Page 79 of Secrets and S'mores
“We don’t exactly have any other ideas. And I think it could work. But Cedar’s right, we don’t stand a chance unless we have some sort of strategy.”
“Then we better figure it out.” she murmurs, her eyes dropping to my mouth.
We can figure it out right after I take her back to our bedroom.
“You two are gross,” Cedar mutters, dropping his plate in the sink. Shaking his head, he strides out.
“Poor guy,” I say, leaning forward until I can kiss her cheek.
“He’ll be fine.” She wrinkles her nose as I nibble at her ear.
“But we better go back to our room instead of defiling the kitchen.” Her giggles soothe my worries as I brush her hair off her shoulder to kiss over the pale scars that mark her as mine.
18 Bubble Baths and Ex-Boyfriends
Ember
“Mom?” I ask, crossing my legs under me as I sit on the bed.
Her voice sounds distant, maybe irritated. “Ember, what do you need?” she says sharply.
“Um, how are you doing?”
“I’m fine.” She sighs audibly, bringing a flush of embarrassment to my skin.
My hands curl into fists. “Last time I saw you, you were unconscious and looking half-dead.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that. You don’t need to worry about me.” Her words are clipped. I can almost picture her picking at her nails in this moment, as if I am the least interesting partof her day.
“Okay,” I say, trying to keep the sarcasm from my tone.
“Jasper tells me you’re staying away… with that boy,” she says, her casual tone anything but kind.
“Onyx,” I snap. “His name is Onyx.”
“What are you thinking, running around with him?” We’ve moved from dismissive to reprimanding, and things are about to get so much worse.
My shoulders tense, the anxiety spiraling through my body. “He’s my mate.”
“Please tell me you didn’t.”
“I love him and it’s done,” I blurt, recklessly adding, “I don’t need your approval.”
“And you don’t have it.” She’s not angry. I’m not worth her anger, just her half-hearted disdain. But after everything I went through trying to help her and my pack, I’m not accepting it.
“Orion locked me up after I refused to be his mate,” I hiss, a cold sweat prickling across my skin. I’d give anything to be less emotional - it’s like I’m fighting my own reactions as much as I’m fighting her.
Her next words cut deep. “That would have been wiser than that boy.”
How can she say that? “He almost killed you,” I say dumbly. “Onyx has done nothing but protect and support me.”
She huffs. Clearly that’s not good enough in her eyes.
“Orion would haveusedme, and he’s way old. He would have treated me horribly.”
“Possibly,” she admits, like it’s an interesting possibility.
“How are you not concerned about that?” My question slips out, and to my surprise, she answers it.
