Chapter 5 #2
"You're just pissed that she thinks she's fated to a werewolf, and didn't think that about you."
Maybe a little.
"She's not fated to him, so there's nothing for me to be pissed about," I said bluntly.
Larson smacked me on the shoulder. "You'll get to meet him soon, since you're supposed to be making him jealous."
For once in my life, I'd be a perfect fucking gentleman, because I wasn't doing a damn thing to make that man want my female.
Larson and I both acted like we weren't reading news articles about Liv's so-called fated mate while she cleaned her feet in the sink again and put healing ointment on them.
I itched to do it myself, but knew she'd smack me if I even tried.
The last thing I wanted was to get thrown out again, so I didn't.
When Darius made himself another cup of coffee with the machine I'd left in the kitchen, she started cleaning so the house was ready for the Beta.
I got up and helped her, silently.
She flashed me a look that said she didn't know whether to thank me or tell me to fuck off. I sent her one that said she was welcome to do either, if it meant she was going to talk to me.
If her fated mate cared about whether or not she had dishes in the sink, he needed to take a hike.
I'd go with him.
He wouldn't make it back.
Every news article I saw talked about the Alpha and Beta's old engagement.
There were recent pictures of them together, standing closer than they would've if they hadn't been interested in each other.
Pictures of them posing at a dinner table, practically in each other's laps.
Pictures at Cabinet events Liv would've also been attending.
They didn't look like they were necessarily back together, but they also didn't look like they weren't.
There were so damn many articles about how in love they had been, were, or would be again, despite the Alpha's engagement to Grayson Darke being well known. If Darke didn't care about the articles, I doubted he actually planned on mating with her.
One from yesterday said:
Werewolf Alpha Gwen Davis seen wearing an old engagement ring from Beta Jonah Reeves.
I didn't need to wonder why Liv had been running so much.
She didn't read the news, but she undoubtedly knew the situation. And she was a confident woman, but thinking you were soulmates with a man who was in love with someone else would fuck with anyone.
We finished cleaning the kitchen and moved on to the living room, followed by the hallway. We were dusting, as if Liv didn't pay a cleaner to come by once a month to handle that shit.
The doorbell finally rang.
Liv had given me the code to her house the first night we met and told me to come in when I got there, since we'd driven separately. But her fated mate was ringing the doorbell.
Yeah.
Their connection was believable.
"I've got it," Darius said easily.
Liv's tight expression said she wasn't any more thrilled that he was going to answer it than she was about the rest of the situation.
"Hey, Jojo." Darius leaned against the doorway, casually blocking the Beta's path into the house. "You should've been here yesterday. Your girl has been kicking my ass. I haven't worked out this much since the last time she needed a babysitter. Which, coincidentally, involved Niall too."
His girl.
I had to breathe through my rage again.
Clenching my jaw, I barely resisted the urge to go to Liv and pull her to my side. Hold her hand. Hold her hip. Hold something.
I needed to stay calm.
Really fucking calm.
I sat back down on the couch next to Larson stiffly, and tried to look calm. I couldn't give Jonah anything to be jealous about.
Darius tossed an arm over Jonah's shoulder, dragging the werewolf away from the blonde Alpha at the door and introducing him to us loudly. Larson waved. I nodded.
My phone buzzed at my side. I glanced down to see a text from Larson, despite the fact that he was sitting right next to me.
Larson
Maybe you should try to make Liv jealous by flirting with the Alpha
If you really think he isn't her mate, you might have a chance
She obviously still has some kind of feelings for you, and her possessiveness could help your case
I watched Liv for a few minutes.
The way she was forcing herself to act laid-back instead of being her normal, energetic self as she gave the Beta a quick tour of the home she adored.
Our home.
How her hands moved constantly, because she was trying to play it cool.
Her gaze, flicking between Gwen and Jonah every so often.
She felt inadequate next to the Alpha.
Liv. Feeling inadequate.
Immortals stared at her shamelessly every time we went anywhere. Men lusted after her as much as they feared her. The woman was full of fire and passion, and everyone in the city knew it.
But she was self-conscious next to a werewolf.
There was no fucking chance I was going to risk hurting her more by flirting with the Alpha. Even if it could potentially get her back into my arms sooner, I wasn't doing it.
Me
Nah
We can ask the fucker how her magic feels to him if we get the chance, though
Larson nodded reluctantly.
We didn't get the chance.
The werewolves only stayed for ten minutes or so, and Liv was talking to Jonah off to the side of the room for the majority of it. I tried to listen in, but they were too far away.
Darius was trying to put a blushing Gwen at ease the whole time, and he was closer to us than Liv was, talking loudly enough that we couldn't hear her conversation. He was doing it on purpose, obviously. But I couldn't exactly tell him to shut up.
My female didn't look thrilled by anything the wolf was saying.
When they left, Jonah took Gwen's hand and laced his fingers through hers.
By the time I looked back to where Liv had been standing, she was gone.
I heard the bedroom door close moments later, and grimaced.
Shit.