Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Torin dried his hands on a towel and flopped his enormous body next to me on the couch. He pulled out his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants and handed it to me.
“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to call for help?” I teased, attempting to lighten the mood before the inevitable.
I couldn’t imagine leaving without my precious book. The realization hit me that my impulsive plan to snatch it wasn’t exactly foolproof. Where was I supposed to go even if I stole my book?
Torin made a tsk sound with his lips. “Princess, you are the one who should be afraid.”
True, yet here we are.
I drew in a deep breath and smiled. “I have a feeling my stay in your pack would be as pleasant as one of Dad’s training sessions back in the kingdom.”
Dad pushed me so hard that sometimes I’d purge the contents of my stomach right at the training grounds in front of all his warriors.
“You’ll like it here, Anna. You belong here.”
I liked the idea of belonging somewhere, but where? Was this the place? In the end, I would have to live by my own choices. I only hoped that they were the right ones.
“Why are you staring at the phone, Anna?”
I blinked rapidly while my pulse sped. “I need to call Hayden.”
Torin’s eyes flashed crimson once. His cold gaze pierced through me—no, through my soul—causing a chill to run down my spine. But he didn’t shift into his vampire form, and he didn’t move a muscle, probably using up all his self-control.
I adjusted my position on the couch while holding my breath.
After a long moment, Torin stood and walked toward the front door, glancing over his shoulder. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
I nodded. He wasn’t happy with my decision, but Torin was giving me space, and I appreciated the gesture. Sighing, I pressed on the screen. After a moment, there was a click on the line.
“Alpha Torin?” Hayden’s deep voice sounded serious and authoritative.
“Hayden, it’s me.”
“Sweetheart,” he said in his usual soft voice, “this is the second time you’re calling me from someone else’s phone, and I don’t like it.”
My body jerked as I remembered the first time I called him from Tammy’s phone only to run away from him.
“I’m sorry.” I swallowed hard. “I need to tell you something important.”
The silence that followed made me warier.
“The truth is that you and Torin are both my mates.” I cleared my throat. “You both can access my dream realm…and I feel drawn to both of you—”
“But?” he interrupted, and another cold chill traveled through my spine.
“I’m staying in Torin’s pack…for now. I can’t go back to the kingdom, and Torin still has my book.”
“This is not about the magic book.” Hayden’s voice still sounded as soft as silk, and I didn’t know what to make out of it.
Hayden didn’t question the reality of having two mates. He didn’t get angry at me. His reactions were the opposite of how I imagined Torin would react.
Suspicion rose in my mind. Mates were usually possessive and protective over their other halves. But perhaps I was too anxious, overanalyzing every word. Hayden had always been levelheaded and calm.
“Sweetheart,” he said sweetly, “you’re using the magic book as an excuse to stay in Torin’s pack. We both know you can’t be in the human world any longer. There’s no going back.”
I took a deep breath. “I won’t endanger Tammy’s life anymore,” I said, thinking about the other friend I’d lost in London, Lisa.
“If this is about you exploring, I’ll wait for you because I know you’ll come back to me. But once you’re mine, even if this realm burns, I’m not letting you go,” he said with so much conviction that I believed him.
“No, Hayden, wait. This is not a competition or an exploration adventure. I don’t want to mislead you.”
Hayden scoffed. “You can try to push me away as much as you want, sweetheart.” A heavy sigh rang on the line. “I’ll be right next to you as I always have.”
“Wait…this is the Alpha’s territory. Please don’t trespass.”
“Your destiny is in the kingdom as the next Queen,” he said. “I’ll be around until you stop fighting the Fates.”
“Hayden,” I sighed, “I would do anything to avoid returning to the kingdom.”
Even fighting the Fates.
“And that’s the crux of your problem.”
Hayden was right. Even if I stole my book, where would I go next?
Torin would give chase while Hayden would bring me to the kingdom.
Either way, Dad would get involved. The realization struck me hard, causing my pulse to accelerate.
My desire to escape the werewolf kingdom was greater than my want to steal the book.
He didn’t sound convinced of my choice, and I didn’t want him to get in trouble by doing something unreasonable.
“Hayden.” My voice was a whisper. My heart raced as I drew on all my courage. “I care deeply for you. I’m thankful for having you in my life. But despite the pull of the mate bond, I’m not in love with you.”
