Angel Blackwood (17 page)

I hear his
footsteps behind me
, but I
don’t turn around to look. I walk into my room, not looking as I
push the door closed before flopping onto my bed face first. I
don’t hear the door slam closed.

“We need to
talk
, Angel,” Tyler says, as
he comes inside from my balcony.

“No, right now… I need a
nap. You and your brother can bitch to me about how unwanted I am
or what I’m doing wrong another time. I’m not in the mood right
now. Go away!” The words hurt as I force myself to say them, so I
turn my head away from where he stands near the bed.

“No, Angel,
don’t say that! He didn’t have the right to say what he did at your
ceremony. Especially not on my behalf, it was wrong and unfair. I
could feel your pain and I was across the court yard! He hurt you.
I never want to hurt you. Now… I can’t even get into your head,
neither of us can. You’re completely shut off! You’re my mate,
Angel. He may not want you but I do. I know things are weird right
now and I’m trying to get ahold of my feelings. I love you so much,
but everytime I see your face, I’m reminded of how you promised us
one thing then completely shut us out by going back to
him
.” My heart hurts but I refuse to look at him.

“You and Kate still
together?” I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“Yeah
, we are…” He
pauses for a second then continues, “…I know I’m an asshole for
saying this, but I know now how you felt when you had that
boyfriend of yours. I’m so torn… I know I should be with you, but I
love her too. I know this should make me understand what you were
going through and why it was so hard to leave your boyfriend, but I
still carry so much resentment. Kate lost her mate and second
chance mate. Maybe Talon was right, maybe you need to find your
second chance mate? I can be with Kate that way… It’s just so hard
because I don’t want to lose y-” He paces my room as if he’s
speaking his thoughts out loud, forgetting I’m sitting right
there.

“Get
ou
t!” I say, turning and
sitting on the side of the bed looking at the floor.

“What?”
H
e says breathlessly, looking
up at me suddenly.

“Get. Out,” I say,
through gritted teeth.

From the corner of my eye
I see him running his hands through his perfectly combed over black
hair. “Shit. Angel, the way it came out. I never meant it like
that.”

“You say you
don’t want to hurt me
, but
you
are
hurting me, Tyler. How can you say you want me in
one sentence and in the next you’re willing to reject me to be with
your girlfriend because she lost any chance at having a mate. But
that’s okay right? Because
I’ll
find
my
second chance mate. Don’t you dare tell me you love me and
that you know how I felt when I was dating Drake! You don’t know
shit!” I say through clenched teeth. I don’t bother to tell him
that Kate didn’t
lose
her second chance mate, she rejected
him, but I honestly don’t think Tyler would believe me at this
point anyway.

“Why don’t we
know shit? Why is that
, Angel?
Huh?” Talon’s angry voice echoes as he walks through my bedroom
door slamming it shut. He stands right in front of me as I sit on
the side of the bed looking up to him; his arms folded over his
chest tensing his jaw. The way he speaks and the anger that
radiates off his body is enough to make me want to curl into a ball
under my bed, but I won’t let him see that fear.

I don’t answer
him
, but I do hold his eyes
with my very own glare. He answers his own question, “Oh that’s
right. We don’t know
shit
because you don’t
tell us
shit
!”

This
smart ass is really starting to piss
me off. “You don’t know what the hell I was going through! You
don’t know what he did to me and how he threatened me. You weren’t
there, no one was. I needed distance between us, it was the only
way to keep
you
safe!” I scream, as I push him out of
my way.

“What?” Talon says,
sounding calmer. I look up to see both Talon and Tyler looking
downright pissed off.

“What do you
mean
,
what
?” I blink
back confused as I move my messy hair out of my face.

“What. Did. You. Just.
Say?” Talon draws out, as he clenches his fist.

“Who is the he you are
talking about? Drake? Are you talking about him?” Tyler says, his
eyes not leaving my own. They’re both standing tall and furious,
and I suddenly realise my mistake.

“Shit
!” I look away
running my hands over my face.

“Speak. Now,” Talon says,
grabbing my jaw and making me look up at him.

I shove his
hands off me. “Forget I said anything. Just get outta here,
b
oth of you. I’m too tired for
this shit.”

“Are you fucking with us?
Is that what this was? Throwing yourself a pity party. Maybe if you
say shit like that we might feel sorry for you? Dump our girls for
you?” Tyler shakes his head as he lets out a forced
laugh.

Our
girls…

I
don
’t even know what to say to
him. I don’t understand how he can think I would lie about
something like that. I look at Talon and he wears the same
disgusted look.

“You did, didn’t you? You
just made up that story to make us feel sorry for you,” Talon
spits.

“What? What the hell….”
I’m so confused right now, I can’t even form words. How can they
hate me this much? They know I’m not that type of person. I don’t
need pity and I certainly don’t want theirs. I stop when I notice
them staring at something behind me.

I turn to see them
glaring at the vase of black roses that Caspian sent me. Tyler
storms past me and bumps me in my shoulder making me stumble. He
picks up the vase then turns and looks at me. His eyes have never
been blacker.

I’m pretty sure I’m close to
peeing myself right about now.

“His
scent is all over this! My God, you
don’t waste time do you? How many back up ‘plans’ do you have? How
many guys are lined up for you? For fuck sakes, Angel! I’ve been
defending you everytime Talon said shit about you. He’s right
though, the fates did make a mistake. What the hell happened to
you? You weren’t such a whore when we first laid eyes on
you.”

