Page 45 of The Wild Moon
“I’ll give you what you want,” I said quietly, staring into his amber eyes. “I’ll stand by your son’s side. I’ll bear his children.”
“And?” Lars barked. “That’s what’s expected of you, woman.”
“And in return,” I growled, showing a bit of the defiance I was feeling on the inside. “Your son doesn’t touch me unless I say so. In public, I will play the good mate. In private, he leaves me the fuck alone. We live separately. I don’t have anything to do with him or you.”
Lars gave me a long stare as he considered my terms.
“Deal.”
He didn’t stick out a hand to shake on it. I was beneath him for that. We had gone from me bargaining to Lars agreeing to the terms as if they werehisorders. It was almost impressive how easily he took command of the conversation like that.
“Okay,” I said as we stared at one another, him naked, me dressed in jeans and a sky-blue, loose-fitting long sleeve.
It was weird. Really weird.
“Follow me,” Lars growled, heading to the front door.
Now, I know as a wolf shifter I should be uncaring about nudity. And I am, really I am. Mostly. But walking behind Lars, while his ass cheeks clapped in the sunlight as he strode toward the front door, was just too much. He lookedridiculous. I’m not sure if this was supposed to be some sort of power move on his part, but damn if it didn’t ruin the scary aura that he usually had around him.
Lars reached the door and pushed it open, heading inside without checking to see if I was there. I had to jog forward to grab the eight-foot-high door and haul it open again. Otherwise, it would have closed in my face.
Ass, I thought, but my glare faltered as I saw a figure move at the top of the curved stairs ahead of us.
“What is she doing here?” Johnathan asked, staring down at his father and me, his back to the hallway where I’d attacked his mother during my last escape. The same hallway that housed the relics my father had retrieved on his missions. I tried not to smile as my plan came one step closer to fruition. Now all I had to do was survive long enough to escape with Aaron’s payment.
No big deal. Right?
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Your soulmate is here,” Lars said, gesturing behind him. “She has come to her senses.”
“Has she now?” Johnathan said archly, crossing his arms. He still didn’t descend the stairs.
“I have,” I spoke up before Lars could say anything more. I didn’t want Johnathan getting any false impressions. I had to make itveryclear to both Alpha assholes what the rules were while I was here.
“Of her own free will at that,” Lars said. “She’s a strong one, Johnathan. A good Alpha’s mate.”
“Seriously?” Johnathan said, gaping at his father. “After what happened the last time she was here? After how she treated Mother?”
Lars chuckled. “Mary should have been more aware of where she was going. She’ll get over it.”
And that sealed it. If I’d had any remaining thoughts of actually somehow making things work with Johnathan and his family, they died there with the dismissal of his mate. Women weren’t valued in the Aldridge household, and I don’t know why I ever thought differently.
My Soulbond pulsed in my head, and I lifted my eyes to meet Johnathan’s.Damn. This isn’t going to be easy. The closer I was to him, the more my body and soul ached to go to him. Even now, I was filled with the desire to go to bed with him. It was foreign, at odds with the disgust my mind and brain felt, but I couldn’t deny it didn’t exist.
No wonder Lars had been confident and agreeable. He knew the Soulbond would turn me. No matter what my terms were now, it would eventually push it all aside, turning me into the perfect mate for Johnathan if I gave it the time to do so.
Which I wasn’t going to. I had mere days before the Wild Moon, and I knew if another one came over me while Johnathan was around that I wouldn’t be able to fight it. I had to get what I’d come for and get as far away from him as possible before it happened. Or live in servitude like Lars’ mate for the rest of my life.
That’s a hell no from me. I willnotend up like that!
“I don’t like it either,” I said to Johnathan, glaring up at him. “But when you showed up in Kellar, it showed me the truth. I can’t run from this. I don’t like you, and I don’t like admitting that. But I’m not going to run forever. So we're going to compromise, and that’s that.”
I strolled past Lars and up the stairs, aiming to bypass Johnathan and head down the hallway to the guest quarters. Courtesy of my time dating Johnathan, I knew the layout of the house rather well.
“A compromise,” he rumbled as I approached. “How is that?”
“Ask your father,” I said. “I’ll be in my guest quarters.”
