Chapter 19
Charlotte entered Jude’s master bedroom, flanked by her two brothers. She assumed that he chose this room because he didn’t want to be overheard in his office once he started yelling at her.
They’d all remained silent on the drive back from San Francisco. Sitting in the back of the car, she’d used the time to come up with arguments to use to make her brothers understand that nobody could forbid her to be with Byron.
Austin pulled the door shut behind them and blocked it, probably in order to prevent anybody from interrupting them.
For a few seconds that felt like minutes, Jude simply stared at her.
She remained silent, waiting for him to start.
She wouldn’t make the mistake of giving him more fodder for his attack.
She didn’t have to wait long because Jude had never been a patient man.
“Just because you don’t want to mate with Steve Leon, doesn’t mean you have to throw yourself at somebody like Byron! He’s nothing but trouble,” Jude said, his jaw tight, anger rolling off him.
“I didn’t throw myself at him,” she replied, trying to keep calm. However, she couldn’t keep the slight tremble from her voice. “And I resent the implication that he’s not a good man. He is.”
“Oh, and how would you know? Don’t you think it’s a little convenient that he offered to give you a ride into the city, and a few hours later, he’s dragged you into his bed? He’s got an ulterior motive. It’s reckless for you to throw yourself into his arms. He’s not worth it.”
“Bullshit! Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean that he’s bad.”
“And you figured that out in a couple of hours you’ve been in his company? Please, I wasn’t born yesterday!”
“Neither was I,” Charlotte shot back. “And I’ve spent more than just a couple of hours with him. We met two nights ago, and he’s been nothing but good to me.”
“Two nights ago?” Jude cursed.
“Yes! So, as you can see, I’ve known him just as long as you knew Danielle, before you went against every rule, and the Werewolf Alliance’s orders, and slept with and then mated with her. What’s between Byron and me is no different!”
She’d waited to use this argument. Danielle had told her a while ago when she and Jude had visited them in Montana. That’s how she knew that Jude had been just as reckless as he accused her of being.
Jude narrowed his eyes. “You can’t compare what Danielle and I share with what’s going on between you and Byron. It’s totally different!”
“It’s not!” Charlotte retorted and jabbed her index finger into his chest. “Admit it! We’re alike, and you know it. If you think you’re any better than me, you’re a hypocrite!”
“Charlotte,” he ground out, his jaw clenched tightly.
“She isn’t wrong,” Austin suddenly interrupted.
Jude shot him a glare. “Really, Austin? You decide to stab me in the back now?”
“I’m not, bro, but you did what you did. And now you can’t accept that Charlotte is behaving in the same way?”
“Thanks, Austin,” Charlotte said, glad that at least Austin was on her side.
“Oh, don’t thank me, Charlotte,” Austin added, pinning her with his eyes.
“I’m against a union between you and Byron, because it would be a total clusterfuck!
He’s not worth it, trust me. He’s done nothing but scheme against Jude and the Alliance, against all of us.
He’s impulsive and violent; he’s a drunk, and he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He’s trouble with a capital T.”
Disappointed that she’d misread Austin’s disapproval of Jude’s actions as support for hers, she grunted to herself. This wasn’t going well. But she wouldn’t give up.
“I refuse to believe that Byron is violent. When I was accosted by three guys after leaving a bar two nights ago, he helped me get rid of them.”
“Get rid of them?” Jude stared at her in shock. “He killed them? That just proves my point.”
“No, he didn’t kill them! Why would he kill them? He helped me run them off. We beat them up together. And don’t tell me you guys wouldn’t have done the same if you had come upon a woman who was being assaulted.”
“Hmm.”
Jude looked like he was pissed that he hadn’t been able to score a point. It took him only two seconds to come back with another argument.
“And it never crossed your mind that maybe he set all of this up?”
“What are you saying?”
“That Byron could have arranged this all just to get you to trust him.”
“What for?”
“To get back at me. To get even after what he considers an insult to him—that I didn’t choose Eve as my mate.”
“That’s ludicrous. How would he even have known who I was and where to find me? You and Austin didn’t even know where I was. Or that I was coming to visit.”
She felt something akin to triumph, knowing there was no answer to support Jude’s wild guess. Jude looked annoyed because she’d been able to rebuke his accusation.
“So, as you can see, making Byron out to look like the bad guy isn’t gonna work,” she added. “And he loves me.”
“Come on,” Jude now said, his voice calmer as if he’d decided to use his older brother charm on her. “How would he know after only two days?”
She decided not to answer the question, but instead to come back with a question of her own.
“How did you know that Danielle loved you after only two days?”
Jude made an impatient movement with his hand. “Just answer the fucking question.”
She sighed. “Because he told me, and I can feel it.” She pressed her hand to her heart. “In here.”
“He’s lying to you.”
“You have no proof of that.”
“I’ll find proof. Because there’s no way that he loves you.”
She scoffed. “Are you saying that I don’t deserve a man’s love? That I can’t possibly make a handsome man fall in love with me? Thanks a lot for your confidence in me!”
She turned on her heel and walked toward the door.
“This isn’t over, Charlotte,” Jude warned.
She didn’t stop or turn her head. When Austin didn’t step away from the door, she glared at him.
“Let her go,” Jude said. “She’ll calm down in time and realize that Byron isn’t good for her.”
“Don’t count on it. You can’t stop fate,” Charlotte said in a quiet but firm tone.
She opened the door and left the master suite with her head high and her heart bruised.
She’d expected more compassion from her brothers.
If her brothers couldn’t support her in this, then how would she fight against her parents and the Werewolf Alliance’s demand that she mate with Steve Leon?
She could only hope that Byron’s contact was able to find dirt on the Leon pack so they wouldn’t force her to mate with a man she was disgusted by.
And if nothing could sway them, she had one other option.