I wait for him to go on, but when I see the need in his hazel eyes, I can't help but feel the same way. "What?" I didn't desire?Though he returns to me with a blink, I can see he's still thinking about her.He wants her, and based on how I would see her observing him at the bar, she also wants him.Perhaps I can talk her into letting me observe."I told her that we used to share everything and that we were close."Expecting to impart Amanda burns hot and harsh in my stomach. "And her reply?"Dan gulps down so forcefully that I can see the movement in his throat. "Storytelling."I mirror him, angling my head back and crossing my arms across my chest. "However, you chose not to inform her about us, as she is too naive to have ever experienced the kind of relationship we desire."Not even that she could say she desired me. I believe this will be her first experience because of the purity in her eyes, however, perhaps some of that stems from whatever was done to her.For her, that will b
Heat rises in his eyes and his nostrils flare.I suppose there is more to this attraction than meets the eye."I was trying to be courteous," Dan murmurs, stealing my attention from Jade as he rubs his shoulder and wears a pained expression.Jade gives me a snort and then comes charging over to hop into the bed next to me. I tense up, hoping he doesn't kiss me while holding Dan there, but I also want him to do a lot more.Jade looks at me for a long moment, then turns to look at Dan. "You were correct."My gaze shifts from Jade to Dan and back again. "Approximately what?"Before I flash the room, the bedsheet slips down and I grab at it to pull it up.Dan leans against the wall across from me, still wearing the same white shirt and pants he must have been wearing for the past few days, unlike Jade, who has taken to making himself comfortable next to me in the queen-sized bed. I'm fairly certain he has a stain of blood on his shoulder from the time he carried me back to his flat after
DANMy gaze remains fixed on the plump whisky tumbler held by Jade. Shortly after Amanda departed, I assumed he was pursuing her when he got out of bed. I then went after him. Straight through the slit in the bathroom door, into the kitchen, and to the bottle of whisky Greg keeps in a cupboard.Jade leans against the kitchen counter and his hand tightens around the glass, but he doesn't knock back the liquid. "He's the alpha."I wait for more because I know Jade hasn't said everything."Alphas never part with anything that is rightfully theirs."Amanda.."He may not be," I cross my hands over my chest, almost reaching for the glass, because suddenly, the idea of a whisky in the morning sounds good, especially if there's a shifter as possessive as Finn out there looking for Amanda. Far too charming.Jade looks at me after another long moment, then sets the untouched glass down on the counter and pushes it away from him. "He had a pack, she said. He is the alpha.I remark, "It might be
AmandaDense. That's my sentiment. As if I were swallowing a mountain and plummeting to the ocean floor.A small voice murmurs in my thoughts, "But that's not what's happening, Amanda, even though you wouldn't mind if it did."Cool water lases my perspiration and makes me feel heavy.I had to leave this place. I had to leave, even if he punishes me for it.I stumble over the hem of my sweatpants, which are trying to trip me, as I feel my way out of the shower cubicle, blinded by my sopping hair.I can breathe a little easier now that I'm out of the constant chilly spray.Superior. Not flawless. but superior."Grab her." I hear Darius's voice, cold and uninterested, as my fingers are about to close the glass shower door. "From here, I can still smell their stench."Apparently occupied with a text message.And the smell, which must be Jade and Dan's, must be stuck to the sweatpants and hooded top I put on before I raced away from them—straight into the arms of a monster.However, my mon
Finn lurches to his feet, but his legs give way under him almost instantly.Not quite yet.Finn roars back up, this time full of pain. He remains up this time.Only a tiny bit more.He stumbles a little as he spins towards me. Not entirely stable.Fantastic.The next time I swing, the wooden chair leg explodes and chips fly into my eye, covering me in tiny flakes. But it gets the job done.Finn silently falls to the ground.We shifters have hard skulls like I mentioned. To put us down, you must perform the task correctly.Still, this is insufficient."You require aid?" It sounds like Dan is getting up and walking behind me.I reach down, pick up Finn, hurl him over my shoulder, and start for his office's stairs, barely stopping short of a jog.I've given us a little time. Not minutes, but seconds instead."No need," I snort, realizing that Finn is heavy for me.His breathing shifts as he approaches the top of the small stairway that leads to his office.A clawed-up back will seem like
However, Darius did not put me in his bed, carry me out of the shower, or wipe me off with a towel out of comfort. As I curl into myself and battle against the chills coursing through my body, comfort is the last thing from my mind.His smell fills this flat from corner to corner. None more so than the spot where he sleeps every night.And everything in this flat, including myself, including the blankets and the bed, belongs to him.I smell like leather and cedar right now, plus that intangible something else that would give you the impression that someone was wealthy without them having to utter a word. His linens are heavy withsmells that cling to me. Alongside the despised man I stand next to, there's a hateful stench.He runs his hand down the middle of my back and up my spine, brushing aside my long dark hair, still moist from my icy shower. Felix's whips left me with a lot of scars, so I'm not sure which one he's tracing, but I'm quite sure it's one."I should give you thanks f
I push Mom's memories away. I remember her reading to me in bed and stroking my hair. the affection of her.Love weakens you, and Amanda, this is not the moment to be weak. Not when a predator is directly in front of you.I tighten my hands even more, lift my chin, and give him a straight-faced look. "You assigned Nathan a task. Did you not?We come together in the centre of the space, my rage piercing him with its heat and his icy stare.I considered seeing my father. Of fleeing the hospital, thinking that my return to the man was the worst thing that could have happened to me.What might I have discovered? A demolished flat full of rats? A brand-new family with tales of an isolated man's death?A man's body?Tears well up in my eyes, but they stay in place. What purpose would that serve?Suddenly, the memory of the cabin comes back. The last summer I spent with Mom and Dad was full of cookouts by a glittering lake on a disposable BBQ, the sun beating down on me, and Dad throwing me
Finn extends his arm towards the entrance."What's your destination?" I approach a little closer, my boots crunching under the devastation that spills from the main room into the foyer. We haven't yet discussed our plans for fixing and cleaning up.But we're going to need to come up with a solution shortly.next to Amanda. We will handle it when she returns.Bright midday light streams into the black and indigo blue room as Finn opens the entrance door.Abruptly, Jade appears, one hand holding the door's edge. He shuts it forcefully as if he didn't see that he almost took Finn's nose off with it.Clap."Where the fuck are you going?" growls Jade as the thud keeps repeating.I brace myself, waiting for the inevitable growl or fist or insane beast to erupt from Finn.But Finn just yanks the door open again, so this must be a stranger.Jade won't even allow him to open it this time. Too fast to follow, his other hand shoots out and firmly grasps Finn's wrist. He approaches Finn so closel