Chapter 13 Repossessed
Repossessed
Monte
Days passed and I was no closer to a decision on whether or not to bring it up with Felix or just up and leave.
I’d managed to put it off time and time again, throwing myself into simple, tiring work and the same routine with Ara.
I tried to distract myself with books, but that only worked for a few minutes at a time before my thoughts wandered and the panic began to set in.
Before I knew it, I’d turned a dozen pages without remembering a single word.
I slumped into the porch chair, the wood groaning beneath me as I finally let myself breathe. It had already been two months since the wedding. Two months living in this house, wearing the title of someone’s husband like a borrowed cloak that didn’t quite fit.
I had no idea what the fine print said about divorce or annulment, or what punishment might fall on my pack, but the idea of fleeing grew more and more convincing by the day. Simply walk away, leave this whole arrangement behind like a bad dream.
My duty… my feelings for Felix… like it never existed.
A sigh slipped past my lips as I leaned back, eyes narrowing against the faint streaks of pink bleeding into the sky. The sun was dressing the horizon in its finery, but it only made the emptiness inside me echo louder.
It wasn’t really a marriage, was it? It barely fit by any metric.
We lived together and slept in the same bed, but Felix still kept me at a distance and was ready to hand me off to his brother the instant he returned.
We’d mated, but only once, and in some ways, it had made everything seem even more hopeless than if it had never happened at all.
If physical intimacy was only a theoretical possibility, then I could cling to the hope that Felix might completely change and become warmer after we came together, but now I knew the truth.
Oh sure, maybe he was conflicted about the idea of handing me over to his brother, but he was still sworn to do it, and few things mattered to him more than his honor. Between his dedication to honor and bluntness, there was no room left for me.
My eyes then caught sight of a car in the distance, approaching the house at a decent clip.
The porch I was presently on was around the side of the house, so I wasn’t directly in the path of anyone who would park and head straight inside. However, I would get a pretty clear view of exactly who they were.
That was why, as the car drew closer and closer, I caught a glimpse of a face through the window. I nearly tumbled out of my chair, my blood pounding in my ears, but I barely managed to catch myself.
No, I had to be mistaken. There was no way. There was simply no way.
But of course there was. I’d simply hoped that Hunter would never return, so I was completely unprepared when he showed up unannounced on the front step of the Redrow pack house.
I was rooted to my seat, unable to move a muscle. My wolf howled for me to flee, to run away before he saw me, before Felix knew that his brother had returned, but I didn’t move a muscle. I couldn’t.
Judging by the raised voices inside the house, they’d noticed his arrival too. In seconds, Ara was pounding out onto the porch, panting and wide-eyed.
“I have the keys. Do you want to make a run for it?”
I had no idea what my answer was going to be before I spoke. I couldn’t think through the sheer shock of Hunter’s return.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “I… I need to confront this head-on.”
Ara sagged with disappointment, but I heard a sigh of relief too. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a glimmer of impressed respect in her eye.
“Where is he?” a raised voice called from within the house. “Goddess, it’s good to be home again, now where’s my Omega?”
I held my breath as the dark shadow emerged from deep within the house.
And yet, as his features vaguely matched up with what I recalled of my intended husband, I realized that my memories had warped him into something larger and more terrifying than reality.
In truth, he was smaller than Felix. In fact, he was only slightly larger than me.
It was outrageous that I had been so terrified of a wolf like him, especially after spending so long in the company of a truly intimidating wolf.
“Ara, good to see you again,” Hunter said pleasantly. “I hope you’ve been serving my Omega faithfully.”
Ara bowed her head, but only fractionally.
Her eyes moved to the darkness, and I noted that Wyatt was coming to join us as well.
Felix’s second watched the proceedings with narrowed eyes, but didn’t move to speak.
For the first time, I wondered if there was any real animosity between him and Hunter.
After all, he’d filled the Beta role that Hunter had vacated when he fled on the day of the wedding.
Hunter pulled up a chair and sat down beside me, propping his chin on his fist and gazing at me from beneath heavy lids.
“You can’t imagine how long I’ve been waiting to unwrap my present. Why don’t you come over and sit on my lap, Omega?”
