Page 161 of Haze

My lip curls when he looks up at me. A flash crosses his face, and I’m fairly certain he’s regretting thinking he could handle me.

Cade throws a wayward glance at me, and when The Leviathan flashes in his eyes, it silences the fire inside me. He helps Deacon to his feet before sending him with Lauren and a member of her staff into the house through the doors under the deck.

Thalia whispers, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

I shake my head. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to talk about it.

The man who challenged for Second, and for me, strips. He shifts quickly and charges Finn head-on.

The fight is over before it even begins. I don’t even have a chance to look away before Finn easily lays him out with a quick move of lowering his shoulder and locking his jaws around the challenger’s leg. The yelp and crunch indicate a dislocated shoulder. And from the way he’s lying on the ground, my guess is several broken bones in his leg.

“Is there anyone else?” Cade sounds irritated.

I lean over to Thalia and whisper in her ear, “Next time we do pack brunch, we all need to get up early and have breakfast first. I’m guessing this was Cade’s idea, and now he’s hangry.”

She bites her lips together to keep from laughing. The truth is, even though I’m furious with Finn, Cade, and Deacon, the timing was not well planned.

Had they consulted me, I would have suggested a big breakfast, after making it known this was a stupid idea. But they didn’t, so they can be hangry.

Seconds of silence tick by, and at last, Finn shifts back. He looks directly at me. I shake my head and hang it low between my shoulders, half in sadness and half in anger. I want to go downstairs and check on Deacon. But I know my place.

Regardless of the man’s intent when he challenged Finn for me, he officially outed our relationship. If the media stirred up whispers of speculation, he confirmed them.

I leave the deck rail and head upstairs to my room, knowing that’s where Finn will want to go to get cleaned up before we eat.

A few minutes later, Finn meets me in my suite. He walks carefully across the floor, avoiding touching the furniture and the walls, straight into the bathroom.

I lock the bedroom door behind him and then stand in the bathroom doorway.

“I’m sorry,” Finn starts apologizing while tending to his wounds.

“You could have killed him.” I try to growl, but my wolf isn’t there. The fire burned out in my belly, and I’m left with a measly huff.

Finn shakes his head. “Cade warned me that Deacon may try. It’s why I fought the way I did. I made it impossible to keep going.”

There’s nothing for me to say. I pull my dress over my head and abandon him in the bathroom. After resting my dress over a chair, I flop down on the bed.

Finn turns on the shower. The weight of his ring on my finger is too much. I pull it off and set it on the nightstand. The longer I lie here, the more emotions brew about it all.

How long was this planned?

I curl my toes and relax them again and again, fighting the anger. Clenching all the muscles in my feet and then relaxing them. I slowly tighten and release all the muscles up my body. But try as I may, this grounding exercise isn’t helping. All the emotions continue growing.

By the time the water turns off in the shower, I’m back to boiling with rage.

I go to the bathroom and look at Finn drying off. His wounds are healed over into large scabs.

“You could have killed him.”

It’s a dumb statement. We’ve already covered this reaction, but I say it again anyway. If repeating myself is what it takes to get his attention, I’ll do it. I’m done playing nice. I’m embracing the chaos.

Raising an eyebrow at me, Finn looks concerned at my statement. He shakes his head and readdresses the topic, “We covered this. I knew he might try, and I chose how I fought him to make sure that I didn’t hurt Deacon any more than I absolutely needed to. Kathleen, I’m not ill-equipped to end a fight without unnecessary bloodshed.”

“How long did you know that you would be removing the last part of my life that allowed me my own space and separation from you?” My voice gets louder. I clench my fists at my side.

Finn keeps drying off. “Deacon and I talked on Wednesday evening. Cade and I talked yesterday.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” I shake my head. “What is this? Everybody hides things from and lies to Lena? Why don’t I warrant knowing things that are going on in my life? Is that what my submission is supposed to be to you? Because I’m starting to see how you think this will be.” My jaw clenches tight, and anger turns to fury. This isn’t what I want.

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