Page 40 of The Alpha Wolf's Bullied Bride

Miles chuckles, waving a hand through the air dismissively. “Pfft! It’s just your mate, Flynn,” he says, stepping aside. “Come on in.”

“Oh, I shouldn’t,” I hesitate. “I should go back and finish my chores at the center.”

“Liles,” Miles patronizes with a skeptical brow. “You’re the Luna of this pack now. You don’t have to answer Dorothy anymore.”

“Right.” I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with oxygen to calm my nerves. As Miles steps aside, I see Flynn seated at thekitchen table with a whiskey glass in one hand. He has his head turned away, his shoulders tensing when I enter.

“H-hi,” I greet awkwardly, unable to stop thinking about what he was about to say to Miles about me.

He glances at me without looking up, rolls a shoulder, and greets back flatly, “Hi. What are you doing out this time of the night?”

When Flynn finally meets my eyes, his are cold enough to lower the room temperature, sending a shiver through me.

“It's only five p.m.,” I murmur, careful not to sound too defensive.

“Hm…” he hums his displeasure, his blank stare so nerve-wracking that I feel like a disobedient child facing the wrath of a disciplinary figure.

“And you haven't stopped working at the center, have you?” His piercing gaze is like daggers targeted at me.

All I can do is timidly shake my head. He probably heard me telling Miles that I should go back to the center.

I've disobeyed him, and I can sense how ripe the air is with his fury.

The heated tension is palpable, my knees quivering as I enter the kitchen and hover behind a chair. Taking a look around, I notice how empty the counters are. It seems that Miles has been sticking to the meals offered in the pack center since I left to stay in the Lycoan house.

“Um…have you had dinner yet?” I ask Miles when he comes in after me, succeeding in avoiding conflict thanks to my brother's presence.

“No,” he perks up with a grin. “Are you offering to make dinner for us?”

“Of course I am,” I giggle. “I’m pretty sure you were missing my cooking.”

“You know me too well,” Miles winks, then flits his eyes to Flynn, who pushes off the chair.

He chugs down the rest of his drink, then sets the glass down with a loud clink. “I should get going,” he says to Miles.

“Why don’t you stay, buddy?” My brother frowns at him. “I bet you already know how great Lila—”

Flynn grunts and shakes his head, pointedly averting his eyes. “I should go speak to my father. He’ll wanna know what happened at today’s meeting.”

“Right…of course,” Miles concedes, walking Flynn to the front door.

What I thought would be relief turned out to be a wave of disappointment that washes over me and leaves me feeling crushed. Flynn has turned cold again, the once sweet scent I sniffed around him becoming empty now, as aloof as his lack of acknowledgment of my presence.

I’m not the only one who’s been avoiding him, it seems. He still can’t stand the sight of me, despising me for what we did that night…

“Are you alright, Liles?” my brother asks, snapping me from my daze.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I assure him with a timid smile.

“Are you sure?” he implores with a skeptical frown. “It looked to me like something was wrong between you two.” Milesproceeds to the table. “If he’s treating you badly, you will tell me, won’t you? Just because he’s my best—”

“Miles…” I reach out and place a reassuring hand on his broad shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong.”

Miles grunts discontentedly. “I know this isn’t exactly a traditional mate bond, lil’ sis. But Flynn said you’re the only one suitable for him, so he knows what he’s doing.”

“Suitable…” I murmur under my breath, scoffing internally as I heat the stove. The only thing I’m suitable for is Flynn’s persecution. He didn’t want a mate. He wanted a personal punching bag to deliver blows to in the form of blatant rejections and humiliations.

“Fool…”a wistful inner voice chimes inside my head, startling me as I hover over the stove. The shudder that passes through me has me dropping the spoon with a loud clink into the empty pot, and Miles rushes over to check up on me.

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