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No longer able to look at him, I tried to look away. Before I could, Dillon held my chin drawing my gaze back to his. Our eyes locked, and I found myself drowning in his pure, unwavering compassion.
As we stood there, the intensity of our connection, and the lingering air of vulnerability between us, built. Gone were my defenses and sarcasm. In its place was an uncontrollable longing for him.
Dillon’s thumb gently brushed along the tear-stained trail on my cheek, sending shivers down my spine. Unable to resist the emotional pull any longer, we both leaned in, our lips drawing closer.
It was a knock on the door that shattered our fragile moment. Pulling us back from the precipice of a passionate embrace, our intimate connection evaporated as someone knocked on the door again.
“I should get that,” I said when it became clear that whoever it was wasn’t going to leave.
“Probably,” Dillon agreed as shaken by our almost-kiss as I was.
Gathering myself, I entered the living room and crossed to the door. I was ready to rip off the head of whoever it was when I opened it and found,
“Eris, what are you doing here?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for days. You haven’t been returning my texts or calls. I even went to your office, but you weren’t there,” she replied while pushing her way inside.
“Why are you here?” I questioned with alternating concern and irritation.
She opened her mouth to answer when Dillon stepped past the kitchen door. Spotting him, she froze staring at him with venom. For a moment I could smell a hint of her wolf. But, as quickly as it appeared, she brushed it aside and cheerfully said,
“We have a wedding to plan. There’s no way I’m going to do this on my own.”
My heart sank at the reminder of the tangled mess our lives had become.
“I can’t take part in that right now,” I replied, my voice strained.
Undeterred, Eris turned her attention back to Dillon.
“Would you mind getting me a drink, Dear?” she asked condescendingly.
Dillon stalled, asking, “What type?”
Eris sighed, feigning disinterest. “I don’t care. Champagne if you have it.” Then, with a forced laugh, she added, “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
As Dillon disappeared into the kitchen, I braced myself for whatever tirade Eris was about to unleash. As I watched, the confident, casual smile she wore vanished. Replacing it was a deadly-serious glare. Her wolf was back. I could smell it as if it were perched right below the surface waiting for me to turn my back and leap out.
“Remy, allow me to be clear. If you don’t start acting like the man I deserve, my father might begin to think you aren’t living up to his deal. And who do you think he would blame for that?” she asked before bouncing her eyes toward the kitchen.
“Are you threatening someone?” I demanded, feeling my wolf begin to take over.
Eris, unfazed, stepped closer.
“Remy, ask yourself this about me, am I here because I want to be? Do you think my life’s goal was to force some alpha-reject into a marriage that neither of us wants to be in? Do you think this is the life I dreamed about as a little girl?” she asked sarcastically.
“It isn’t. And now I’m fighting for the life I want, just like you are. The only difference is that behind me is a wolf who will burn the world down to get what he wants. Your mad wolf is dead. So, unless you get with the program and meet me halfway on this, blood will rain down. Not mine. Not yours. But everyone you care about.
“Do you want that? From the way you’re staring at me, I’m going to assume you don’t. So, stop putting everyone you care about at risk, and help me plan our wedding,” she continued with eerie calmness.
“There are millions of arranged marriages that end happily ever after. Help me make ours one of them… so your friend back there doesn’t have to die.”
As Dillon returned from the kitchen with Eris’s drink, he noticed that my demeanor had completely changed. It was as if a shadow had come over me, the weight of Eris’s words suffocating my spirit.
I looked at Dillon knowing what Eris had said was true. The men who crossed our fathers ended up dead. Like mine, her father was a mad wolf, a force of nature that couldn’t be stopped, only weathered.
I needed to protect Dillon from that storm. I was willing to do anything for it. So, erasing any trace of the affection I felt for him, I stared at him coldly and said, “Dillon, you should leave.”
His body melted at my abrupt change. Pain spilled from his eyes. Seeing it destroyed me. But I had to remain detached – I couldn’t let Eris know how much he mattered to me. I couldn’t give her any more leverage.
