Page 27 of The Broken Wolf's Redemption

Seren sat back on her haunches and raised her head to the bright full moon, feeling the pull of its wild, primitive, powerful energy deep inside her. She opened her throat and, for the first time in years, she let her own howl join in the mournfully sweet poetic cries around her.

Chapter 10

Seren

She’d been back in the city for a few weeks. As soon as she’d packed up and left Brooke’s—without talking to Rome first because she was a coward, but she had said goodbye to Waverly and explained that she had to go back to the city to work—she’d received two texts from Rome.

He’d excused her from her Sunday and Monday obligations and said he would text her when he required her again. The second text stated that he’d give her seven days’ notice.

Only Rome could sound considerate and like a complete and total asshole at the same time.

She’d used her free day as she said she would, to catch up on work.

Several times, Becka tried to engage her in an honest conversation about what was going on, but Seren kept telling her she was okay. Just busy. Becka wasn’t buying that. She’d told Seren point blank that she was acting like a crazy person and being different, and that while she still loved her and respected her need for privacy, they were going to have to have a conversation soon. Best friend to best friend. She hadn’t left it alone until Seren agreed. She hadn’t just said yes to put Becka off. She meant it.

She had to figure out what she was going to say. It would be pretty hard to have a conversation that went something along the lines of,

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yup. I’m fine. Other than obsessing about my arch-nemesis and since he hasn’t been around to degrade me in person, I’ve been doing in my head for him, even though I know how absurd that sounds. I can’t stop thinking about him. Okay, you caught me. I’ve been masturbating to him in an exceptionally angry way and it’s full of self-loathing every single night.”

When Rome finally had texted her to give her that notice he promised, requiring her as of Monday, she was almost relieved. It was harder to hate him from a distance, when he wasn’t giving her extras reasons to. Not that she needed more reasons. Apparently, though, she did.

Now that she was finally on her way to the garage, she was a mess. Half of her felt like her life was over because her time was up, and the other half of her was just so fucked upshe couldn’t begin to pick it apart. Whatever was between her and Rome, it wasn’t just attraction. That wasn’t nearly strong enough of a word to explain it.

She missed Waverly, so part of her was relieved that she’d be able to see her soon, even if it was six days because Rome being Rome had inexplicably given her a pass for Sunday. She wanted to ask Waverly how the rest of her time was with Rome’s pack. Ask her about her cousins and the new friends she’d made. She knew Waverly would be excited to tell her. She also wanted to hear about all the things Waverly learned related to shifting and being a wolf.

Maybe she’d forgotten in the few weeks that she’d been killing herself with work, dwelling in denial, and without Rome’s influence just how black his soul could be. When she arrived at the auto repair shop, locked the door after herself, and walked to Rome’s office to show him that she wasn’t afraid to face him and that she was far from broken, she found him waiting.

Dressed entirely in his usual black, he looked like a cold, domineering god. There was zero sign of any physical injury or discomfort. He held himself with that same brutal power he always had.

How could she have thought she was prepared for him? His presence sucked all the air from her lungs.

And then she saw the camera.

One of those tiny square action cams that people put on their heads. He held it in his hand. The way he grinned at her the second she noticed was like acid thrown on her skin. He looked like he spent every single day since they parted planning this exact moment. He’d had too much time to think. Too much time in bed spent doing nothing but healing. She should have expected nothing less than pure fuckery.

“Seeing as you’re such a fan of touching yourself, I thought this would be a fitting activity.”

Challenge. Motherfucking. Accepted.

She got the message like a megaphone straight to the ear. He hadn’t forgotten her near pathetic attempt at a turnabout. It was never fair play. Not to a man like this.

She gathered herself and fought back. There was no way she could let this happen. “I never said you could record me. That’s not in the contract.”

“There are no specifics. I can indeed record you.”

“No. You could use that for anything. No way.”

“I’ll give you the camera after. That way, you know I haven’t made copies. This is for me. I’d sooner gouge the eyes out of any man’s head than let him enjoy what is mine.”

“Brooke clearly healed your bones and your body, but she did nothing for your brain. Here I was hoping that giving it a good knock would have set you straight, but in this, I’m clearly made to be disappointed as well. I’mnotyours.”

“You are right now. You’ll film yourself and I’ll watch you do it. This isn’t for me. It’s for you. You can watch your own body, your own pleasure, your own power.”

“How thoughtful of you.” How could she ever have thought of this man as anything but a straight up villain? He was so intent on proving that’s exactly what he was. “You’re punishing me, and we both know it.”

“Why think of something so pleasureful as a bad thing?”

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