I didn’t move. All my focus was on keeping my breathing steady and hiding the proof of my sudden terror.
Hunter didn’t like that one bit. He reached over and grabbed the arm of my chair, yanking it closer to him with a single savage pull.
Maybe I’d been mistaken. Maybe he was a little stronger than I’d first assumed. Fortunately, I couldn’t possibly get any more afraid than I already was.
“Good, good,” Hunter said as he leaned forward and inspected my neck. “I see that you’re still unclaimed. I hadn’t been sure if Felix could keep his paws off such a cute little piece of tail, and I do so enjoy having my wolves untouched.”
The tips of his fingernails grazed against my nape. When I shivered to shake him off, it turned into a full-blown caress.
I was just about to fire off a scathing retort when the front door slammed open. Given the size of the house and how far away the front was, that must have taken an incredible amount of force, and I knew only one wolf could have been responsible.
One wolf who never slammed doors.
For just an instant, my heart soared. Felix was here, and he would save me. Hunter would be scared into backing down, and all would be well.
But then reality came crashing down. Hunter didn’t immediately retreat, he just slid his hand along my shoulder and made it seem like much more of a tender, intimate gesture than it really was. He turned me into his accomplice, and I knew what this would look like when Felix came out.
And Felix would let it happen. That was the worst part of all. I knew that his sense of duty would win out and that he would hand me over, just as he’d said a dozen times over. I’d been a fool to hope for anything else, and I really should have taken my chance to flee before my Hunter returned.
“Where is he?” a terribly familiar voice boomed out, echoing within the winding hallways of the Redrow house.
A servant must have given him directions, or perhaps Felix could sense my being touched by another on a bonding level.
Either way, he strode right out onto the porch, his eyes blazing and his skin flushed.
His shirt was still rolled up at the sleeves, and there was a splatter of ink on his wrist, as if he’d been pulled right away from his desk.
I could imagine his frenzy when he heard that Hunter had returned, especially if the feral curling of his lips was anything to go by.
He took in the scene in an instant, from the smirk on Hunter’s face to the way his arm curled insidiously around my shoulders. I didn’t know what exactly showed on my face, but it certainly didn’t calm Felix down one bit.
“You’ve returned,” he growled. The edge in his voice somewhat matching his rigid stance. From the way his arms flexed to the tick of muscle in his jaw, it was obvious the physical effort he was putting in keeping his hands at his sides and those alpha claws from extending.
“I have,” Hunter quipped. “And it was so thoughtful of you to keep my mate warm during my absence. You got him good and ready for me.”
The blood drained from my face. I thought at least that would remain a secret because I hadn’t been marked, but I’d been a fool.
“What?” Hunter’s gaze bounced between Felix and me. “You think I wouldn’t know you two slept together?” He pinned me with his stare, vicious and unrelenting as he flared his nose. “You stink of him.”
Felix didn’t pounce on his brother, but it was a near thing. I could tell his willpower had reached its breaking point when a vein pulsed on his forehead, but then he looked at me.
For what felt like an eternity, he stared, and I knew it was the wolf looking out through his eyes. There wasn’t a hint of civilization there, just pure, instinctual hunger and… possession.
His eyes bore into mine like he was sending a message meant only for me. He looked ready to claim me, ready to fight Hunter for me. For an instant, I let myself believe that my salvation was standing right there in front of me.
But then he closed his eyes and took a breath, relaxing from the edge of murder down to simply furious.
“I am glad that you’re finally home from wherever the hell you disappeared to,” he forced through gritted teeth, still not opening his eyes. “You abandoned your mate and left him waiting for a long time. A long, long time.”
The ground tilted beneath my feet. The fragile hope I’d clung to splintered into tiny pieces.
How…
How could he sound like it was breaking his heart, yet do it anyway? How could he hand me over to Hunter even though he didn’t want to?
“Come on, you know how it is,” Hunter cajoled. “I like to build up a sense of anticipation, and I think I did a pretty good job. After all, look at all this tension! I could cut it with a claw.”
I held my breath as my eyes flickered back and forth between them, waiting for the tension to hit its peak and explode.