When he gets in, he scrubs his face with his hand before starting up my car. I fold my arms across my chest and stare straight ahead. Neither of us speaks for the short ride home.
At my place, he opens the door with my keys and lets us both in.
Why did he want to come in? For a moment, a hundred frightening scenarios run through my head and I take a few steps back.
He holds up his hands, palms out. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Why are you here, then?" Something about his request doesn't add up.
"I'm here to… monitor you, I guess. I can't have you calling anyone telling them what happened. I need you to understand what's at stake."
I give a single nod. Okay, that makes sense. I wrap my arms around my waist and perch on the arm of the couch. "So talk."
He sits on the ottoman and waves a hand toward the couch. "Please, sit down."
"Fine." I sit down and he immediately scoots the ottoman forward, until he's sitting right across from me.
"Angelina. I just want to say I'm sorry."
I give a single nod. "Thank you."
"And you should know you were never in any danger. Okay? I took you to get the memory of seeing me heal wiped, that was it."
I purse my lips. "Then why did you stop him?"
Guilt flickers over Jared's face and he rubs his forehead. "It didn't feel right. I didn't like seeing you under his spell." He sounds reluctant to admit it.
Something shifts and rearranges inside my chest.
"I… I'm protective of you, Angelina."
The thing that moved warms.
"I was obeying orders from my alpha, but I couldn't follow through with it, and then I overreacted. But I promise you, no matter how it looked in there, no harm would've come to you. Fox wasn't going to hurt you. I'll never hurt you."
I pinch my lips together because it feels like I'm going to cry again. "Okay," I say on an exhale. "I believe you."
Jared's face transforms, the lines of tension easing, surprise lifting his brows. "You do?"
I nod. "Yeah."
"Come here, baby." I don't move, but he plucks me from the couch and pulls me onto his lap. He buries his face in my hair and kisses my shoulder. "Okay." He sounds relieved. "Good."
"So now what?"
His arms around me tighten and the thread of tension is back. "Now." He sighs. "I don't know. Is there any chance you'd willingly go back to get your memories wiped? All of this?"
I try to lurch off his lap, but he catches me and pulls me back down. "Easy. I'm not going to make you. I'm just exploring possibilities."
"No chance," I say firmly. "No chance in hell."
He chuckles. "Smart woman. And I love your fire, baby."
"Couldn't I just promise never to tell anyone? Take your secret to the grave?"
He's silent for a moment, then he says, "Yeah. I'll need that promise from you, baby."
I swivel on his hard thighs to look him in the eye. "I swear to God. I'll never tell." I cross my heart and hold up three fingers, Girl Scout style.
His lips twitch and he grabs my fingers and pulls them to his lips. His kiss is soft-so much more tender than I imagined him capable of.
"Now you swear to me you won't do it." I hold his gaze.
He hesitates and disappointment runs through me thick and cold. But then he nods. "I promise I won't wipe you, or let anyone else wipe you, unless you consent."
His phone rings and I take the opportunity to jump off his lap. Not because I haven't warmed back up to him. More because I have. This man is dangerously attractive to me.
He curses and stands up. "Hey." He speaks into the phone. "No, not exactly."
I hear a loud male voice on the other end and Jared sends a quick glance my way.
"Is it about me?" I ask.
He holds up his hand, like he's telling me to wait and walks out my front door. I hear him out on the porch but I can't hear what he's saying.
Jared
"What in the fuck do you mean not exactly? Were my orders not clear?"
Not surprisingly, Garrett's pissed.
I walk a few paces away from Angelina's place. "I didn't feel right about having that leech in her brain."
"I don't give a shit what felt right to you, an order's an order. This is pack law, and you know it."
"I don't care." I'm so far out of line I could be banished, but I don't give a fuck now. I've already made my choice. I can't-won't-obey my alpha. I'm going to have to face the music now, whatever it is. "Anyone touches her-anyone tries to wipe her-and I'll fucking kill them. That goes for Fox. That even goes for you."
There. I've definitely dug my grave. He can banish me if he wants, I'll take Angelina with me and protect her until the day I die.
Part of me fucking loves that idea, as awful as it is. An excuse to bind Angelina to me.
Garrett goes deadly silent.
My heart thunders in my chest and I have to work to keep from crushing the phone in my fist. If I didn't hear Garrett's sharp inhale on the other side, I'd think he'd already crushed his. He goes through phones faster than I can eat a box of Girl Scout cookies.
"Are you telling me she's your mate?" Garrett's voice is low and laced with danger.
I close my eyes, drawing in a breath, thankful the moon won't be full for another two weeks. I'm barely keeping my wolf in check with the threat to Angelina.
"No," I say at last, even though saying yes would solve this problem.