Page 73 of Awakened
Brandon gave me a curt nod, then glared at Seth. “Five minutes.”
I waited until the front door closed before I looked at Seth. “What do you want?”
“I spoke to my father. You don’t have to leave tonight.”
The world’s most unflattering cackle flew out of my mouth. “I’m not leaving on his account. I’m leaving on mine. I’m not going to sit here and listen to this Old Church bullshit. How canyou be a part of this?” My words dripped with disdain. I couldn’t even look Seth in the eye.
“You don’t understand.” His voice was hushed and full of frustration. “We aren’t Old Church, we’re just . . . traditional. The Old Church Packs are extremists. The only thing we have in common is an emphasis on the mate bond, and even that isn’t forced on anyone here.”
“Uh, huh. So, you’re not the most prolapsed of the assholes. Congrats.”
“Don’t be like that, Les. I know things look bad right now, but I plan to modernize the pack when I take over. You have to believe me.”
His bullshit stunned me into silence. He really believed what he was saying.
He must have misread my silence as acceptance because he closed the small distance between us. “Let’s sit down and talk. I don’t want you to leave mad. Hell, I don’t want you to leave at all. It’s been over a year, and I’ve missed you.” His fingers threaded through mine. “Please. You’re my best friend.”
I shook my hand out of his, unable to bear his touch. “Seth, let’s be real. Any friendship we had was in the past. You aren’t my Seth anymore. My Seth wouldn’t be his dad’s bitch. He wouldn’t tear apart a couple that loved each other. He?—”
“Becca—”
I raised my hand to stop him. “Save it. I saw the devastation in Brian’s eyes. If you and Becca were happy and so in love, I think I would understand, but you both look miserable.”
“We were fine until you got here.”
My chin dropped to my chest.Of course.
Exhaling deeply, I turned toward Becca. She looked like she was two seconds away from breathing fire.
Did that slow my roll?
Nah.
“Becca, if me being here—” I held upmy watch-less wrist, tapping the nonexistent glass. “For less than eight hours ruined your happiness, then you weren’t that happy, sweet cheeks.”
Taking me completely by surprise, Becca slapped me. She raised her hand to do it again, but I snatched her wrist out of the air and snapped it. Nobody, especially a no-rank wolf, puts their fucking hands on me.
Becca slumped to the ground and wailed like a baby.
“Honey, I suggest you get that wrist set and think twice about raising your hand to a superior. Next time? I take the hand.”
Seth rushed to his mate and gently lifted her arm to examine her dangling wrist. He glared up at me and snarled, “Les, what the fuck?” He quickly refocused on his mate.
Watching him coddle and murmur sweet words to Becca forced me to wake the fuck up. Yet again, the man I loved proved I was nothing in his life. My feelings and our history meant nothing in the face of the mate bond.
Actually, that wasn’t quite right. I thought about my talk with Grandma Rose. The problem wasn’t the mate bond. The problem was these fuckers. I had repeated history and given my heart to a man whose love was weak and watched as another woman settled. These men didn’t deserve me or their mates. Becca deserved better, Whitney deserved better, and I damn sure deserved better.
With Seth occupied, I slipped out the front door, and we drove away from the cabin without further roadblocks.
Brandon drove through the night, only stopping for gas and 5-hour Energies. The silent ride gave me time to work out how we needed to handle The Gathering. I only had to find the courage to tell Brandon.
When we reached Columbia, I asked him to pull into the QT. He parked the car and turned to me. “Aren’t you going to go pee or something? Why’d we stop?”
“You have to go back to Kirksville.”
He let out a heavy breath. “No, I have to get you home. I’ll figure out the restlater.”
I patted his hand. “I love that you want to take care of me. I do, but we need to think of the big picture.”
