Page 38 of Moon Destiny

I didn’t even see her coming. My head snapped back before I registered the brutal thud of her fist smashing into my cheek. Caught off guard, I stumbled and fell into the door. When I spun around, I almost stumbled again. I was actually dazed from her hit.

She faced me like a pissed off golden goddess, her fists clenched at her sides. Blood dripped from the knuckles of her right hand.

I started to speak. Instead, I spit out a tooth.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BROOKE

Hugh gave me an incredulous look before stalking toward the bathroom. Halfway there, he spun and pointed a blunt finger at me. “Don’t go anywhere.”

I swallowed a fuck you and turned my back so I could search for my clothes. I dressed with shaking hands, unsure if the trembling was from rage or hurt. Probably both, but the rage was more useful at the moment since it stopped me from thinking about how much my hand ached. As I pulled my shirt over my head, I spotted Hugh’s tooth on the carpet. Holy shit, I’d actually punched him hard enough to knock it out. Would it grow back? His stupid book said werewolves could regenerate limbs—

Wait, what did I care? He was an asshole and if he had to go through life looking like a pirate, so be it. I stalked to the door, and I had it open when a big hand reached over my shoulder and slammed it shut. I whirled, fist raised.

Hugh caught it before it could land, then grabbed my other wrist and pinned my arms against the door next to my head. “Do not hit me again, Brooke. No one strikes the alpha.”

“That’s hard to believe!” I spat. “How dare you say that to me!” I tried to twist from his grip, but it was no use. He was simply too strong. Where the hell was my wolf? I reached for her familiar presence, but there was nothing. She’d gone totally dormant. I raised my knee, aiming for his balls.

He pressed one meaty thigh against both of mine, trapping me in place. “Stop this.”

I could still move my head, so I thrust it forward, snarling, “I’m not taking orders from you anymore.”

“You’re wrong about that,” he said firmly. When I continued struggling, he sighed. “You know I can hold you without touching you.” He released me and stepped back. “STOP.”

The command slammed into me, stealing my breath and seizing my muscles. I dropped my gaze because I had no other choice. Once again, he’d trampled my will.

Panic set in. “Let me go,” I croaked. It was difficult to speak. Somehow, that was more terrifying than the invisible chains he’d put on my body.

“Stop fighting me and listen.”

I clenched my fists. Of all the oddities that had been visited on me since I turned, this was the worst. I despised knowing he could enforce my compliance any time he chose. “Fine.”

The awful pressure lifted. I stayed where I was, my jaw set as I met his stare.

His wolf was in his eyes, but it faded as he spoke. “This attraction between us is inconvenient. I suspect your shift made it worse. I know it affected my wolf…and my judgment. Obviously, we can’t ever seriously entertain a mating. I couldn’t—” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You were with Alex.”

Anger flared in my gut. I didn’t understand him at all. He talked of rejection, and then kissed me like he might die if he didn’t. He smiled at me, and then scowled at me. He was hot and cold and then hot again. He wielded the memory of Alex like a weapon, making me feel ashamed for an attraction I couldn’t control. If his intention was to mess with my head, then he’d accomplished his goal.

And I was done with all of it.

“I wasn’t thinking about Alex when we were together, Hugh. And contrary to your assertion, I never belonged to him. There are things about our relationship you don’t know, like how I planned to break things off after our trip to the Gorge. Like how our sex life was nonexistent.” My cheeks heated, but I forced myself to keep going. “And don’t act superior like you weren’t thinking about your son’s girlfriend while you were jerking yourself off in the shower. You moaned my name!”

His cheeks reddened. “You had no problem answering the call. You certainly seemed to enjoy yourself.”

I swung.

He caught my wrist and pinned it hard, and then I had a furious alpha in my face. “I told you not to hit me again.”

Maybe I should have been afraid, but he pressed against me from chest to thigh and my desire whooshed back to life like a wildfire. He must have felt it at the same moment, because he sucked in a breath. His eyes went heavy-lidded as he shifted his gaze to my mouth. Tension arced in the nearly nonexistent space between us, connecting us by a million phantom threads. It would have been easy to thrust my hips against his. And I would have hated myself for it.

“I wonder if you know how you sound,” I said in a low voice.

He lifted a gaze fogged with lust. “What?”

“I know you’re old.” Even as I said it, the reality of our age difference sank in for the first time. Maybe it explained his behavior, but it didn’t excuse it. “I won’t apologize for liking sex, Hugh. Not now, not ever. I cared for Alex, but I didn’t love him. You’re implying I jumped from his bed to yours, and you were two seconds away from calling me a hussy just now. But there were two of us in your bed tonight, and you seemed to enjoy yourself as much as I did.”

He stared at me for a long moment. Then he backed away. His eyes were a normal green now, all signs of his wolf gone. “I…didn’t know. About you and…Alex.”

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