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“Kinsey, please,” Arsenio says, not leaving like I expect him to.
“Leave me alone. We have nothing to talk about. I was using you to get you to let me leave, but it didn’t work. So go away. Don’t bother coming back until you guys figure out what you’re going to do. Just make it quick. This shit is torture. I’ve already been through enough.” I turn my back on the door, waiting for Arsenio to respond.
He doesn’t. I hear his footsteps grow quiet as he walks away.
I should like being alone. I should relax because he didn’t put up a fight.
But now I just feel empty.
I feel the same way I had the day I ran.
I feel hopeless.
Chapter 8
Kinsey
Secrets
Thedoortothebathroom swings open, startling me. Wilder looms in the doorway, his arms crossed over his broad chest. He clenches his jaw, and a small dimple peeks out on his stubbly cheek. Staring at me in silence, he shifts on his feet. His muscles ripple and flex with his movements, and I notice a change in breathing. I think he might be trying to hold his breath.
“All right, you little brat. Get up and follow me. Don’t do anything stupid. You remember what happened the last time. If you had just minded your business and let us work things out, you could’ve been out of here. Now, I can’t fucking let you leave, and my brothers are going crazy.” Wilder steps forward and points at me. “We don’t have all day. I need to set some rules.”
A part of me wants to be the brat he just called me, but fear sizzles across my skin at his looming presence, and I do as he asks and get to my feet. I can’t test this man like I can the others. It’s obvious he wants nothing to do with me, forcing himself to be in my presence because he knows his brothers desire to do it instead. He’d know. Their scents give them away, especially to Wilder, if he’s acting as their leader.
“What do you mean you’re not going to let me leave? You can’t do that. If you have a problem with me, then just turn me into the local authorities.” I twist my fingers together, my nerves quaking my voice. I should keep my mouth shut, but I just am so fucking tired of not getting answers.
Wilder grabs me by the elbow and forces me to stride beside him, my legs practically running to keep up with his quick movements. “We are the authorities and part of the Saint Vista Pack Regimes. I can keep you here, and I will. There’s no fucking way I’m going to risk you saying something about Holly.”
So it is about his sister. I knew something was up. But I have more important things to think about, like how the hell I’m going to overpower this man twice my size to run away. Even if he doesn’t think I’ll make it, I won’t know unless I try again.
“We have too much on the line. I will not endanger my sister like that. Not with your history. I’ve learned all about you, Kinsey.” Wilder struts from the study and down the hallway. I try my best to look around, drinking in the decorations, hoping that it will help me recognize where we’re going.
“My history? Sure, whatever. There’s no possible way you have learned everything about me, asshole.” I struggle against his strength, sliding my feet on the floor, not wanting to make it easy on him. Now that I’m no longer trapped in the bathroom, I find my will to fight.
“I’ve learned enough. I know about your family and your chosen pack. I know about the fire and the murder-suicides. I know that you went missing.” Wilder swivels and snatches me, yanking me to him to lift me onto his shoulder, deciding that I’m not worth dragging.
I scream and smack my hands to his back, thrashing and bucking. He’s a monster. All the stuff he says? He still has no fucking clue. The fire my parents died in was gang-related, tied to my uncle’s shady business. And the murder-suicide? It was purely murder. My uncle staged things. “There’s only one person that could possibly miss me and not for reasons you think. I would rather die before I go back. I’d rather die before you forced me to fucking stay here with you. Just let me go. I’ll make your life a living hell otherwise.”
Threatening him is probably the dumbest thing I could ever do, but I’m angry. I’m pissed the fuck off. I’m hurt and scared, and I have no idea how to even handle the situation. How he even found a link to my past, no matter how wrong the papers got it, is beyond me.
It’s all just a cover-up.
Wilder yells, his voice loud and booming, and he swings his arm, punching his fist to the center of a framed painting, shattering the glass and ripping the canvas. The scent of his anger stabs into me in a violent wave, stealing my breath for a second.
I gasp and sob, my whole body losing its shit, making it impossible for me not to cry. I can’t even think anymore. Whatever plan I had rushes out of my reach, leaving me drowning in the potent scent of Wilders volatile dominance. He triggers me so badly that I gag, my body wanting to revolt against me.
My heartbeat pounds in my ears and I shut down, no longer fighting. I can’t. If I try, I know I’ll die. And right now, the fear of death overwhelms me. I can’t find the will to do anything. He’s won.
“You son of a bastard, Wilder!” Big hands lock onto my waist, yanking me away from Wilder.
A figure blurs in my periphery, and something crashes into the wall. Glass shatters, and the quick thuds of fists hitting muscles sound in my ears. My eyes blur with my tears, and I can’t get a clear view of anything unfolding before me. All I know is that I’m about to be in the middle of a fight for dominance. One of Wilder’s brothers challenges him in my honor, and that’ll surely only lead to my demise.
“You’re a dead man, brother. I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, but I have had enough of your attitude. You cannot treat Kinsey like this. You’re acting as if she’s some sort of threat when she’s clearly not. You’re so fucking far out of line with this bullshit. I won’t stand for it.” Enzo growls with the words, and Wilder shouts. The world spins as whoever holds me relocates me down the hallway. My whole body shudders with my uncontrollable sobbing, and a gentle hand rubs between my shoulder blades.
“You’re not our leader. We’re a team, and you’ll recognize your place. If you can’t, don’t think I won’t challenge you. Right now, you’re acting like fucking Dad.” Arsenio’s sharp tone shocks energy through me. Whatever happened between us was enough to push him away from the bullheadedness of Wilder.
A part of me prays that he follows through with his threat. Another part of me wants to watch the man who scared me get the shit beat out of him. But the most dominant part of me wants to break down and never recover. I want the world to swallow me whole. I just want all of this shit to end. I don’t know what I’ve done in my life to deserve such a fate, but I’m over it.
