CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I took a deep breath and forced myself forward, shoving past him with more strength than I meant to show. My shoulder brushed against his arm, but I didn’t slow down. I just kept moving even though there was a storm of emotions brewing inside me.
“Where is the bottle of wolfsbane I kept in the kitchen to chase away these damn flies?” I heard somebody ask as I fled the crime scene.
At least now I knew why they kept poison within arms reach as though they feared nothing despite the amount of enemies they accrued for themselves.
But then, I knew Darius also heard the question and I could hear his breathing increase as he trailed behind me.
From the corner of my eye, I saw him fall into step. His pace matched mine, slowing down when I did and then quickened when I quickened.
Something told me he'd seen me and was waiting until we got inside to say something.
A cold prickle ran down my spine.
The road to his house stretched longer than I remembered.
My pulse drummed in my ears as I forced my feet faster. Each step I took, he came after, close enough that I could almost feel his presence pressing at my back.
But he never said a word.
I reached his door in a rush, shoved it open, and slipped inside before my thoughts could overwhelm me. The wood slammed shut behind me, and my fingers trembled on the iron lock as I turned it hard until the bolt clicked into place.
For a heartbeat, I thought maybe I had imagined him trailing me. Then a faint knock on the door.
“Seriously? Iris!” He growled, “Open this door this instant!”
“Go away, you've not been sleeping here since I got here so go back.”
“It's my house and I'll go and come as I please!”
“I'm your mate, so technically it's my house too!”
“Oh really? You suddenly acknowledge there's a bond between us after pretending I was dreaming it up all these while?”
That shut me up. I'd refused to think about it, the overpowering thrum of emotions from the bonds between the two powerful wolves pulling me in both directions. I believed if I ignored them long enough, they'd fade away.
But even the mere mention of it had me gasping for air, craving his touch, worse, both of them.
I held my breath, his shadow at the bottom of the door lingered, then shifted and withdrew. His footsteps followed, slowly until they faded down the hall. Silence filled the room except for the thundering of my own heart.
Only then did I let my back fall against the door, sliding down until I sat on the cold floor. My hands curled into fists, nails biting my palms. I couldn’t tell if he had been in the kitchen while I did what I had to do.
But regardless of what had happened, I hated the way he lingered in my mind long after he left.
I stayed slumped on the floor for a few minutes before I finally forced myself up. My legs felt heavy, but I made them carry me into the washroom.
I entered the bathroom and turned on the tap, letting the water fill the bathtub.
The air in there was sharp with the scent of lavender soap. I watched the water lazily fill the large bathtub as I thought about the events of the last hour.
I needed to drown the restlessness gnawing at my chest, shock my body into stillness before my mind betrayed me.
Ever since I left the kitchen, my wolf had been growling and howling at the top of her voice after realising what I'd done but I ignored her.
At some point, I felt what she felt, but for my aunt, my father, my loving mom and my big brother Lionel, I ignored that feeling.
They deserved to lose their alpha, just as I'd lost my family.
In a way, it was the perfect punishment. They needed to feel the deep loss I felt, knowing they could never bring him back or replace him.
I stripped off my clothes and sank into the scalding water. It engulfed me, stealing the air from my lungs, but I welcomed the feeling. I needed to feel something that wasn't the turmoil inside of me.
The kitchen replayed in my mind the moment my body settled beneath the water’s surface. The memory twisted something in me, and I let out loud, hysterical laughter.
“Tonight should be fun,” I whispered to myself, lips curving into a smile I didn’t recognize.
I was quite proud of myself. I should have been in the Alpha's bed by now, letting him drenched me in unending pleasure but instead, I stayed true to my purpose.
Aunt Lisa would be proud of me.
But then as quickly as the thrill came, another thought pierced my bubble.
‘What if Daruis had seen me in the act?’ I thought as I sat up in the bath.
My stomach tightened, my hands gripping the edge of the tub until my knuckles ached. If he had been there, then I don’t know what my fate would be.
The cold seeped into my bones, but the chill inside me had nothing to do with the water which had gone cold.
A faint knock came twice at the door while I was getting out of the tub.
I then tied a towel that I realized could barely cover my entire body while I was already out of the bathroom, and headed straight to the door.
I took a deep breath, ready to face Darius. I was done being scared of him. Even if he caught me, I would be out of this pack soon anyway. I just had to threaten him to shut his mouth or I'll tell every Alpha I see who he truly is. I angrily shoved the door open, but it wasn't Darius that was standing there.
It was Alpha Lucian and he was staring at my open chest as my instincts had made me let go of the towel to hide my tattoo.
“Iris,” he breathed in awe, shocking me back to reality.
I shut the door in his face.
“Oh, you're no fun,” Nyx grumbled in my head.
“Shut up you fool! What if he'd seen our tattoo? He won't be thinking of fucking us but killing us!”
“Mate can't do that,” she replied, the lovesick puppy she was.
I didn't bother saying a word to her, like I said before, she was a damn lost cause.
I put on the leggings I'd escaped here with and one of Darius's big shirts.
The second I opened the door again, I was met with a fierce growl from the Alpha.