Chapter 15 15.Scent
Tabitha’s POV
My fingers tighten around the railing. The closer we get to the shore, the louder my heart pounds against my chest. And somehow the voice inside my head is screaming to jump off the yacht and swim as far away as possible. Because I know that whatever is waiting for me on land can’t be anything good.
Not with the deep scowls stretched across my stepbrothers’ faces.
Why do I feel so guilty when I didn't do anything wrong?
“Looks like you’ve got the whole band waiting for you,” Arthur notes, nodding toward the shore.
I hum a quiet response but say nothing more. He can see what I see, but he doesn’t know what those looks mean. Oh, it clearly spells trouble, alright.
The yacht glides across the water and slows to a smooth stop against the dock. The lake laps gently at the wood as Arthur turns and offers his hand. I take it quietly, my feet finding the planks one at a time. But as soon as I’m down, I feel a harsh hand snatching me from Arthur’s grasp. My body jolts and bumps against Jace’s firm chest as he yanks me towards him.
What the!
Jace looks furious and that is evident in the way he grips my wrist. I hiss and try to pull away from him but to no avail. He’s gonna bruise my wrist at this point!
“You’re hurting her, man,” Arthur says, stepping forward with his jaw clenched.
“Fuck off,” Reed growls from behind. He moves closer until he is standing beside Jace who is still imprisoning me with his ironclad grip.
Arthur narrows his eyes at him. “What the hell is your problem?”
Luca steps forward next. His hair looks a bit disheveled, a sharp contrast to his usually well-groomed appearance.
“You took her in the middle of the lake and stayed out there for hours. You think that’s smart? With everything going on? You know what’s out there lately,” he growls at Arthur. For a moment, I see his eyes flickering in gold.
Shit. They are angrier than I thought.
“She was with me!” Arthur argues. “Nothing bad was going to happen. I wouldn’t let it. I will protect her.”
Arthur’s attempt to reassure them only makes Luca angrier. He snaps forward and grabs my shoulder before nudging me behind him. The rest of the brothers form a barricade of body walls around me, practically shielding me as if Arthur might lunge. I barely manage to stay upright. What the hell is going on?
“The fuck you will. That’s not your job. So stay out of things that don’t concern you,” Luca spits, his teeth grinding in evident fury.
“You really think keeping her locked up between four overgrown watchdogs is going to fix whatever problem you’ve got with yourselves?” Arthur bites back, clenching his fist to his side.
He doesn't know about the bond—doesn’t realize what they’re trying to protect me from, or maybe even from themselves. To Arthur, they’re just acting like paranoid, territorial brothers throwing a fit over me being with someone they don’t approve of. He probably thinks their protectiveness is exaggerated, and maybe it is, but right now, it feels like he just lit a fuse.
Reed’s face twists into something lethal. He takes a hard step forward and shoves past Jace, grabbing Arthur by the collar. “I’m done listening to your mouth.”
“Reed!” I shout, startled. Arthur reacts just as fast and pushes him off without hesitation. Reed stumbles back a step but catches himself with a snarl.
Oh my god! This is getting bad.
Jace is immediately in front of me again, his body braced and his eyes glowing gold like he’s one wrong breath away from shifting. Luca’s jaw ticks as he joins them, fists clenched, while Evren lingers just behind. He is quiet, but he’s got that dangerous look on his face
The air tightens around us.
Arthur’s canines peek through as he lets out a sound that’s somewhere between a laugh and a growl. “If you think growling at me is gonna work, you’re barking up the wrong coast.”
That’s it. Reed lunges again, but I scramble between them this time, arms out like a flimsy human barricade.
“Stop it!” I shout in a shaky voice. “Just stop!”
Before I can even catch my breath, Reed storms over.
“Reed, don’t—” I barely get the words out before his arm hooks around my waist.
“What the hell!” I gasp as he lifts me like I weigh nothing, hauling me clean off the dock. My stomach flips as he slings me over his shoulder like I’m a sack of rice.
“Put me down! You can’t just—Reed!” I shriek, pounding his back with my fist but the brute doesn’t seem to care.
“Tabitha!” Arthur barks from behind, sounding panicked. “What the hell are you doing?! Put her down!”
He makes a move toward us—but Evren quickly blocks him. He appears in front of Arthur like a shadow falling across the dock. Arthur halts mid-step, his chest rising and falling with fury.
“Move,” Arthur snaps.
Evren doesn’t flinch. His gaze mirrors the icy warning in Arthur’s eyes. “Back off. This isn’t your business.”
Arthur’s fists tighten at his sides, knuckles white. “You think I’m just gonna stand here and let him manhandle her like that?”
“She’s our stepsister. She’s ours. Now, walk away or I’ll make you.”
