Page 20 of Can't Be Love

“Well, come on, spill it. Why are you fighting your bond so hard? Is it just because of who he is? Are you worried about being a Pack Mother?”

“What? No. Why would that bother me?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I get he’s been a bit of a douchebag in the past, but did you even stop to give him a chance to explain why?”

“And why would I do that? Actions speak louder than words, and his spoke volumes.”

“You don’t really know what he’s been through, Lily. Aren’t you even the slightest bit curious?”

“No,” I said stubbornly.

He started rubbing my skin down with alcohol as he continued to talk.

“So that’s it then?”

“What do you want me to say Cole? He didn’t stop me from leaving. He hasn’t bothered to track me down. Clearly this is what he wants, too.” The pain of that realization was overwhelming, and I hoped Cole would get a move on it so I could get lost in the physical pain of the needle like he’d described to me.

“You didn’t exactly give him a chance to stop you, and you ran home to Westin territory so he couldn’t follow you without telling your brother about the bond,” Cole pointed out.

I rolled back to look up at him. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

“I’m not on anyone’s side here, Lily. Just a minute,” Cole yelled as the front door bell chimed. “Now lie back down and be a good girl. You have to stay still or I will hurt you,” he said before turning to see to his customer out front.

An aggressive, low guttural growl had Cole frozen in place. I couldn’t see around him.

“Lily, just stay calm,” Cole said in what I thought was meant to be a calming voice.

“What the hell is going on?” Kyle’s voice boomed down the hallway.

I turned and pushed Cole aside, just in time to see Thomas standing in the doorway. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. His face was contorted in anger and his wolf was very close to the surface, enough that he was already sprouting fur on his hands and neck.

“Shit. Thomas, calm down,” Kyle said, and I felt his Alpha power thick in the air.

All it appeared to do was make Thomas even angrier. His eyes were glued on Cole with a look of death gleaming behind them. I had no doubt Thomas was seeing red, and while it infuriated me, it excited my inner wolf.

“Lily, I can’t control him. You have to calm him down,” Kyle ordered. “His wolf’s too strong, it won’t surrender to mine.”

I jumped from the table, forgetting I wasn’t wearing a shirt until his wild eyes swept over my body and another growl erupted from him.

“Jesus. What are you doing?” Kyle muttered under his breath.

“Thomas, I’m right here. I’m fine. What the hell am I supposed to do, Kyle?”

“Go to him.”

“Kyle’s right. You have to touch him; his wolf needs to know you’re okay. I really don’t want to fight a mating Alpha male, Lily. Please. Just do it,” Cole said, his eyes never leaving Thomas’s as the smell of testosterone cranked up another notch in the room.

I walked up to him and ran my hands down his arms. “Thomas, look at me. Look at me,” I said, a little gentler, and when my hand touched his cheek he finally turned. When our eyes met, he relaxed a little and leaned into my hand. I was mesmerized by his power, and my own to control him.

“I’m okay,” I told him.

Strong arms wrapped around me and crushed me to him. With our bodies intimately touching all over, he finally relaxed. As he did, Kyle’s and Cole’s wolves backed down too, significantly lowering the aggression in the room.

Thomas shook beneath my arms as I wrapped them around him and squeezed him tightly. My body relaxed for the first time since I’d woken up next to him the morning after our bond had showed. I didn’t want to think about what it meant.

When his heart rate started slowly returning to normal, he released me, but only long enough to remove his jacket and wrap it around me. We were still standing in the doorway so Cole was trapped in the room and Kyle just behind in the hallway. Kyle’s worried eyes sought out mine. I felt his disappointment and hated it.

I couldn’t let myself think about what could have happened, all because I was too chicken to face my mate.

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