Page 85 of The Way You Bite
Another?His hand fisted around his knife’s handle.
Blay’s lips curled upward. “Hurts to think of her tangling sheets with another?”
“Fuck you.”
“No, you’re the one that’s fucked. If she dies, then the ennui you battled before you met her will triumph, and you’ll let it. Because there is nothing without her. Nothing. Trust me, I live this every bloody day. Without her, death is a relief.”
“That’s why we’re going to get her back and lock her down.”
“Exactly what did she define as the problem with your relationship?”
She felt he wanted to imprison her, which she needed to keep her safe. He cursed.
“She’s independent.” Blay nodded, obviously having done some mental eavesdropping.
Get the hell out of my brain,Lexan thought.
Blay shook his head. “Get mated and we all turn into primitives. Your protective instinct is natural, but you’ll lose her if you don’t figure out what she needs to thrive. For me, Arie needed her children. She would’ve died if I’d taken her away from them. I wanted to take her away. I fought with her for years to take her somewhere Dominic never would never find her and could no longer hurt her. I nearly lost her in the fight until I realized if I took her away she’d become someone who wasn’t the woman I loved.”
“Don’t psychoanalyze me. You lost Arie because you let her have her way. You weren’t there to protect her and now she’s dead.”
Blay growled. “I always protected her. I was with her every damned moment, even if sometimes in the shadows, invisible. That day I’d taken Vee to Carol. It was the single moment when I hadn’t been watching.”
“Your anecdote isn’t convincing me to do anything other than force Vee out of this country and to somewhere safe.”
Blay picked up his phone and typed. “Plane will be ready in fifteen minutes. If you don’t figure out what she needs, you’ll lose her even more than you already have. Give her what she wants. The reward will be worth it.”
Lexan lunged forward, pinning Blay by the neck. He leaned close to Blay and squeezed. “We’re going to get on your goddamned plane and get to Charlotte before she arrives. If she dies because you dragged her idiotic brother here, if they kill her, I’ll rip out your throat and that of every wolf loyal to you.” He released and stepped away.
Blay coughed and massaged his neck. He lowered his head submissively. “I would let you.”
