chance upon me when all the other wolves were busy, and I’d begun to suspect that he planned things that way.
I hadn’t been able to find out much about him, but I got the creeping sensation that he was friends with Hunter.
There was just something similar about the way they lounged through life with an unconcerned ease.
“Yes, I think I’ve finally got the hang of the layout now,” I said with a forced smile. “You’ve been very helpful in that regard.”
His chin raised in satisfaction, so luckily he didn’t seem to have seen through my lie.
While it was true that he’d repeatedly taken time out of his day to show me around the property, there had always been an unsettling undercurrent to the gesture.
So far, I had always managed to get away from him, usually by invoking Felix’s name and saying that my husband needed me for some errand or other.
I wondered, though, for how much longer Jared would buy my excuses.
And here we were, in the back gardens of the pack house. Normally, their expansive size created a soothing sanctuary, but at the moment all I could feel was an intense awareness that no one else was anywhere in sight. It didn’t help that he was also an Alpha.
“I’ve noticed that Felix hasn’t been around much.” Jared pushed off the wall and sauntered over. On the surface he looked nonchalant, but I got the distinct sense that he was trying to loom over me.
“Between being both a doctor and the Alpha leader, he’s very busy,” I said with a shrug, then grimaced inwardly as I realized my mistake.
I had just sabotaged my usual excuse for escaping, but maybe I could salvage it.
“He said he would be home shortly, when we spoke earlier. I should probably go get ready for him.”
I brushed the dirt off my hands and turned to go, but Jared snorted and stepped smoothly into my path.
“Too busy for a cute Omega like you?” His eyes wandered over my body, weighing me like a piece of fresh meat. “A lot of wolves are envious of Felix, you know. More than one has told me that if you were their bride, they’d lock you up in their bedroom and not let anyone else get a chance.”
Just like that, I went from suspecting he was affiliated with Hunter to being nearly certain.
“Fortunately, Felix isn’t a jealous tyrant,” I said curtly, hoping he’d get the message and fuck off. The last thing I wanted was to get mixed up in more drama.
But as I gave him my best glare, I caught a glimpse over his shoulder that made my heart clench into a knot.
Just beyond the edge of the low garden wall, Felix was standing in the shadows, his stone gaze focused solely on me.
And he was not happy.
Jared must’ve noticed the shift in my expression because he turned to look as well. The second he laid eyes on his Alpha, Jared took a reflexive step back and sprung into a defensive posture, as if unable to decide between fighting and fleeing.
“Oh, see, there he is, right on time,” I said with a weak, nervous laugh. “I really should be going now.”
I wasn’t sure if fleeing outright would be too rude, but Jared made my decision for me.
“Yes, I just remembered that I have some business to attend to,” he said, before lowering his voice. “But are you really going to tell me that that’s not the face of a jealous husband? I hope he doesn’t punish you just for talking to another Alpha.”
With those ominous words, Jared was off, heading away from both the house and Felix.
I only watched him go for a moment, but that was as long as it took Felix to vanish.
My heart constricted tight for an instant as I was gripped with the terrifying image of Jared returning.
I still didn’t know exactly what it was about him that made me so uneasy, but I decided that I really needed to avoid being alone in the future.
I couldn’t give him a chance to ambush me.
I hurried into the house through the side door that opened onto the garden, making a beeline for the foyer. All the while, Jared’s warning tugged at my mind, even as I tried to brush it off. Felix wouldn’t really punish me for talking to another wolf. Ridiculous.
In the foyer, I found Ara, but no Felix.
Ara turned to me sheepishly. “He already headed upstairs.”
I sucked in a sharp inhale. I’d hoped to catch him before that.
“Oh, and...” Ara leaned in to whisper. “He doesn’t seem to be in a very good mood.”
I could have guessed as much. I saw the look on his face.
“Thank you,” I whispered back, before gathering my courage and heading up the stairs. There was no point in hiding or avoiding him. Maybe I was developing a taste for verbal lashings, because what other motivation could I have for seeking out Felix when he was angry?
If he was having a jealous episode, then I just wanted to reassure him that there was nothing— honestly, there could be no less—between Jared and me. If he was mad about something else, well, then we would deal with that as it came.
When I reached our room. At first glance, Felix didn’t seem to be there, but when I crossed the threshold, I realized just how wrong I was.
The door crashed shut behind me, and a vicious shove pushed me against the wall.
One moment, I was lost in my own thoughts, and the next, I was pinned with cold, clinical precision.
It would have been less terrifying if Felix had been snarling, but instead, his gold and silver eyes were as mercilessly still as they were penetrating.
“F-Felix,” I managed. Even though his hands were nowhere near my throat, it still felt like he was choking the air from my lungs.
“What were you smiling about with Jared?” he hissed.
I was taken so completely off-guard that I could only blink at him. Smiling? Had I been smiling? Was that really what it looked like?
“No, it wasn’t like that,” I protested, but I didn’t dare move a muscle. Every ounce of wolf in me was cowering, certain that any disobedience would be met with swift and unforgiving punishment.
Only then did I realize that Felix wasn’t actually touching me at all. He had indeed pushed me up against the wall, but now I was held there by nothing more than the dangerous glint in his eye. It wasn’t so much a threat as a promise of what would come next if I chose my words poorly.
“It was nothing,” I added, when it became clear that he wasn't going to hold up his end of this conversation.
“Nothing?” he asked so softly that every muscle in my body twitched and tensed. “Like the kiss on the Night of the Bloody Moon was nothing?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
There had to be a thousand things I could say in my defense to defuse his temper and reassure him that I wasn’t some loose omega seeking the next wolf to pounce on.
But my throat locked up, every explanation dying before it formed as my gaze drifted helplessly to his mouth—those firm, punishing lips that cut me with his words, yet still held the promise of how good they’d feel against mine.
My chest ached with the memory, with the wanting. I wet my lips, chasing the ghost of his taste as if it might still be there. In turn, my wolf stirred under my skin, claws itching, a low whine rolling in my chest, restless and hungry.
When I finally forced my eyes up, his own were already fixed on my own mouth.
Shit.
Shit
My lips parted on instinct. A sharp breath escaped me, one heady pant that slipped into a sigh.
Then the distance vanished.
I couldn’t tell which of us moved first, but I know we both moved close. He must have seen how transfixed I was. There was no way he could have missed it, not at that range. Not unless he was just as obsessed with my mouth as I was with his.
But at the very moment before the electrifying contact I’d been craving for weeks, before I could taste his breath, before the heat of his lips could engulf mine, Felix drew back with a snarl that I could only describe as frustrated.
Raking a hand through his hair, he spun on his heel, pushed me away from the door and yanked it open.
“Stay away from Jared,” he said over his shoulder. “That’s an order not just from your husband, but from your Alpha.”
However, the icy cold of his voice was mitigated somewhat as he closed the door behind him with much less force than I expected. If anything, I’d almost say it was gentle. But of course. Felix Redrow didn’t slam doors.
Then he was gone, leaving me in the hollow silence.
I slumped onto the bed, staring at the painting on the wall without really seeing it. My lips still tingled with the heat of his breath, and shock and disappointment crashed over me in equal measure.
Because surely my imagination had to be playing tricks on me. Surely I must have been mistaken when Felix pressed against me. It simply wasn’t possible that I’d felt that hard, familiar ridge straining against my leg.
No way.