Page 5 of To Keep A Wolf
“You really think you’ve won, don’t you?”
His brow lifts in silent challenge. “You’re here, aren’t you?”
“I’m here because it’s the only place I can fight you from. You went back on our deal. You said you’d rescind the law—”
His hand closes around my throat so fast I have no time to react. He shoves me backward until my shoulders hit the wall with a thud that makes me wince. His eyes are intensely focused, daring me to fight back as he leans in and snarls, “You’re here because I allow it. Because I wish it. Don’t confuse my interest in you for devotion. I’m not some whipped fated mate you can manipulate. I’m not him.”
“No,” I agree, my mouth moving faster than my brain can stop it. “You’re not half the man Levi is.”
His hand releases my throat and whips across my cheek.
The flash of pain is instant and sharp. My face is driven sideways, my hair falling into my eyes. For a moment, I don’t move, absorbing the pain. Paralyzed by the hate that follows.
“Don’t speak of him again,” he says viciously.
He strides toward the door, adjusting his jacket as he goes. “I’ll give you a moment to collect yourself before you join me downstairs. Don’t make me come back to retrieve you.”
Then he’s gone, shutting my bedroom door behind him with a soft click. The sound of it echoes much worse than if he’d slammed it. It’s a reminder he can get to me anywhere. That this house is his, not mine. I’m not safe here. I never will be.
But I didn’t stay so I could be safe.
I stayed to fight.
He might have kissed me, but he won’t keep me.
CHAPTER3
We ride to the party in silence. The car smells like Jadick’s late father and our former alpha, Crigger—a fact I don’t bother to mention as Jadick’s mood seems to have already soured enough from sniffing it at all. Or maybe it was my little dig earlier about him being half the man Levi is.
My face still stings, but I ignore it, unwilling to give Jadick the satisfaction of seeing me suffer. It took another layer of makeup to cover his handiwork on my cheek, but it was worth it. Tripp was right. I have to fix this. I’m the only one who can.
Tonight’s event is apparently a mixer for all of the new leadership Jadick has appointed. He seems put out about having to drive across town to the hall he’s rented, but from the bits I heard him exchange with Gregario, he refuses to host at the alpha house until he’s “made it his own.”
I wonder if, deep down, his reluctance to open up the alpha house stems from knowing Levi’s out there somewhere. Then again, it’s been nearly a week since the announcement—since my rejection—and no one has seen or heard from Levi since he somehow escaped.
Maybe he’s just … gone.
Off to start a new life somewhere else. Somewhere far from me and all the ways we’ve hurt each other.
That thought is enough to sour my mood.
The car stops, and our driver, a new guard I don’t recognize, hops out, circling around to open Jadick’s door, not mine. Next to me in the backseat, the young alpha resembles his mother with his dark features and slender frame. But he has his father’s streak of cruelty. One look into his hollowed gaze and I know there’s nothing he won’t do—no one he won’t hurt—to get what he wants. Just as Marilyn predicted.
Sliding out, Jadick stands and then turns back, offering me his hand.
I sigh and reach up, placing my hand in his as I slide across the seat and out.
At the contact, my stomach roils, but I swallow hard and shove it down. My disgust is nothing new, and despite my threat earlier, I really don’t want to throw up again. My throat is still raw from the last few days. And I really need to keep something down if I’m going to regain my strength enough to figure out how to fix this.
Once I’m standing, Jadick tucks my arm into his and leads me toward the doors. I let him, concentrating on remaining upright in these heels. With any luck, I can use them to impale my fiancé before the night is over.
“Darling,” he murmurs close to my ear, “smile.”
Gritting my teeth, I rearrange my expression as we pass through the doors and greet the first faces inside. It’s not a smile, but it’s not resting-murder-face either.
I look around at the guests already gathered in the foyer. Many are faces I recognize, which doesn’t help my attempts to seem friendly since none of them are allies. Burnett is here along with Gregario—both in ill-fitting suits. They’ve been promoted, according to the small talk I heard on the way over. In charge of alpha house security and pack security accordingly.
Their new ranks mean I don’t see their faces lurking outside my bedroom door anymore. But their constant hovering presence will make things harder when I bury my heel in Jadick’s throat.
