Page 147 of Roaring Flames

“Why do you hate me?” I ball my hands into fists. “I have done absolutely nothing to you. Do you think I want this? God, Ashton! How much of a narcissistic asshole do you have to be to not see how fucking miserable I am?”

He seems at a loss for words. His brown eyes are abnormally wide in his face as he gapes at me.

But I don’t let him get a word in.

“I came to a new town after being bounced from foster home to foster home, never staying anywhere longer than a year at a time. And then I discover that everything I thought I knew was a lie and that I’m not even human! Oh, and that apparently I have fated mates who are supposed to care about me and protect me but are instead lying assholes.”

My chest is heaving, my heart racing, but I don’t stop. I’m just getting fucking started.

“I don’t know what you hope to accomplish with your sly comments, but it’s definitely not what you’re hoping for.” I take a step forward, having to tilt my head up to maintain eye contact. “I don’t know what the fuck the mating bond entails—at least, not exactly—but I do know I’m willing to see where it goes with Ethan, Emery, Reid, and Christian?—”

“Christian?” Shock splays across his face.

“Yeah. He’s my mate too.” I swallow as a righteous type of anger blossoms in my chest like a noxious weed.

I am so damn sick of Ashton treating me like dirt when I’ve done nothing to deserve his ire. Maybe he thinks I’m a docile little girl he can push around, but he’s wrong. He’s so, so wrong.

“But you… You arenotmy mate.”

He staggers back as if I slapped him.

“I don’t want you as a mate,” I continue venomously, fury blasting through me. “I understand you’re a part of their pack, and I won’t keep you from them, but I don’t want anything to do with you.”

He sucks in a sharp breath, his eyes wild.

But he doesn’t say anything.

Doesn’t attempt to apologize or justify his previous actions—not that I would forgive him if he did. There are only so many times I can be pushed around before I snap irreparably.

“Now that I got that off my chest, let’s try to find Ethan.” I spin on my heel, trying desperately to get my breathing under control.

I feel hot all over, but not the type of heat I’ve experienced before around my mates. This holds the bitter remnants of anger.

Ashton’s quiet voice reaches me before I can take more than a few steps. “I don’t hate you.”

I stop, though I don't turn around. “What?”

“I don’t hate you,” Ashton repeats, louder this time. “I just don’t trust you.”

I suck in a scorching breath and whirl around. “What the fuck do you mean by that? What did I do to make it so you don’t trust me?”

Annoyance crowds his features, but I have a feeling it’s not aimed at me but at himself. “Nothing. You’ve done nothing to me.” His sharp gaze flicks to my face and stays there. “If you expect me to offer an explanation for why I am the way I am, then you’ll be waiting for a while. I’m not like the other men in the pack. I don’t think the way they do. You were an unknown variable who had the capability of hurting my brothers.” He shrugs. “I did what I had to do to protect them.”

“Why did you think you needed to protect them fromme?” I ask, folding my arms over my chest to ward off the sudden chill of the wind.

Ashton narrows his eyes on me but doesn’t answer. Not that I expect him to.

I’ve never realized until just now how many walls he has erected around himself. And I’m tired—so damn tired—and don’t have the strength to break them down. I’m not even sure I want to. Not anymore. Not after everything he’s said and done to me.

Ashton grits his teeth together and turns to stare at something in the distance. “You could’ve been a spy sent by my father or even Desiree’s dad?—”

“Do you even fucking hear yourself?” I demand.

One of his eyes begins to twitch. “Excuse me?”

“Do I have to talk slower so your single brain cell will understand?” I ask scathingly. When he doesn’t respond to my quip, I continue on, “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you to believe that everyone is out to get you, but I can assure you, they’re not. You’re pushing people away because you don’twant to get hurt, but at the end of the day, you’re going to end up bitter and alone.”

Ashton huffs out a humorless laugh. “I’m already bitter and alone.”

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