AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just because you’ve grown feelings for him doesn’t mean I have to change my opinion and call him a different name,” he clapped back.
“I don’t have feelings for anyone,” I whispered. “Stop being a prick.”
The truth was, I didn’t know what I felt other than confusion. I didn’t have plans on sharing that with him.
My cousin released a long, slow breath, the tension melting from his shoulders. “I’m sorry. Really. I’m not trying to be an ass, but neither of you seem to be thinking clearly. You have to see this from my perspective. C’mon, Rea. Pretend mate? You can’t lie. You suck at it. All someone has to do is question you and you start to clam up. You look away, your face turns all reddish-brown, and that’s ignoring the fidget?—”
“I do not,” I said, brushing a stray lock of hair behind one ear.
“There! See! You just did it.”
“Fine.” I threw my hands up. “I suck at lying. Sue me. You know most people shouldn’t be good at that sort of thing. It’s not exactly a great quality.”
Nog groaned. “That’s not the point.”
“He’s made a good argument, though,” Ben chimed in. I glared at him becausenowhe decided to give his two cents?
“I third this,” Clara declared.
“That’s nice,” I shot back with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “But it doesn’t matter because it’s theonly way. Unless I want more people to start making attempts on my life, which no thank you, once is enough.”
“It does matter. If you want anyone to believe this, if you want to stay safe, you have to listen to us,” Ben said. “You couldn’t even fake an orgasm with me. That time you tried was horrendous. What happens when you can’t fake this and therearemore attempts?”
I narrowed my eyes. “For your information, you didn’t catch it the three times before then.”
His face turned beat red, flushing with embarrassment and probably a little anger. It was his own fault for bringing that up.
“I did, actually,” he said softly, shrugging his shoulders. “I just chose not to bring it up. You were going through something, I guess. Didn’t want to share it with me, but I didn’t want to make things tougher for you. Made me work a little harder, though. We got there again.”
It was my turn to blush. It was awkward to have this conversation in front of my cousins, worse to have it with Styx and Pol listening and exchanging glances, and it felt terrible to know his side of it.
“Excuse me?”
And it continued to get worse. Every head turned toward Caius, who stood in the open doorway of the throne room.
“Oh, shit,” Clara muttered. “Impeccable timing.”
Anxiety crawled over my skin. Terrible timing was more like it.
His dark eyes blazed with unholy fire. The shadows around him seemed to grow longer. I started toward him, needing to put myself between him and Ben.
“Caius, he?—”
“Needs to leave,” Caius supplied. My lips pursed.
“Don’t cut me off,” I said, challenging him. His jaw clenched. “He is actually making points that benefit you. They all are. You can’t barge in here and throw your weight around without even knowing the context.”
He glared at me. “He comes into my realm, my home, the boy that tried to claim my mate, and then he speaks about ...” His muscles vibrated in anger, and he snapped his fingers, guards coming to Ben’s side to presumably get thrown through the portal.
“Wait!” he said loudly when they moved to escort him away. “Let me stay. Please. Not to be with Reagan.”
“No.”
“Why do you want to stay?” I asked, curious to see his reasoning.
His head hung, dejected. “I know what I did was wrong. I do. And you were wronged. I need help. You and your dad are the only people I’ve known more dominant than my wolf. He’s been batshit crazy the last two weeks. I don’t know what to do or who to go to anymore. I don’t want to lose myself to him. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
I sighed, looking at Caius, hoping to see some sort of sympathy. Instead, he was stoic and unyielding.
