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The sound of approaching footsteps pulls a little groan from me. The last thing I want is to be bothered right now, by anyone, including my family.
“Mora,” Cole says, surprising me that it’s him and not my Dad or brother.
“What?” I respond, not turning to look at him. His tone isn’t filled with fury, rather her sounds hurt and upset, and I don’t like that it makes feel bad.
“We need to talk, and I don’t think it should be where others can overhear,” he states, and I reluctantly get up, turning to face him.
“About what?”
“Us,” he answers me, and the way he says it, I may just be getting what I wanted.
“Fine,” I say with a sigh, rolling my eyes at him for added benefit.
The last place I want to go with him is to his suite, but it’s better than where I’ve been staying with my family there. They’re bound to be on Cole’s side and telling them the truth…that’s not going to happen any more than I’m going to tell it to Cole.
His suite is filled with his scent, making it feel warmer than it really is, and I hate that it can affect me at all. That any of it is a comfort because it just makes it harder to force myself away from it. It’s only with the worst memories running through my head that I can push it down, remember what I’ll face if Cole learns the truth.
“You’re the one that wanted to talk, so talk,” I state when he stands there, simply staring at me with a hurt look on his face. “I’ve nothing to say to you and it seemed as though you’d finally realized it the past few days.”
“Few?” he says, his tone growing harder which is easier to handle than the hurt. “Do you even know how many days it’s been since I saw you, spoke to you?”
“Three, four maybe?” I offer with a shrug. “I wasn’t counting, merely enjoying the time with my family.”
“Eight! Eight days, dammit,” he growls at me, his face growing darker, and I lift my chin, not backing down from the anger there.
“Well, excuse me for not realizing. It wasn’t any skin off my nose not being forced to be in your presence,” I mock, certain if he does let his anger out my way, lays a single hand on me, my parents will take me out of here instantly. It might be worth a bit of pain to get what will keep me alive in the end.
“I told you once to be careful how far you push me, test me, Mora,” he says stalking over to reach me and I jerk away from him when he reaches for my arm.
“I’m not testing you. I’ve honestly been relieved not to see you or be around you Cole. I hate you, everything about you, so why would I ever want to be near you?” I question, amazed when instead of lunging for me, he runs his hand down his face instead, dragging in a deep breath. “I’ve told you from the start that I don’t want you, don’t want to be your mate. So why can’t you just accept that not having seen you for however many days it’s been, has been a relief?”
“Because you’re my mate. Dammit Mora, do you have any idea how hard it’s been to stay away from you, to give you some space, not be in your presence? You grew up with shifters—jackass ones yes, but they were still shifters, and a mate is the one thing that you can’t give up,” Cole demands glaring harder at me.
“Seems that’s not true given how easily Thomas threw your mother away, or how many others just up and left—or more likely killed their mates when they were done with them,” I counter and Cole’s expression both widens and tightens in shock at the same time.
“My mother died because of Thomas throwing her away,” he states, his tone dark and hard, “so watch what you say about her. As for the rest, true matches don’t just walk away from their mates, and they certainly don’t kill them unless they’ve completely lost their minds and turned rabid. Whatever the hell you saw at Thomas’ pack wasn’t what real mates are like, Mora. They’re like your mom and dad. Your dad loves her so much that he was willing to die to protect you and you’re not even his blood. Their bond is so strong that to lose you would destroy your mother, which would destroy him. That is what true mates would do for one another, what I’d do for you.”
“The hell you would,” I scoff. “You’re the worst type of man out there. One little thing doesn’t go your way and you’d be more apt to kill me yourself and don’t think you wouldn’t. You’re the alpha, the he-man, who spent how many years to get revenge on the man that hurt you? Because kid yourself all you want, but you weren’t avenging your mother or your father. You were getting revenge against him because your mother died, and your clan threw you out when you weren’t what they wanted. You wanted to prove your wolf was greater than his, to make him regret what he did, and if I ever did anything you didn’t like or approve of, wounded your damn pride, you’d taken me out in an instant.”
“Do you think you haven’t wounded my pride already? That your refusal to accept that you’re mine, to stay in my suite, to be near me, let alone being fine going eight days without seeing or talking to me, telling your parents that I’m nothing but a monster in your opinion hasn’t sent me there yet? That thinking you’re happier without me in your life doesn’t stick a knife in my gut and twist it?” he questions, and I shrug, unable to speak because the depth of the hurt in his tone hits deep inside me. “Answer me, Mora. Do you honestly think you haven’t pushed me to the breaking point already? Because I can guarantee it has and I spent half the night awake, thinking I should just let you go. That if I did, maybe it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much, but then I woke up, saw you out there, sitting in the gazebo looking perfectly content, and I couldn’t do it. I can’t let you go without a fight, so tell me. Give me one good reason why you refuse to be my mate. One real reason and not this bullshit that you’re worried that I might go off the deep end and do something stupid, hurt you. Because if you can’t, I sure as hell will not let you walk out of here.”
“You want a reason? Okay, how about this…I’m not a virgin,” I state, stopping his feet short as he crosses the room towards me.
“You’re what?” he says, his entire body radiating with anger. His hands clench and unclench over and over, his eyes darkening, until that electric blue was just a tiny little ring around the black, his face lengthening, his hair growing longer as his wolf started to press forward.
“I’m not a perfect little virgin for you,” I tell him again, holding my breath as his wolf surges forward again.
“Who is he? Is he the reason you won’t be mine? You want him and won’t let yourself be consumed by what’s between us?” he demands stalking over to me, and every muscle in my body tightens to control the absolute disgust his words build within me. The thought of ever being touched like that again by them makes me want to puke.
“It’s none of your damn business who I’ve slept with or who I want to sleep with. You’re nothing to me, Cole,” I retort, holding his gaze as I fight to keep the truth hidden deep down the way I have for over two years now.
“The hell it isn’t! You’re mine. My mate and like hell I’m letting someone else have what’s mine. You’ll tell me who he is, who you gave what’s mine to,” he growls, his arm wrapping around my waist pulling me up against his huge, hard body, and the panic fully engulfs me, making me fight.
My hands push at his chest as I twist, trying to get away from his hardness pressing against my stomach. Little screams fall as he picks me up, my legs kicking out, trying my hardest to get free as blackness begins to descend over me, claiming me whole as Cole’s hand lifts to the back of my neck.
Chapter 10
Cole
