Page 20 of The Beast's Betrayed Mate
“So,” she said.
“So, you’ve seen me with the boys out,” he said, having a mouthful of beer.
“The boys?” She raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t that a TV show?”
He smirked. “You’ve seen it?”
“No.”
“Well, let’s just say that the boys fight on the side of good,” he said, but the bravado didn’t impress her in the slightest, and he could tell. His shoulders slumped. “I need to figure out what’s going on,” he said.
She nodded slowly. “Yeah, you do. What did the other wolf want?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “We didn’t talk.”
“No… telepathic exchange between the two of you?”
“Nope. Just growling.”
“Charming,” she smiled. He returned it, making soft thrills move through her chest at the thought that she’d made those dimples appear.
“So, I have something to tell you,” he admitted.
“What?” she asked.
“I’ve had a bit of an aha moment,” he said, nodding to the bedroom door.
She furrowed her brow. “Okay?”
“Only look in there if you’re ready to hear the explanation,” he warned.
She hesitated, but finally moved up to the half-open door, pushing it to widen its gap so she could peek inside the room. Her eyes rounded at the sight of the absolute mess that had been made of it.
“Jesus,” she said slowly. “Did I sleep through this?”
“Maybe it was some sort of… influence that kept you asleep until I wanted you awake,” he offered. “Or you were just flat out drunk on one glass of whisky,” he added with a shrug that made her laugh.
It was laced with nerves, however, as she turned from the scratches on the walls and the bed tilted to one side as one wooden leg had been torn off the frame.
“I did have a refill,” she admitted, but he could tell she was distracted by what she was looking at. She met his gaze, still not quite understanding how this constituted an aha moment.
“You sure you want to hear this?” he asked.
She nodded.
“I remember what happened last night,” he said. “But I’m not sure you’ll want to be involved once I tell you. So, maybe I shouldn’t tell you.”
“Right,” she said slowly. “But when you put it like that, you realize that I’ll obviously want to know, right? I mean, my scientist brain can’t cope with open endings and not following a thread to its final conclusion,” she remarked, and he looked a little guilty since of course he knew. “Before you tell me, maybe you need to sleep for a few hours though? You look like you need it.”
“I don’t think I could even if I tried,” he admitted. “I’m too hopped up on the adrenaline and the…”
When he trailed off, she got the distinct impression she had a very good idea what word should finish that sentence. She’d felt it too. That thrall that had been placed between them, like something inevitable.
“Then tell me,” she said. “I want to know.”
He had another pull on his beer, eyeing her. She tasted hers, enjoying the bubbles on her tongue, the sensation of them down her throat.
“The state of my room jogged my memory,” he said. “I took one look at it and had a flashback of standing in Michael’s room.”
