Page 15 of Worth

“Ouch,” she says, but it’s not a complaint. It’s a threat, and it shakes me out of my stupor.

“Whatever you’re doing with Aiden, stop,” I command. “He’s not yours to fuck around with.”

Blake lets out an incredulous laugh. “You’re just as psychotic as he is! I didn’t even want to stay here! You’re making me!”

I step into her space, cursing myself as I do so. But I can’t back down now or she’ll pick up on it. Closer, she’s only more appealing, those glimmering grey eyes shooting daggers at me. I can smell the coconut body wash we have stocked in the bathroom, but there’s an undercurrent that I can tell is uniquely Blake. The scent is mouthwatering—like sunshine filled days. Like picnics in the park.

“I ammorepsychotic than Aiden is,” I confess, leaning over her so she has to tilt her head back to see me. “Don’t fuck with Aiden and I won’t have a reason to show you.”

She blinks at me, her lips parting with soft breaths. “You care about him.”

I lift a brow. “Obviously.”

“Areyou gay?” Blake blurts out. “Are you in love with him?”

Despite my annoyance at her questions, I can’t help but be a little pleased by the pink blush that steals over her face and colors the tips of her ears with embarrassment over her outburst. “I am not gay,” I grunt.

“Oh. I just thought... Because earlier, Aiden said... About how he didn’t mind if someone was gay, so I figured—”

“I am not gay,” I repeat. “Aiden has zero filters when it comes to speaking.”

She snorts a laugh. “No shit.”

I find myself stumped by her once again. From kicking and screaming, to bargaining for ice cream, to making threats, to laughingwithme. How is this girl still standing after Damien to do any of that?

Aiden chooses that moment to appear with her ice cream and the way he scowls, eyeing the small distance between Blake and me, tells me everything I need to know. My threats to Blake don’t matter. Aiden has already made up his mind.

Blake belongs to him.

Chapter 5

An entire day. I’ve been locked in this room a whole fucking day since Aiden closed it up after hand feeding me chocolate ice cream. I’m starving and cranky and, despite not having any way to climb down, I’m considering trying to escape via my second-story window that is firmly boarded so that only slivers of sunlight can find their way in.

I pace, scowling at the door, the late afternoon sun making the white panels of it glow. I feel ready to burst out of my skin, the tiniest taste of freedom making me yearn for more. If I could get out, I could run fast and far away, and never look back.

But deep down, I know I really can’t. Zander wasn’t wrong when he asked where I would go in that all-knowing tone—I don’t have anywhere to go. No family. No friends. And likely a BOLO out for missing property with my description.

It drives me fucking insane that I have already started seeing this place, with these crazy assholes, as a refuge. Even when they don’t fucking feed me.

The lock slides noisily on the door and I stop, crossing my arms over my chest with a glare.

Zander appears in the doorway wearing the same sort of outfit I first saw him in. A short tumbler of amber liquid is gripped in his hand and his eyes find me immediately. “I have some questions for you,” he announces, closing the door and resting back against it.

“Bite me,” I snarl, tossing my loose hair over my shoulder.

I mean, it’s probably not the best way to get fed, but don’t come at me when I’m hangry.

Zander seems unaffected. He merely sips at his whiskey, unblinking. I narrow my eyes at him, under the impression that he’s trying to force me to look away first, to make me dip my chin in submission.

Fuck that shit.

I notch my chin up a little more, feeling defiance blazing in my eyes. Zander watches me, his eyebrow lifting so subtly it’s almost unnoticeable. Annoyance licks through me and I stomp toward him. He doesn’t move or flinch, his lookalmostturning curious.Almostbecause he’s still trying to look impassive.

I snatch the tumbler out of his hands and down the remaining liquid. It burns like hell, but I refuse to cough or splutter. I shove the glass back into his hand, still exactly where it was when I stole his alcohol, letting the whiskey warm my chest and belly.

“Are you finished being a brat?”

“Are you finished being an alpha dickhead?”

---