Page 38 of Savage Desire

Tatum.

Lost to my delirium, I forgot this was his hiding spot too. It’s not just a beacon of safety for me.

“Polaris,” he breathes, sending a jolt of emotion dancing straight through my chest.

My arms tighten around my middle. “I’m sorry. I should go,” I mumble, turning away, but I don't make it a single step before his words find me again.

“You look sad,” he states, each word curled in concern, and I press my lips together nervously, shaking my head as I glance back at him.

“I’m not sad,” I retort instinctively, the pang in my chest growing tighter as the lie falls from my lips. “Well… maybe, I’mundecided. Definitely confused,” I ramble, acknowledging the fact that tonight really isn’t going at all as I expected.

Tatum nods as if I’m making any sense, but I don’t even understand myself, so I know it’s a lie. Only his is far sweeter than mine. “Maybe what you need is a distraction,” he states, and I scoff, the ache in my chest easing slightly as I let his words take root.

“I’m quite certain that I was in the process of being distracted, but the distraction became the problem,” I admit, unable to hold his gaze when my words fall to a stop.

Sighing, I relax my arms around my middle, staring down at my palms under the moonlight instead. I should have known the moment I saw Terence’s face that nothing good would come from chasing the truth. I should have stayed where I was, dancing with my friends, not looking for trouble. Not when it follows me so freely.

What I hadn’t anticipated is the fact that it would lead back to me, especially not through Lincoln. I still don’t truly know if he is the reason the marks are there or if he simply knows who did it, but my gut knows the truth.

Curiosity and concern led me deeper into the woods, only to find the cause of the damage.

Lincoln.

It was him.

There wasn’t an ounce of regret, a hint of remorse or empathy, just a man riddled with anger that seemed aimed solely at me. Despite my better judgment, I fell under his spell once again. Even though I knew he had something to do with Terence.

I thought I was supposed to be casting the spells here.

I just don’t understand why he would do anything at all.

Maybe Tatum would know, but do I really want to find out after he left me to fend for myself in the middle of the darkwoods? Or put him in the middle and ask him to reveal his alpha’s secrets?

At least the feeling of anger toward one another is mutual now.

I might be alone in person, but in my feelings, we’re together.

“Are you going to sit?” Tatum asks, pulling me from my thoughts, and I lift my gaze, eyeing the grass beside him. “We can talk about whatever is bothering you,” he offers, and I shake my head as I take the spot beside him.

Leaning back against the hedge, I bend my knees and wrap my arms around my legs.

The last thing I want to do is talk to him about what’s going on. How would I even word that, anyway?

Oh, I let Lincoln punish me with his dick twice now and both times have led to utter dismay. Once from him finding my coin, a fact he’s clearly still hung up on, and again tonight, when your best friend seemingly beat someone up in my defense and left me alone to wander the grounds in a daze.

Yeah, that won’t work. I don’t want Tatum to hate me too.

I know the sweet boy who makes me feel seen and heard in a world I don't understand doesn’t stare at me like I'm a whore, and yet some part of me feels like I am.

“Want another?” he asks, and I frown for a moment, confused by his offer. “A distraction that is hopefully not an issue,” he clarifies, and I rub my lips together nervously as I peer up at him.

He pauses for a beat as if reconsidering himself, but before he can think better of it, he lifts his pad of paper and pencil in the air. “I’ve been busy.”

Embarrassment laced with a hint of shame washes over me as I realize he’s been holding them this entire time and I’ve been too caught up in my own shit to see past the end of my own nose. The acknowledgment alone clears a little of my brain fog,the vision of the man before me like a beacon to the land of the living.

Focusing on him instead of the mess consuming me, I nod, intrigued and excited by the fact that he’s even offering to show me his work.

“I was out here looking for a distraction of my own,” he breathes, his words soft as he keeps the pad turned away from me.

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