Arthur doesn’t move. His jaw flexes like he’s holding back the urge to throw a punch. But Evren’s stare doesn’t waver. His presence alone makes it clear—if Arthur takes one more step, this turns into a war.
I am one second away from yelling at them again when Arthur curses under his breath and finally steps back, but not before burning holes into all of them with his glare.
Before I can offer an apology to him, Reed promptly starts walking away, carrying me like I’m nothing more than a package to be delivered.
And I keep screaming, kicking, shoving at his back with both hands. “Put me down! I swear to god, Reed, I will end you!”
Reed firmly swats my ass which makes me gasp.
“Hush it. You should not be testing my patience right now, Tabitha,” Reed warns.
He carries me to the car waiting at the end of the pier, where the dock meets the gravel turnaround before the road. Luca is already there, holding the back door open. Jace pulls it wider and climbs into the driver’s seat without a word.
Reed hauls me into the backseat. I screech and scramble upright, furious. Evren slides in beside me like it’s routine, shutting the door with a heavy slam.
“You absolute lunatic! Are you out of your mind?!” I shout, squirming on the seat like it burns.
As the car pulls away, I twist in my seat and glance back through the window. Arthur is still standing on the sand, fists clenched at his sides, watching us vanish into the distance.
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?!” I whirl back around, my eyes burning as I glare at them one by one. “You can’t just grab people like that! I’m not some freaking possession you can throw over your shoulder like a duffel bag!”
Evren balls his fist on his lap. He rests an elbow on the window edge, but his stare doesn’t leave me. It settles intensely like he’s seeing things I haven’t even begun to understand. The four of them radiate in the same suffocating energy that seems to cloud the entire car, making it hard for me to breathe.
Luca shifts beside me, his arms folded tight across his chest. His jaw ticks as he stares at the back of Jace’s seat. In the driver’s seat, Jace’s grip tightens on the wheel. His knuckles have gone pale, and his eyes remain fixed on the road.
“Will someone explain to me what is going on?” My voice cracks from the sheer frustration bubbling under my skin.
“You don’t get to run off with someone like that,” Jace snaps, his nostrils flaring.
“W-What? Run off?” I let out a breathless, bitter laugh. “I wasn’t running anywhere. Arthur offered to take me sailing on his yacht. I said yes. That’s all it was.”
Reed sharply throws his box of cigarettes against the dashboard. The sound makes me jump. He turns to me, his expression dark.
“Oh, is that why you let him touch you?”
“What?” I blink, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Reed leans in over the seat, his angry eyes piercing me. “You let him lock you in his arms while he taught you how to drive a fucking boat. Did you enjoy rubbing your body against him? Did it feel good having his hands all over you?”
“W-What? What are you talking about?”
“I think you forgot something, princess. Werewolves have excellent eyesight. We saw the way you were clinging to him from the shore,” Reed spits bitterly.
I stare at him, mouth parted. My face burns. Arthur did stand behind me as he showed me how to steer. But it wasn’t even a big deal! There was nothing romantic about it.
“He—he was teaching me how to use the helm,” I blurt out. “That’s it. You’re making it sound like I was throwing myself at him!”
“Are you not?” Luca snaps.
I swing my gaze toward him.
“I wasn’t!” My voice shakes with anger. “But even if I was, why do you care?”
The car lurches to a stop. Jace slams on the brake so hard I jolt in my seat. What the hell? I glance outside and realize we’re already inside the Aldair estate. The gates are behind us now, swallowed up by the trees and walls. But no one moves to open the doors. They don’t even look at each other.
“You don’t get to let someone like him put his hands on you,” Jace snarls, his voice tight and sharp, as if he’s forcing every word through gritted teeth.
“And why the hell not?” I snap back. “You think you own me? You think you get to decide who I spend time with?”
They hover in their seats like wolves barely restrained. I instinctively back up as far as I can go in the tight leather seat, my skin prickling at the way they are staring at me—like they are ready to pounce on me in the back seat any moment and I’m not sure if I’m nervous or thrilled.
Reed’s knuckles are still pressed white against the console. Jace pins me with his heated stare, breathing slowly, like he’s trying to calm a fire behind his eyes. Evren hasn't said a word, but his gaze cuts into me with quiet intensity. Beside me, Luca leans in, his voice a deceivingly calm warning.
“Because you don’t know what scent-trailing does to us.”
I still. “What?”
“You still smell like him,” Luca murmurs. His voice is strained with something feral. “We hate it.”
Reed’s jaw locks. His eyes drop to my body, then flick away in disgust. Jace inhales sharply through his nose like he's struggling not to lose control.
“We’re going to remove every trace of that bastard’s scent from your skin.” Evren murmurs as his mouth inches from my neck.