Page 143 of His White Moonlight
“Don’t feel guilty.Your response was the reminder I needed.The people around me now aren’t human, and I can’t protect myself in the same way I’d been protecting myself.It was a reminder not to be complacent.If you’d been human, that move would have given me the upper hand.
“Now, start asking yourself the right questions.How did the very human Wulf Princess, who’d been pampered her whole life and sent to one of the best all-girl boarding schools in the country, know that move?Or better yet, why did she know that move?Why hadn’t she been afraid when pinned to the door?”
Miranda’s frown had grown deeper with each question.“What did the little Wulf Princess endure at that school?”
“Hell.Pure and simple.The people who tormented me knew exactly when to let up so I wouldn’t be marked in an unexplainable way or, worse, die.So I got smarter, stronger, and faster to fight back.Obviously, not strong or fast enough to fight one of you.”
“Do the Wulfs know?”
“They know as much as you do now.And they know my time at school is why I want to leave.That’s all, though.I haven’t given specifics or names.”
“Why not?”
“Because revenge won’t absolve them of their role in my hell.It won’t absolve Bennett for putting me there and never once listening to my pleas to come home.”
“Damn.”She looked back at the Wulf building.“What are you going to do then?”
“Leave for college this fall.Bennett plans on forcing me to live in an apartment with him unless I can do three things.Hold his hand.Hug him.Kiss him.Without a hint of fear.And apparently, I have to initiate while awake.”
“He’s smart.Look at how you let your guard down for a foot rub.”
“Not as smart as he thinks.Like I said, rejecting the mate bond is my last resort.I’d rather walk away without sleeping with him.But if that’s what ends up happening…” I shrugged.
“Are you sure you’d be able to?”
“Why wouldn’t I?I know exactly what it’s like to be under his thumb.Why would I want a life like that?”
She started walking again, but slower.
“So you think mated life would be another cage?”
“One with less abuse…unless the sex is rough; then maybe just a different kind of abuse.”
She breathed out another curse and looked off in the distance.
“Have you talked to Bennett about this?”
“Yep.He got me a car to prove I was free.Then he found reasonable explanations for driving me everywhere until he finally just took away the keys.He’s either blind, stupid, or manipulative.I’m going with the latter because I’ve been pretty vocal about how I feel.”
“You might be right, but I think it’s out of desperation to be close to you.”
“His need for me is his problem, not mine.”
“True, I guess.”She sighed and shook her head.“His life would be a lot easier if he’d just fall for one of us.”
“Exactly.One of you would never resist him like I am.You’d smell his lust and be doing a bareback lap dance in his office five times a day.From me, he gets throat punches, nose bleeds, yelling, and ‘Go away, Bennett.’I’m starting to think he’s got a rejection fetish or something.”
“Maybe.Did you actually give him a bloody nose?”
“Accidentally.Don’t startle me.Some things can’t be unprogrammed.At least, not in a few weeks.And I almost broke my hand hitting him, which just makes me more mad at him.He could have dodged.”
She chuckled.
When we reached the end of the block, we turned around and headed back.
“So what are you going to do?”she asked.
“I don’t know.”
