Chapter 24 The Fun Had to End
Chapter twenty-four
The Fun Had to End
The large sports hall had turned into a sort of market fair. Every folding table was now fully decorated with business logos, flyers, cards, goods, and services of all sorts on offer.
“This is the best part of the National Assembly,” Darren said beside me.
“I thought it was the free food?” I said, noting the large pretzel half eaten in his hand.
“That too.” He laughed. “Look at all the free samples,” he practically sang. “Look,” he demanded and pointed to the green cap he wore with some tyre company name printed on the front.
I laughed. He was overly pleased with himself.
“Laugh all you want. We need to get you a tote bag and start stocking up. What theme are you thinking?” he asked, walking over to a stall full of pens and notebooks and pointing to a canvas bag.
“Stationery?” he asked. “Or,” he began, turning to the stall next to it.
“Potted plants?” he asked. “You’re a potted plant girl, I know it,” he decided when I only laughed, and turned to speak to the vendor before he returned with the canvas bag and a packet of carrot seeds.
“Darren, what am I going to do with carrot seeds?” I asked.
He shrugged.
“Start a garden, get a rabbit. It was free,” he settled.
“Where are you going to keep all this free stuff?” I asked.
“I’m going to use it all,” he defended.
“Sure, sure,” I agreed.
I awoke to Darren knocking on the cabin door. He had excitedly told me that Sara and Cole were currently tied up—not physically, he assured—but that it was the perfect time for us to sneak away to the business market.
I was hesitant, but it was likely the last time I’d ever get to just hang out with Darren.
He assured me it would be fine. That all the pack leaders missed everything fun because they were too busy with meetings and business lunches, so Cole and his parents would probably be gone for hours and we’d be back before they noticed.
“She’s going to know I was here,” I said, holding up my canvas bag.
“Better to ask forgiveness than permission,” he said before he dropped his voice lower. “Anyway, what’s she going to do, ground you? You need to have fun while you can,” he insisted.
Darren’s emotions were infectious; I got caught up in them. Before I knew it, I had a mug from a law firm, at least a dozen pens, and a free slice of pizza.
“I’ll be right back. I need another pretzel; they’re addictive,” Darren said, leaving me eating my pizza and looking over a stall of fragrant candles.
“I hope you haven’t been getting fat,” Ashford said.
It felt like a stream of cold water ran down the inside of my spine. I swallowed and turned to find him standing beside me. He picked up a candle and brought it to his nose.
“Ashford, hi,” I said, taking a steadying breath.
“Hi,” he replied, amused. “Did you enjoy the show that bitch put on yesterday for you?” he asked.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what was going to happen,” I told him and noticed a faint bruise across his cheek where Alpha Julian had slapped him.
I swallowed.
“Like you didn’t know what she was up to,” he accused and set the candle he was holding down to turn to me.
“Are you hurt?” I asked and reached out, my hand shaking, to run my thumb soothingly over his cheek.
He gripped my wrist.
“It was only a slap,” he told me, shoving my hand away.
“I don’t like seeing you hurt,” I told him. “It wasn’t right,” I added.
“Are you questioning my father, your Alpha?” he asked.
“He’s not my Alpha,” I told him.
“Who is then?” he asked.
“You are,” I answered.
His smile softened, becoming less sharp, less angry.
“Why did you let that bitch speak to me like that?” he asked, offended, as if I had any control over anything that happened in that room. It didn’t matter. He was telling me it was my fault. That I had to make it right.
“I’m sorry, I was scared,” I told him, hoping he’d believe me. It wasn’t a lie. I had been.
He stepped closer to me.
“Smell this,” he said, holding a candle out to me.
I leaned forward and dutifully smelled it. I couldn’t have said what it actually smelled like. In that moment, all my attention, every sense, was on alert, focused on him, on not making him mad.
I hummed appreciatively.
“Would you like it?” he asked.
“Only if you like the scent too,” I told him.
He tossed it on the table carelessly.
“It’s not my taste,” he said.
“What is?” I asked, turning to the table. “That was too floral. You need something more masculine to match you,” I said, my eyes scanning the candles. “Here,” I said, picking up a sandalwood incense tester. “This is more you,” I told him.
He leaned forward, taking hold of my wrist to steady my hand, and smelled.
“It does have a more masculine scent, but why not a candle?” he asked and seemed genuinely curious.
“Candles feel”—I shrugged—“more girly, I guess. It’s silly. I just feel like incense is more sophisticated, classy… like you,” I trailed off, a new, very different scent reaching me.
“I am more sophisticated,” he answered, his pheromones spreading out towards me.
I hated the scent of him.
It turned my stomach.
“Exactly,” I said.
He pulled me closer to him, so close that anyone watching would assume we were lovers. His arm wrapped around my waist.
“Why did you leave me for her?” he whispered against my ear.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I told him. “You know I’d never choose her over you,” I said.
“Did you let her fuck you?” he asked.
I pushed him away with a laugh.
“As you said,” I began, turning back to the candles, “she wouldn’t know what to do,” I said.
“That’s not an answer,” he said.
“I thought it was,” I replied when I turned back to him, a packet of the incense in my hand. “Here, get this,” I told him, handing the packet to him.
He threw the packet I handed him onto the table, and a few people near us turned to look.
He took hold of my arm and pulled me to him angrily.
“Did you fuck her?” he asked.
“No,” I said as calmly as I could and reached up with my free arm to hold his face. I leaned forward and kissed his lips. It was a peck. Barely anything. I experienced indigestion.
He pulled back, his face blank. I’d never kissed him before. At all. I refused. Wouldn’t. Never. But I needed him to think of something else, anything else—needed to show him he didn’t have anything to worry about.
He pulled me back to him, his stubble scratching my skin, his thick tongue pushing inside my mouth.
“Harriet?” Darren asked.
Ashford released me.
I felt like everyone in the room was watching me. Judging me. Like they all knew I was kissing someone other than Cole.
“Hey, Darren, you met my omega while she was with that aunt of yours,” Ashford said, his arm around my waist. “I was just getting reacquainted with her; it’s been so long, and we have a lot more catching up to do,” he said.
“Cole just called and told us to get back,” Darren said.
Ashford released me, and I stumbled forward towards Darren.
“You'd better say your goodbyes, Harriet. You’ll be home soon, and I’m not going to let you get away from me again,” Ashford promised. “Will you be at Samar’s game next month?” he asked Darren as he walked past him.
“I’ll see you there,” Darren said.
He watched Ashford disappear into the crowd and turned back to me, rushing forward.
“Are you okay?” he asked me, no judgment in his voice, no disgust on his face, and that made it a thousand times worse.
“Can we go back?” I asked him.
“Of course,” he answered.