Chapter 48
BETA DOMINIC.
“Where exactly are you taking me?” Sofia turned around abruptly without any warning, and her face bumped into my torso. I had unzipped my hoodie earlier to let the air in, so she slammed directly into my shirt.
“Eww! Your sweat!” She grunted as she wiped my sweat off her face, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She was exaggerating. We have barely walked for thirty minutes now, and although I sweat, it wasn’t enough to soil my shirt.
“Don’t worry, I showered this morning. So it’s a fresh sweat.” I pulled out a handkerchief from my jeans’ back pocket and wiped her face with it, which she didn’t appreciate because she pushed my hand away like it was on fire.
“Don’t touch me.” If her snarl could kill someone, I would probably be six feet under the ground now.
“You’re too whiny for a seventeen-year-old. You complained of sweat, and now I am taking it off. You’re still complaining.”
“I don’t know where you used that cloth.” She glared at me as she fixed her long wavy locks into a ponytail, making her blouse hitch up.
My eyes gazed at her exposed stomach and her raised arms.
Beautiful. I couldn’t deny that.
“Excuse me?” I asked when I remembered her remarks.
“Never mind. Where are we now? And where is that place you wanted to show me?” She asked as she placed her hands on her hips.
“If you didn’t complain every five minutes, we’d probably be at the meadow by now. Your complaints are just delaying us every fucking minute.”
“But you didn’t say it would take a whole day to get there!”
“You’re exaggerating! It’s not even been one hour yet!” If I was mesmerized by her beauty earlier, I was now pissed off with her.
I was gritting my teeth, regretting the idea that I ever agreed to watch over this kid.
“But I’m tired already.”
“You whine like humans.”
“I don’t have a wolf yet. So obviously I don’t have the strength that she-wolves have! And it’s not like we’re threading a straight line. It’s uphill. I didn’t know we had to climb up…”
Fuck me! Why did I forget that she didn’t have a wolf yet? No wonder she was panting like crazy all the way through.
I let out a deep breath and placed my hands on my hips as I stared at her. Bringing her here was a bad idea. What was I thinking?
She just stared back at me, her forehead still creased, arms crossed against her chest.
“We’ll be at the meadow in ten minutes. Do you want to continue, or should we turn around and go back?”
“Will I have a place to rest in the meadow? I swear my legs are killing me now.”
“Yes, you can rest there. Would you like to hop on my back so we can go there faster?” It was too late when I realized what I just offered to her. But I couldn’t back out now.
I saw her swallow hard as her eyes widened while a red tint slowly crept onto her cheeks. “I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
“Come on, kid! Don’t put any dirty thoughts in your head. It’s either you hop on my back or start moving your ass and walk without any complaint.”
“Your girlfriend won’t mind?” She asked the question while avoiding my gaze and biting her lower lip.
I chuckled internally. Girlfriend? Yup, I have too many girlfriends who would mind. I couldn’t even remember the last time I got laid. With all the previous problems with Alpha Riley—from Andrea to Nadia—I didn’t have time for my own leisure.
“No. She won’t. Come now!” I grunted and motioned with my hand for her to come over.
I wanted to reach the meadow already so I could drink from the clear stream there. I felt so fucking thirsty, and seeing her smooth stomach was giving me the hots. I had to cool down.
She rolled her eyes before making her way behind me. I crouched down and waited for her to coil her arms around my neck before I rose up. Her legs automatically wrapped around my hips, and I felt my body stiffen at the contact.
I raised my hands to hold her lower legs steady because she couldn’t grip my body tightly. She has short legs compared to the circumference of my body, and if I didn’t hold her, she might slip down.
But I already wanted to regret this. What was I thinking when I suggested that I carry her? I could feel her center directly on my back, and even with the jeans and my clothes between us, I still knew what was pressed against mine. Not to mention her soft breasts too.
Fuck me now. I was turning into a pervert.
She kept quiet while I walked us through the woods, and I was thankful for that because my mind was moving at a fast pace, trying to find answers to my questions.
Janna was the same age as her, but I saw Sofia as if she were younger, a kid. But now that her body was pressed against mine, it was harder to see and think of her that way.
“Beta Dominic…” She whispered, and her breath was fanning up on my neck, giving me goosebumps.
“Hmmm…” I mumbled my response. I could already see the meadows ahead of us.
“Katarina mindlinked me. Your Alpha is looking for you. She said, your mindlink was turned off.”
