Page 35 of Betrayed Bullied Mate

When the platform is finished, I drop to the ground just as Ado and Bigby return, still in their wolf forms. I see Linnea’s eyes go wide at the sight of them, and she glances away as they shift back, fully naked. Ado retires to his cabin to get some rest before the fight, but Bigby stays out; he and Percy place the stakes as Linnea and I go cabin to cabin, grabbing bottles of bleach and ammonia.

“We shouldn’t dump them until just before,” she says, heaving as she sets a gallon of bleach on the ground. I growl softly. I’d tried to take it from her, something deep inside me insisting she not carry anything in my presence, that I should take any load she would carry, but she fought me until it became ridiculous, so I just let her carry the damn bleach.

“Speaking of your ingenious strategy,” I say, wiping my hands off and stopping to take a swig of my water. I offer it to her and she takes it, but she’s still eyeing me warily. I want that look in her eyes gone, but it doesn’t seem like the right moment to tell her that I love her and I want to stay in Rosecreek with her. “The chemicals… You smelled like this at the bar.”

“Oh,” she says, blushing and handing the water bottle back to me. “Yeah. I didn’t want Varun to be able to track me, so I’d doused my house in that stuff. And my clothes.”

I nod, then quirk an eyebrow at her playfully.

“…And the spikes? The death traps? I’m assuming you didn’t learn that in gym class.”

“No,” she laughs, leaning forward to tie her shoe, but I put a hand on her shoulder, gesturing for her to put her shoe up on my thigh. She does, and I tie it for her as she talks.

“I—I used to read a lot, back in high school. It was a good way to take my mind off of things.”

“Things?”

“Well,” she says, clearing her throat. “I was pretty miserable at school. You and your goons, you didn’t make it easy. And then my grandma died.”

I wince, remembering the worst thing I’d ever said to her. It was a day she’d worn a skirt to school, and I’d been feeling extra agitated at the way my eyes kept tracking to her legs, wandering up to the hem of her skirt. In my anger at myself, it projected and just slipped out.

Your grandma probably died just to get away from you.

It was too far. I’d known it immediately when she turned, walking quickly to the girls’ bathroom. Even then, even at the most hurt, she wouldn’t let me see her cry.

“I’m sorry,” I hear myself say, and if I’m shocked at it, Linnea is more so, her mouth actually dropping open.

“Okay,” I say, reaching over and putting a finger under her chin, pushing up until her mouth is closed again. “You don’t have to act so surprised. Obviously—obviously I’m not the same guy I was back then. I’m sorry for what I did.”

“You’ve never said that,” Linnea says quietly, and if my hearing wasn’t this good, I wouldn’t have heard her. “You’ve never said you were sorry.”

“Of course I am,” I keep pushing, tipping her head up until she’s staring up at me, and I see the tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, Linnea. You didn’t deserve the way I treated you.”

She leans up on her tip-toes, and just when her lips are about to meet mine, Percy and Bigby come barreling back into the clearing.

“Hey, guys, we—” Percy cuts off as Bigby cuffs him on the back of the head, but the moment is ruined, and Linnea steps back before I can kiss her.

“Sorry,” Percy calls, cupping his hands around his mouth and calling out through the clearing. At that moment, Eva returns, hauling a deer in her huge maul. She drops it unceremoniously by the fire and heads back to her cabin. We turn our heads as she shifts before going inside.

“Great,” Linnea says, eyeing the bloody deer warily. “Dinner.”

Chapter 20 - Linnea

Everyone is antsy. With everything ready, Aris ordered everyone to return to their cabins to rest before the attack. Ado, having rested up already, is on watch outside, though he disappeared into the trees the moment Aris gave him the order. Bigby pulled Aris aside and said something to him, which seemed to convince him to rest as well. Now I’m in bed with Aris tucked in firmly next to me, snoring like a train.

Even if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to sleep fully. As gently as I can, I wiggle out from under his arm, standing.

“Linnea,” he says, his voice gruff. Of course, I wasn’t going to get away with getting out of bed. He reaches out like he’ll just pull me back in and tuck me under his arm if he gets ahold of me. I haven’t felt his eyes leave me since we had sex, and I know he’s protective of me, but I need a moment away.

“Just going to the bathroom,” I lie, and Aris nods, rolling over and burying his head in the pillow. The snoring resumes, and as quietly as I can, I slip out the front door of the cabin. I know it won’t be long until Aris realizes I’m gone, but I need to do something useful with myself.

Of everyone here, I’m the one who’s spent the most time in bed. I catch sight of the deer carcass, hung up and gutted next to the fire pit, and decide I’m going to try and cook something up other than the dry, practically inedible leather they’ve been making the past couple of days.

I see Ado on the perimeter, slinking through the trees, and he connects with my gaze, nodding at me once. I register the respect there and feel surprised at it. But I am Aris’s mate, and I suppose that does gain me some respect, even if Aris doesn’t love me.

The thought sends a spear through my heart again. How embarrassing, to admit something like that when he wouldn’t tell me he loved me back.

My migraine has gone away almost completely, that near-constant daily ache dulled to the point where I’ve almost forgotten about it a few times. For the first time in my life, I wish I might actually get another vision, if only to tell the team when the rogues might attack.

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