The silence that followed made my stomach churn, as if Hayden’s hurt traveled through our mate bond and stabbed my chest. I should have told Hayden about my feelings three years ago.
The thought of running away with Hayden somewhere no one could find us crossed my mind. But Hayden wouldn’t agree to it, as he firmly believed my place was in the kingdom.
“Hayden?” I said in a low voice after a moment.
“Then I guess I have to make you fall in love with me, sweetheart.”
I opened my mouth to protest. The front door creaked, and I darted my gaze to the hallway. Torin marched in with his arms crossed around his torso.
“We’ll have to talk more,” I said while watching the Alpha cross the distance.
He sat beside me. I said my goodbyes to Hayden and clicked off the call. Torin wore his usual mask of indifference, but his body was tense and straight as a needle.
Torin didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I decided it was best to move on to a different topic, but a troubled feeling settled behind my chest, tightening it.
Pretending everything was fine, I swiped the screen and talked without lifting my gaze. Since I walked out of Torin’s boardroom, I’d been curious about something. “By the way, what happened to your old conference table I remember the last time I was here?”
“It got splintered.”
I flicked my gaze to him. “How?”
“Under my fists.” Torin shrugged.
Frowning, I studied him. He finally sighed.
“After I watched you walk away, I knew I’d done so much damage,” he said, shaking his head and referring to the day he rejected me. “I was so wrong. And my fists might have slammed on the table too hard.”
An image of Torin breaking furniture in front of Layla and his Council popped into my mind, deepening my frown. He wouldn’t act out like that in Dad’s boardroom.
“Your fists might have done so?”
His gaze traveled to the ceiling and then back to me. A faint smile appeared on his lips. “They did connect with the table.”
Torin must have been scary at that moment. I focused my attention back on his phone. I’d downloaded a reading app without asking for permission. He didn’t protest, but the edges of his full lips curved up.
“I’m choosing a comic of a mafia guy who wants this girl, but he’ll put her in danger if she’s around him. You see, just like us.” I let out a small laugh while swiping at the screen.
“With the only difference that I could eat you, Princess.”
I scoffed. “Now you’re playing with me, Torin.”
He chuckled and placed his heavy arm over my shoulders. The gesture was so natural, as if he’d always done it in the past, that I didn’t protest. I never imagined that I’d be sitting next to the Alpha with his arms around me and without his glares aimed at me.
“Being around you is training me to withstand the urge.”
And being around Torin gave me hope for a different future. A future where I wasn’t the werewolf Queen.
But would his so-called training cost me my life?
I folded my knees to my chest and held his phone in one hand.
I was too comfortable resting my side on Torin’s hot body, his warmth seeping through and warming my insides.
Something was changing in me, as if Torin had slowly dissolved the icy barrier that stood between us.
This was the most normal I’d felt in days.
We kept on reading, and I almost wished for the old rude Alpha that gave me a hard time to be back. It was easier to hate Torin like that, squashing any hopes of us being together.
“Awww…he is her first kiss,” I said as we got to the spicy part of the comic.
Torin’s body tensed next to mine, and I could only guess that the Alpha thought about my first time with Hayden.
“My first kiss was when I was nine,” I said, smiling at Torin.
His body relaxed, and he pressed closer to me.
“The boy was older. I’d guess thirteen. One day, when I was roaming the forest—”
“Against the King’s approval,” Torin interrupted, and I gave him a death glare, which he ignored as usual.
“I met this handsome, beaten-up boy lying on the ground. Covered in blood, bruises, and dirt. I supported him to my secret cave.”
Torin rolled his eyes with disapproval.
“And I protected him from the hunters and vampires. I wanted to bring him back to the kingdom, but the boy who barely spoke through the pain didn’t want to go with me.”
I clicked off Torin’s phone and handed it back to him.
“I thought this boy was a fallen angel. He looked divine but very miserable and abused. He was supernatural because I could feel his strong presence. After I nursed him for a week, bandaging his wounds and bringing him food, he told me that his dad beat him.”
I shook my head at the sad memory.
“He kissed me and asked me to marry him with a small ring made of grass and flowers, and I said yes.” I let out a small laugh. “Only because I wanted to get him out of the abusive home he was growing up in. If he came with me back home, he didn’t have to be abused. And one day, he was gone.”
“If I knew it was going to be that easy—”