“Okay.” I let out a deep sigh and opened my mindlink. I didn’t even notice it was shut off.
‘Alpha?’ I sent a message to Alpha Riley. I hope nothing urgent was needed, or I had to turn around with this female on my back.
‘Where the fuck are you? Don’t tell me you’re fucking Sofia! Darvin will fucking kill you!’ He snarled at me, and I almost laughed aloud if I hadn’t remembered I had Sofia on my back.
‘Whoah! Chill. She’s still whole and untouched, at least by me. And please, I didn’t even have those thoughts in my head. She just wanted to see something aside from traffic and buildings, so I’m taking her to the meadows.’ I chuckled in my head.
Lies. But in my defense, I was trying to fight off any dirty thoughts about her.
‘You’re back too soon. Do you need me there now?’
‘No. I’m good. Just don’t fucking touch her. I don’t want any bad blood between Darvin and me.’
‘Aye, aye, Captain. But just to assure you, I don’t see her that way. I have Janna, remember?’
RILEY.
I made some calls once I was on the training grounds, away from where Nadia could hear me.
I wanted someone to watch Benedict Solange.
I didn’t trust him, and I didn’t like the way his eyes were raking over Nadia. And although I trusted Nadia when she said she wanted nothing to do with him, I still couldn’t help but feel threatened.
So I needed to know more.
I couldn’t help it.
Nadia was still mad at me about Andrea, and then, all of a sudden, after Benedict appeared, she was all over me. I knew I shouldn’t be thinking like this and should learn to trust Nadia wholeheartedly, but I couldn’t stop myself from doubting. Old habits die hard.
But I was trying. I trusted Nadia. Goddess knew I wanted to, but I just needed a little peace of mind, so I was doing this.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Nadia’s voice snapped me back to the present as she stood beside me. Her eyes wandered to the training ground as our men slowly dispersed from their group, ready to head home or proceed with their duties.
I smiled at her before I fastened an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me. “How was your time with Katarina?”
“Oh, it was lovely! I’m glad she took the initiative to come visit me. I’ve been wondering for days if I could see her but didn’t have the guts to ask you.” Her voice sounded happy, and I was glad she was.
“And why was that? Did I ever say no to you?”
“It’s the exact reason I didn’t want to abuse your generosity.”
“You’re my mate, Nadia. We just need to talk things through between us.”
“But then if you don’t like something, you get pissed off…”
“I’m trying.” I huffed. Relationships is fucking hard.
“I know. And the last thing I wanted was to tick you off.”
“Wanting to meet up with Katarina is definitely not going to tick me off unless you’re going to make her an excuse to meet someone else.”
“I don’t have anyone to meet up with.” She leaned her head on my chest while her arms coiled around my body. “You won’t mind that I invited Katarina and Sofia for dinner? I asked them to stay a bit longer.”
“No. Of course not. But no sleepover. I don’t think I can handle another night not holding you.”
She giggled and squeezed me for a tight hug but didn’t say anything.
“Nadia…”
“Are we okay? About Andrea?”
“I guess we are. And if there’s anything, I think it should be Andrea we should be saying sorry to.”
“We?” I asked, my brows furrowing.
“Yes, we. I wanted to see her too. Just to give me a piece of mind.”
“Can I tell you something? But keep an open mind because this has nothing to do with how I felt about Andrea before.”
She nodded her head but kept her silence.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to face her right now. I know I did her wrong, but I need a little more time so I can face her and Caspian.”
“I understand. Take your time, but please not for a long time. I don’t want Andrea to spend her days hating you.”
“If your uncle and Elliot apologize to you, will you forgive them?”
“I don’t know. It’s a different thing. I can’t explain.”
“Maybe it’ll be the same thing for Andrea. Maybe she can’t forgive me.”
“But she was here? What did she want?”
“She was here with Caspian. And I didn’t get to the part about what they wanted from me because I was too preoccupied with trying to throw them out. I was fucking terrified you would see them.”
“Which I did.” She added it almost immediately, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.
“I’m sorry you have to find out that way.” I pressed my lips to the crown of her head. I wished I had reacted differently. Maybe things would have turned out better.
“Are you not ready to tell her that you already have a mate?”
“I’m sure it reached them already, as I wasn’t hiding you from anyone. But to answer your question, I am ready to talk about you, just not ready to talk about my sins.”
She didn’t say anything after that. We just looked at the dispersing crowd in front of us, waving and nodding our heads at the warriors paying their respect while we held on to each other.