Chapter 25 Did She Want Him?
Chapter twenty-five
Did She Want Him?
Cole
Iwatched as she caressed his cheek, soothing over where he had been slapped the previous night.
They talked, smelling candles, Harriet showing him incense.
They were so close, acting like lovers.
I almost believed it. It turned my stomach. It couldn’t be.
Harriet had said he…
Hannah had once told me that sometimes people can’t help but love the person who hurts them the most.
He had saved her life, claimed her, and offered her protection.
Did she care for him? Love him even? Despite…
I called Darren.
“Hey, what—”
“Get her back to the cabin now,” I interrupted him.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Darren said around a mouthful of whatever he was eating.
“You left her alone, and he’s with her,” I told him.
Darren hung up, and I found him making his way across the hall towards Harriet in a rush.
I turned back to her.
He pulled her in.
She leaned forward, up on her toes, and kissed him.
It wasn’t forced.
I had watched her. She pressed herself against him.
Ashford pulled her back and deepened the kiss.
I turned away.
I was going to be sick.
I should have gone over and grabbed her away from him the moment I saw her smiling and smelling candles with that runt.
What was she doing?
Could she not wait to be back with him? So desperate to escape me that she’d kiss him in the crowded market fair for everyone to see?
Was I not allowed even one more day before her facade of fear and apprehension of returning was dropped?
“Where are you going?” Sara asked.
We weren’t attending the fair. Simply trying to grab something quick to eat before we continued discussions with Pack Suncrest.
I had felt her in the room like some unknown sense tethered to her, drawing me to her.
“You can handle the rest of the discussions without me. James is fully aware of all relevant figures,” I said as I walked away.
“Cole,” she called angrily, her voice low, trying not to draw attention.
She could be angry with me later.
I walked back to the cabin, my anger growing with every step.
The door to the cabin was unlocked and ajar when I got there.
“Get out, Darren,” I told him.
The two of them were standing in the hallway, having only arrived at the cabin no more than a minute before me.
“It wasn’t Harriet’s idea. I basically abducted her,” he said, even as he walked towards me and the door.
I growled in frustration, and he moved faster.
“Don’t blame her,” he said as he passed me.
My eyes were firmly on Harriet as the door closed behind me.
“We weren’t gone for long,” she said, holding her wrist in her hand.
“Did you miss him?” I asked her.
“Who?” she asked. Playing stupid. Darren must not have had time to inform her that I had seen her with the Blizzard boy.
“Do you really think lying is your best course of action right now?” I asked her. A constant growl rumbled in my chest.
“I didn’t know he would be there,” she answered more defensively, squaring her stance like she was ready for a fight.
I walked towards her.
“Did you miss the taste of him?” I asked.
“You’re pathetic,” she said angrily and turned to walk away from me.
I pulled her back, spinning her around to face me.
“I thought you hated him, thought he was a danger to you. Have you just been playing me this whole time?” I asked, rage seething in my chest.
“He’s no more a danger to me than you are!” she replied angrily, trying to pull her arm free from me.
“Is this what you want? To be back with him?” I asked her.
“You’re so full of yourself,” she told me. “Thinking you even have a right to be mad at me.”
“What does that mean?” I asked her, searching her eyes for answers to questions that I couldn’t put into words but that I felt deep within me.
“You don’t want me. I’m just some piece in a game to you. What am I worth anyway? What’s the payout you’re going to get from the deal with Pack Blizzard? You don’t care about me. You have no right to storm in here and act upset. At least Ashford wants me,” she told me.
“You think I don’t want you,” I said.
“You’re the one handing me over to him. Might as well get it over with. I’m his anyway. You’ve just been borrowing me,” she answered angrily and pulled her arm free from me, marching away.
I followed her down the hallway.
“You couldn’t wait to be back with him! To give yourself to him,” I snarled.
She stopped and spun to face me.
Her eyebrows were drawn together in anger.
“Are you jealous or humiliated? Huh?” she demanded.
I was taken aback by her anger, her tone; she’d never spoken to me like that before.
“Are you angry enough to do something about it, or are you just going to growl and whine and hand me back to my real Alpha?” she continued.
Her real Alpha.
I don’t know what came over me.
What madness tore apart all my control.
I took hold of her, pulling her towards me.
I didn’t ask.
I didn’t think.
I kissed her.
Hard.
Violently.
Wet.
I’d wash away every remnant of such a lesser wolf.
My hand fisted in her hair as I held her to me.
Her surprised gasp, the little whine that escaped, between breaths.
It fed something wild within me.
She wrapped her arms around me, her fingers digging into my shoulders.
She kissed me back.
Angrily bit my lip.
The momentary shock created the slightest of space between us, and the challenge in her eyes was clear.
I hoisted her up, my arm lifting her under her ass.
She wrapped her legs tight around my waist, her lips back on mine.
She fought me for dominance of the kiss. Her hand tangled in my hair, held my jaw to her like she was scared I’d pull away.
I carried her up the stairs to the bedroom.