Page 70 of Hayden's Haven
“That’s why I want a hot shower. I’m a bit sore.”
“Hell. Why didn’t you tell me I was being too rough?”
“You were being you, Hayden. I wanted nothing less.”
If this is what it meant to be him, so violent that he had harmed her, then there truly was something wrong with him. He was as violent as his brother, to be able to do this to someone he loved and not realize the harm he was causing.
“Hayden?” Her voice shook.
He didn’t smell any fear coming off of her, but there definitely wasn’t something right between them. She never tried to stop him. Had she submitted to him because that’s all she knew from her time with Vance? He didn’t want to steal her voice, to make her do what she didn’t want. That wasn’t what being a partner was about. A blood-bond would never form between them if she felt pressured in any way. Equals. . . they had to enter a blood-bond as equals, or the bond would never form.
“Go shower.” His words came out brusque, like an order. Right now, talking, explaining all the thoughts and feelings within him was beyond his ability.
Mila nodded, the concern on her face quite clear.
The old water pipes groaned awake as she started the shower. Hayden dressed in jeans and boots, his head lost in what to do next. Protecting Mila had to be the priority. Perhaps he could talk to Anna about how long before Mila’s bridge was back to normal. The bigger problem, the one he had been avoiding for a long time, the one everyone else in this camp seemed to see except him, was that he had a violent streak. He and Drake were brothers in more than name. That gene, the violence that went along with being a Novak had not skipped him as he had thought. He could not risk Mila or his pack.
A knock at the door startled him. He opened the door. Damien with three guards behind him stood there with dour faces. Had they come to arrest Hayden? No, that was his paranoia at play after yesterdays’ fight. He was on edge, nothing more. Suspecting Damien of anything before giving the alpha a chance to speak was doing them both a disservice.
“Why are you here?” Hayden asked, his tone and words combative.
Damien scowled. “I see I’m no longer welcome. Things have certainly changed between us.”
Damien straightened his spine further, appearing as intimidating as ever. This was the posture of an alpha, not a friend. Well, that had been Hayden’s fault, and foolish pride was keeping him from apologizing.
“Things haven’t changed. I’m only starting to see how others view me here.”
“You’re lumping me with all those in this pack who don’t know you? Who’ve never had the privilege of fighting alongside you, for you?”
Those were the words of a friend, words which humbled Hayden. He scrubbed his face with his hand. He needed a shower, coffee, time to think. “You brought guards to my home, Damien.”
The shower stopped at that moment, and Damien peered past Hayden, though it wouldn’t take much for him to guess who was there. Hayden hadn’t showered yet and Mila’s scent would still be all over him from their activities in bed.
“Just as well she’s here. This concerns her,” Damien said.
Hayden’s wolf roared within, too eager to charge without facts. Maybe that’s why Drake was the way he was, more so that how Logan had raised him. If he gave his wolf too much reign, Drake would be more violent, more ruthless than a shifter who controlled his or her wolf. Was that the answer he had been searching for?
The three guards took that moment to fan out, as they would for an expected attack. Hayden’s eyes snapped to Damien’s. “You’re not taking her. She’s not going back to Truman or to that monster who abused her. I don’t care how big a bribe he finally offered, she’s not part of any deal.”
Bones moved beneath Damien’s skin and his hackles erupted down his back. The shifter was fighting the urge to shift.
“Go ahead, Damien. Shift. See how far you get. I don’t care how many guards you have with you—”
Damien moved so fast Hayden didn’t have time to defend himself. His alpha wrapped his hand around Hayden’s neck and pinned him to a wall.
“This chip on your shoulder, Hayden, or whatever’s up your ass, needs to go.”
Wrapped in only a robe, Mila appeared from around the corner, and her fear filled the air. “Please don’t hurt him!” she begged.
Damien’s hackles receded. Blue swirled in Damien’s otherwise gray eyes as he released Hayden.
Hayden knew he wasn’t thinking straight, but all he wanted was to attack Damien. Mila slipped her hand around Hayden’s arm and held him tight. That simple action probably saved Hayden’s life. Without her there to calm him and his wolf, Hayden could easily have attacked not just an alpha, but three of his guards.
“I’m. . . I’m not myself lately, Damien.” It was the best explanation he could give, though the reason behind his behavior escaped him.
“I see that,” Damien said, his frown saying more than his words. Hayden’s distrust had wounded Damien.
Mila placed her hand on Hayden’s cheek, turning his attention to her. She had thrown on his black terrycloth robe and she looked striking in it. A little too striking considering she was standing near the open door. Being nude in front of other shifters was part of shifter life and no one gave much thought about it, but having her standing there, looking so incredibly sexy made him growl a warning to the guards standing outside. If they even thought about her improperly, he would pound them into oblivion.
