Page 77 of Cost of Courting

This is what I hate about these alphas. They always leave me all twisted up with conflicting thoughts and wants. Hate and love go hand-in-hand when I’m around them and always with a side of body betrayal and arousal.

His grey eyes focus on me, and I can smell that strange combination of scents that remind me of ice in winter.

“When we left with Octavia, things became pretty clear, really quickly, that there was something up with her.”

I listen to him with my whole body. I need to hear this.

“She was nervous around us, not wanting us to get close or touch her.”

“That’s because she didn’t really smell like that.”

“Yes. Exactly, but, at the time, we were confused and just trying to work out what had her so spooked.”

I sit back and try to pull my hands free, but he doesn’t let me go. I vividly remember how I felt watching their car drive away. With numbness taking over me, I’d walked backinside and had the beating of my life. Luna had to fetch the neighbours to get him off me. It didn’t come close to making me hurt as much as I did inside.

“We needed to know, but we figured out she wasn’t our scent match straight away, but we wanted to know what she was up to. So, we decided to play along.”

Edric opens his mouth and-

“Edric!”

The alpha in front of me lets out a growl of frustration but doesn’t let go of my hands.

“She needs to know.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Yes, she does, Mael. It makes a difference, it changes things.”

“Even if it did, it’s my story to tell, and I’m not happy to share it yet.”

Edric sits back, letting go of my hands. “You can’t wait too long, Mael. Kingston bonded her. It’s only a matter of time now.”

“No, it’s not. The bond means nothing. I’ve lived without you, and I can do it again. One bite doesn’t mean anything,” I snarl at them.

Kingston sniggers. “Sure, it doesn’t. You keep telling yourself that, love.”

I get a wave of intense arousal and heat through the bond. Kingston winks at me as he goes to walk out of the room, opening his pants and sliding his hand into them before he vanishes.

I let go of the breath I’m holding and close my eyes, counting slowly to ten, but I can feel him pleasuring himself. I can feel him thinking about me.

I squirm on the table, then force myself to sit still, instead clenching my pussy on air and wondering if I’m going to come right here like this.

“I want that story, Mael,” I grit out.

“No, it’s not relevant.”

“It is if it had some bearing on you being gone all this time!” I shout at him. I stand up, stalking towards him and poking his chest. “You owe me.”

Kingston groans from the bedroom, and I almost collapse.

His lips curls in a sneer. “We don’t owe you shit.”

I step right up close, tilting my head to look up at him. “The fact that you’re resorting to sulky rude Mael means that whatever happened was bad and probably where all those scars came from. You should just trust me. Once upon a time, you wouldn’t have hesitated.”

His dark eyes seem to catch fire as he stares at me. I can almost hear the indecision in him. It’s so loud.

“I know all your tricks. You get defensive and rude when you’re worried. Do you think I care about this story? Do you think I’ll judge you? Mael, I’ve seen you write your nameon a wall with your piss. I’ve cleaned up the blood from your broken arm. Your mother threw all your underwear out on the lawn, and who was there to pick them up?”

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