Page 93 of Never Tamed
The liquor scalds a path down to the bottom of my stomach and warms the frigid chill taking root after the warehouse raid.
We’re both worn out from the day and from Ren’s nighttime sex-capades with Mathis.
Any discomfort at feeling everything so sharply, at knowing exactly what he’s doing and where he’s touching her, how she feels, fades.
Instead, the richness of the sensation of them together only deepens the love I feel for her. How fucked up is that?
I sip until the fire settles in my stomach, and the lovely trail down my throat settles. Finally, I set Torin with a look. He stares at me without blinking and I jolt.
This is the first time I’ve stopped to actually look at him since his mate bond clicked into place.
Feeling Torin, hearing him in my head as my alpha is natural for me. He’s our leader and he’s been my friend for longer than he’s held the mantle. We’ve weathered more storms in our years than most people do in a lifetime and here we are, standing together, linked until our death in a way no earthly force can accomplish.
His eyes soften and he lifts his own full glass. “Cheers, Noble.”
I didn’t wait for him but there’s always the second pour. My gut tells me I'll be in desperate need of a little drink.
Anything to wash away what we saw at the factory.
Torin sips quietly and his thoughts churn in my head. Luckily for him, we’re of the same mind this time.
“So,” I say when the silence is too much to handle. “Are you ready to apologize to me?”
Torin would have jumped down my throat for my questioning tone a few weeks ago. He’d threaten to bash my head in, as he has in the past. Now, he settles against the side of the chair, and I make myself comfortable.
The air thickens.
There’s no apology, but his throat works and his cheeks flush, jaw clenching.
He’s got something broiling up inside of him. I force myself to wait impatiently until he speaks.
“When the building burned down,” he starts, his fingers tapping wildly, “I thought we lost everything. I thought there was no way to bounce back from it.”
“Material things,” I try to say.
“No need to sound bitter. I’m talking metaphorically. I thought it was a blow I wouldn’t survive. The destruction of my father’s empire... where do we even go from there?”
I scoff and sip. “You want to talk about your father? Now?”
“I’m getting to my fucking point, if you’re done interrupting.” He glares at me and his eyes deepen with fire.
“And yet none of it sounds like an apology.” The bitterness tastes awful, familiar.
If this is our come to Jesus moment, then Torin is doing one hell of a job of making it about him. As always. He has the singular ability to turn everything around.
Yet there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for the man.
Now that we share the same mate?
A mate bond is a rare thing. To have our girl shared between the three of us is nothing short of a miracle. Or some kind of fucked up joke by the Moon Goddess.
I’m not sure which one I believe yet.
It forces me to reexamine not only myself and how I interact with the world, but my relationship with others.
“You were right, okay? About my feelings for her and the way I acted like a fool. All of it,” he says in a rush. Scoffing, he straightens. “You were right.”
My fingers clench along the side of the glass until cracks splinter across the delicate pattern. “You think this is what I want to hear? I know I was right. That isn’t…”