I feel the
tears slipping from my eyes as I stand there speechless listening
to his horrible words. He slams the glass on the floor and glass
shatters everywhere. He storms past me again
, but bumps me harsher this time with his shoulder and
I fall onto the broken glass. My hands stop my fall, and I move so
that I’m sitting on my knees, now looking at bloodied hands. Both
my knees and hands are cut up and I’m pretty sure there’s glass
inside, but I don’t feel the pain because the pain in my chest
hurts too darn much. I cover my face with my bloodied hands and cry
hard.

“Shit baby...” I hear
Talon’s soft voice, as he bends down and runs his hand through my
hair gently and lovingly. “Please don’t cry... he’s just angry.” I
push him away from me. I don’t need this back and forth shit right
now. He’s going to make me want to crawl into his arms only for him
to throw me away again. I can’t do it.

“Just
go
,” I say through sniffles,
but he doesn’t move.

I push him harder and
scream, “GO!” His face is frozen, but he nods his head and leaves
through my bathroom towards his bedroom.

I get up on
shaky
legs and make my way to
my bedroom door. I’ve got my cries under control and I need to get
out of this house. I sneak down the stairs and head towards the
backdoor. As I pass the gaming room I spot the bar and backtrack.
Should I? shouldn’t I?

“I think I
should,
” I whisper through
snivels. I grab a half bottle of Tequila, walk out the back door
and towards the lake.

Dropping
my ass on the edge of the little
wooden dock with my feet over the end, I look up at the dark night
sky. I let tears fall down the sides of my face and feel them trail
towards my ears. I close my eyes, drop my head and take a big sip.
I cough and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I have two
small cuts on the palm of my hand but the bleeding has stopped. My
knees are another story though. There’s definitely shards of glass
in there.

“Fucking
disaster,
” I mutter to myself,
taking another gulp of the strong liquid. Then another, and
another, until my eyelids close of their own accord.

****

I’m being
lifted;
he’s so strong and
smells so good. He’s walking and walking until finally I hear the
opening of a door, then he’s walking again. I hear the steps as he
walks on the wooden floor, then I hear the opening and closing of
another door.

I’m
barely conscious as I feel my shorts
being pulled down my legs. My eyes are too heavy and I can’t open
them. The alcohol may still be coursing through my system, but I’m
pretty sure this isn’t a dream. I moan and try moving to get
comfortable on the soft bed.

“Shh
... Let’s get
these cuts cleaned up for you, baby,” he says in a comforting
voice, as he bends down and kisses my forehead gently. I fall back
into drunken bliss wishing that Talon would treat me this way when
I am sober enough to respond... and remember.

Chapter 10

“You seriously
need to watch where you
’re
going, Angel. If any wolves from other packs see that you’re not
healing they’re going to think something isn’t right with you,”
Nixon says, inspecting the little cuts on my hand. I told him I
walked into the vase and dropped it. I haven’t told him about the
dreadful argument with the twins because he’d want to confront
them. I haven’t told him about the little after- party I had by
myself either; I don’t even remember finishing the bottle of
tequila. I woke up early and surprisingly felt better than I had
the day before. Leaving early, I went for a run in the woods for
Faith then stopped off at Nixon’s, where I am currently sitting at
his kitchen table while he makes me breakfast.

“I know, Nix. That’s what
I’m worried about. Caspian saw the bruise and asked me about it.
Luckily you saved me from answering, but maybe people will just
think I’m weak?” I say hopefully.

“No
way
, your power is fixed into
your scent. You’re definitely powerful, babe,” he says, handing me
a plate of bacon and eggs.

“W
here is all this
power then, huh? I don’t feel very powerful at all,” I mumble to
myself as I dig in.

I spend the afternoon with my
mother watching movies in the theatre room while dad tends to pack
business. She gives me the same speech Nixon gave me when she sees
my cuts and the bruise on my forehead.

“Your father and I have
been invited to stay with a pack down in Cartersville for a week.
They’ve been having trouble with rogues entering their territory,
so the Alpha has asked your father to come and check for any faults
in their current security operations. Jacob is staying here to keep
an eye on things while we are away, and we think it’s safer for you
stay here too at the moment,” Alex says, putting some ointment over
my cuts. When she’s done she lounges on my bed and pulls a magazine
onto her lap.

“I
understand.”

I
d
on’t want them to go without
me. I don’t want to be around the twins while they’re away, but I
don’t let her feel my uneasiness. “I think I’ve had enough of other
packs for a while.” I smile at her.

“Speaking of other
packs…” She continues grinning. “…Caspian seems to have taken quite
a liking to you, sweetie.”

I turn
around,
sitting on the bed
next to her with folded legs, paging through the magazine she’s
suddenly forgotten about. “He freaks me the
hell
out.
He’s all moody and evil looking and the way he stares at me is like
he…”

“Wants to eat
you up?”
She blurts out,
giggling.

“Mom!” I gasp, and start
laughing.

“It’s true though,
everyone can see it. That man is drawn to you. Your Daddy used to
look at me that way too,” she says, smiling as she pulls my long
damp hair over my shoulder and starts braiding it.

“Dad still looks at you
that way, and besides…you two were mates. It’s different.” I
murmur.

“Well Cass lost both his
mates and now he’s looking again, and you haven’t found your mate
yet so...” she pushes and I can’t help but recoil at the mention of
me not finding a mate.

“What?” she asks.

“Nothing, Mom.” I swallow
the lump in my throat. Even though I want to spend as much time
with her as I can before she leaves for the week, I know she will
start digging and asking questions and I’m not ready for her to
know the answers to them just yet. I pull my phone off the side
table.