Page 30 of Alpha Wolf's Arranged Bride
I push him off me, staggering backwards so fast, I almost fall down. Rex watches me, reaching out as if he wants to catch me but is afraid to come closer.
I can’t believe I almost—
“Scarlett,” he says gently. “We should talk about this.”
“There is nothing to talk about,” I gasp, my breathing heaving in and out of my chest.
“That was not nothing,” he answers, his voice taking on a hard tone. “You want me. I could feel it.”
“Wow, good for you,” I shoot back. “You can recognize when someone is horny and frustrated. Do you want a medal?”
“It was more than that,” he replies, his face stern. “Don’t lie to me.”
As I pull myself together, I shake my head, scoffing just a little. “You’re really that good, huh? You can read my mind? If that’s true, then why do we need to talk?”
“Scarlett, please. We spent a whole year together, and I—”
“Oh, right!” I bark, feeling my sanity fully return. “Thanks for reminding me. I did fall in love with you—except it wasn’t you. It was James Drent. Tell me, is it the same guy?”
“Look, you know it is,” he says, exasperated.
“I’m afraid I don’t believe that, Rex. James Drent was a drifter looking for a home. His poor, dead mother came from Eccles, and he wanted to see where she grew up. He settled in and stayed. Made friends, fell in love. Then disappeared like a thief in the night!”
“Scarlett—”
“No, I’m not done. Are you even related to Martha Drent?”
“No,” he answers sullenly.
“Well, this just gets better and better!” I say, knowing I’m going too far, but unable to stop the cascade of words. “What in the hell were you doing in Eccles, pretending to be someone else?”
“I want to tell you everything,” he answers. “But I just can’t. It’s for your protection—and Jarrod’s.”
When he says my son’s name, my temper immediately cools. The only reason I’m here with him is because I have to protect Jarrod, and I’d do absolutely anything to keep him safe.
Maybe Rex feels the same way, and he had to do extremely questionable things to protect me. In doing so, he protected Jarrod, too.
I look up at him, and I can see intense emotions shimmering in Rex’s eyes. The problem is, he won’t explain to me exactly how he feels, and that hurts me more than his hidden past.
Shaking my head, I rush past him to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. For a few minutes, I just try to get myself under control, gasping as tears run down my cheeks.
I have so much to be afraid of. My uncle and his crazy rituals, Rex’s lies… and that he still holds a piece of my heart.
Even though warm tears still run down my cheeks, the strength seems to have gone out of me, and my sobs have settled down. I’m exhausted and almost beyond hope.
Now I have to go and get into bed with him, and I think I’m more afraid of that than anything else.
I take my time freshening up and putting on comfortable clothes, hoping that Rex will be asleep by the time I get out of the bathroom. I hear him moving around in the bedroom, and my anxiety rises again.
If he cared about me, he would answer my questions. He’d be eager to tell me the truth and repair the damage he did to me when he left.
To me, this is just a simple fact. If he ever loved me at all, then his heart would demand he tell me the truth. More than that, if he was serious about the marriage working and the two of us being together for the rest of our lives, then he’d trust me and want me to know everything.
An icy splinter of fear slowly pierces my misery. If my marriage to Rex isn’t permanent, that means we could be vulnerable to my uncle again.
Maybe both packs are playing each other, and Jarrod and I are in the crossfire!
The thought is almost too terrible to contemplate. The only reason I’m trapped here in this hell is to save my son, and now I could be putting him in even more danger.
