Page 76 of Tainted Romance

Well, that was a low blow. "Well, maybe I don't want to lead them!" I snapped back, feeling hurt by his words. Thank goodness for the bracelet, even if it was old. The last thing I needed was Zane in my head.

"See." Alpha Harris sighed and gestured a hand in my direction. "How do you expect the pack to take her in when she has had this attitude the whole time. She never steps up, she makes a habit of disconnecting from the pack, and if I might ask, when was the last time you sat through a whole pack meeting, Allie?"

The air in the study went from awkward to tight very quickly.

"I…um…" I chewed on my words. "I don't know." I finally spluttered, "But I never wanted this! I didn't ask for this!"

I didn't like the way he was implying I wanted this. I didn't want this. I didn't want them to even know!

"I'm not having this argument now." Alpha Harris rose from his armchair. "I'm done for the day. Until I decide on what to do next, Zane, you are in charge of keeping Allie safe. Do you understand? She doesn't leave your sight."

"WHAT!" I was outraged and jumped up. "Like hell I am having him following me around! Might I add, I'm not in trouble!"

"You have a blocker on your wrist, disconnecting you from the pack and your mate. You could be kidnapped, and not one of us would know, nor could you reach out to us. Whether you like to admit it or not, Allie, you are in trouble, and that is why Zane won't be leaving your side until it is removed."

And here I thought my day couldn't get any worse. I slowly dragged my eyes over to Zane.

"This is all your fault." I crossed my arms giving Zane daggers. "Happy now?"

Zane dragged himself up, brushing off the death look I was giving him. "Thrilled."

Well, that makes one of us.

Chapter Thirty-two

"I told you I'm not going! Are you that stupid that basic English is above your IQ?" I was going to kill him or explode from rage - one of the two.

"You're frustrating," Zane huffed. Pushing me aside, he made his way into my room. "Fine, if you won't come with me, I'll just stay in here. Assuming there is a sofa under all those clothes."

Zane following me around got old quick. All afternoon I had to put up with it. The only thing that really got me through was knowing I would be able to have some peace tonight, alone in MY bedroom.

But no, of course, that wouldn't happen.

Closing my eyes, I took a calming breath in. “I need to get changed.” Just don’t kill him, Allie, just don’t kill him.

“I’ll turn my back.”

Snapping my eyes open, the little control I had on my temper faded. “Like hell you will, get out!”

“Fine, I won’t close my eyes.” He smirked, that stupid cute look on his face taunting me. “Bound to see you naked anyway.”

“Stop that!” I pointed a finger at him. “Stop flirting. You and I don’t flirt. Flirting doesn’t happen, got it?”

I wanted to slap my forehead after my reaction because I noticed the glint in his eyes. I had just given him every reason not to stop.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” He shot me a wink before he turned his attention to the sofa, and with no care at all, he wiped it of all my belongings.

“Thanks for dumping them all on the floor.” I snapped, “You know I did have a system figured out and, like everything else, you ruin it.”

“Don’t kid yourself. It was a pile of clothes with no organization.”

With my fists clenched at my side, I attempted to count back from ten, trying my very best to calm down. While I was having this semi-mental breakdown, he kicked back and relaxed on the sofa.

Had his father set Zane on me to annoy the hell out of me? I see my life being in more danger with him around than with him not around.

***

The night slowly rolled on, and apart from a snide comment at Zane every few hours, it went smoothly. It wasn’t until the lights went out that I became overly aware of having someone else in the bedroom.

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