Angel Blackwood (39 page)

I frown at her. “You okay?” I
ask through our pack link. She smiles, nodding her head.

My eyes turn to find Angel
looking back and forth between Kate and I, a sad expression on her
face. She obviously witnessed our exchange. I don’t want to hurt
her anymore, I’ve already caused her enough pain, so I’ll keep my
distance from Kate whilst I’m in Angel’s presence. Angel quickly
looks down at her fingers, I try reaching to her through our pack
link but nothing. She’s completely blocked off, not allowing anyone
into her head.

“Angel?” Nixon voice breaks
through the silence.

Angel whips her head up and a
small gasp leaves her lips as she gets up on wobbly legs. Nixon
bumps past me and Angel jumps into his open arms, wrapping her arms
around his neck and her legs around his waist as he lifts her up
and holds her tight.

Angel squeezes her eyes shut,
but I can still see the tears running down her face.

“You don’t ever leave me like
that again, okay?” Nixon’s voice sounds pained. My wolf starts
stirring within me again; he doesn’t like seeing our girl in
another man’s arms.

I don’t like seeing it either,
it causes a pain in my chest.

I should be the one holding
her, comforting her, giving her the affection and adoration she
craves, but I don’t deserve to smell her scent or feel her small
body cuddling into my warmth.

I’ve been such a selfish
prick.

Angel nods her head, holding
him tighter. I can feel the tension thicken in the room when my
brother walks in and finds Angel in Nixon’s arms.

“What the fuck’s going on in
here?” Talon snarls.
Angel quickly jumps away from Nixon’s hold and Nixon stands
protectively in front of her.

Talon walks up to Angel and she
backs away until the bed behind her forces her to stop moving. She
cowers away, her eyes finding mine. She’s scared and she’s
searching for someone to help her.

I want to be that person, I
want to hold her and take away all the shit that she’s been through
since I’ve met her. If I could, I would take away all the pain
she’s ever had to feel and make sure she never cries a single tear
again.

I don’t know if I deserve to be
that person anymore.

Gentle tugging on my arm brings
me back to the scene in Kate’s bedroom. I look down to see Kate’s
concerned face.

Kate. Perfect Katie.

She has been nothing but good
to me. How am I supposed to just leave her? What happens to us once
I mate with Angel? If I mate with Angel. Fuck, this is too
hard.

“Tyler, come.” She tilts
her head in the direction of Talon and Angel. Talon’s vast form
almost hides Angel from view. I move so that I can see her, making
sure she’s okay. Her face comes into view, she’s looking up at
Talon so lovingly, his hand cups her cheek and her small hand
covers his.

How I’ve missed touching her,
keeping her safe from any harm and in my arms.

“Come on, man. Let’s go
get some air,” Nixon says, putting a hand on my shoulder. My feet
don’t want to move, but I force myself to leave.

After I close the door, I find
Kate in the spare bathroom wiping at her eyes.

“You okay?”

She jumps, quickly clears her
throat and avoids looking at me.

“Uh… yeah… I’m fine, honey.”
She stutters and I know it’s a lie.

She tries to get past me, but I
stand in the doorway blocking her exit.

She looks up at me with red
rimmed eyes.

“What’s wrong, babe? Talk to
me.” She tries to get past again and again I block her. “Please,
Kate,” I repeat, softer this time.

She looks up at me and it’s the
first time I’ve ever seen her pissed off.

“You need to control your
thoughts, Tyler. You basically aired them to the entire room,” she
spits out, pushing past me. The guilt I was already feeling only
intensifies.

ANGEL POV

When Talon’s warm hand cups my
cheek, I can’t help but melt into it; I’ve been longing for his
touch.

“Come here.” His voice is rough
and when I open my eyes I find him staring at me so intently. I
place my hand on top of his, I don’t want him to stop touching
me.

“Come here, baby,” he says. His
other hand reaches for my cheek now, his thumbs gently caressing my
bruised jaw. I watch as his eyes flicker from black to blue.

“I’ll kill that bastard for
hurting you. He will never get away with this, Angel,” he
promises.

“And no more jumping into
Nixon’s arms like that, my wolf can’t take it; I can’t take it. If
you want your friend to live another day, you need to keep that
shit to a minimum. I’m here now, I’m not going anywhere, baby. You
want to jump into someone’s arms? Mine are wide open,” he gestures,
spreading his arms wide. I immediately hate the gap between
us.

“You want to wrap your
arms around someone? I’m right-fucking-here. Not going to leave you
again. I’ve been a terrible mate, I will apologise to you every
single fucking day until you forgive me. I’m so sorry. I do love
you, Angel. I love you so fucking much. Being without you has been
fucking torture.” His eyes turn glassy. I lift my hand up and place
it on his cheek, his stubble pricks my fingers, but I don’t mind.
I’m touching him and he isn’t pulling away.

“I love you too,” I smile. I
can feel my wolfs happiness within me. Talon leans down and brushes
his nose across mine. I feel the tears falling from my eyes and I
can’t stop them. This is real. Talon is touching me, my Talon is
back.

His lips touch mine and he
holds my face as his lips move against them. I breathe him in and
my hands fist the bottom of his shirt. He pulls away from me and I
watch as his tongue darts out, licking his bottom lip. His eyes
find mine and he frowns.

“You’re crying? Why?” He looks
away, then back at me as he runs his hand through his hair. “Did I
do something wrong? Did I hurt you? Am I moving too fast? I’ve been
so cruel to you these past weeks, I’ve been a total dick. You don’t
forgive me, do you?” He’s rambling on, so I reach out and place my
hand on the back of his neck forcing his him to stop. His hair is
tied up and I have full view of his handsome face.

I stand on my tiptoes and bring
his lips back to mine. His arms wrap around my waist and he pulls
me tightly against him. I taste his minty taste, breathe in his
minty breath.

I pull my lips away and look
him in the eye.

“I just missed you,
Talon. I missed you so damn much.” He runs his nose along mine once
more before wrapping his arms around me.

Loud banging and yelling
from outside of the room has me pulling away. His body turns rigid
and he grabs my hand, pulling me towards the bedroom
door.

“Stay behind me, okay.” I nod,
unsure of what the hell is happening outside.

As soon as we open the bedroom
door, my father’s voice echoes. His roar has the wooden floors
beneath my feet shaking.

“You think you can hide her
from me?” He yells, pointing his finger at Tyler and Nixon.

“No Alpha, we didn’t mean-”
Tyler says, looking down at the ground as a show respect.

“No, Tyler.
That’s exactly what you four tried to do. As soon as she set foot
on my territory I knew she was here. Don’t stand there and fucking
lie to me! I think you and Talon are forgetting how you came to be
in
my
pack, what the conditions of you staying here are.” I
gasp at my father’s harsh words and he whips his head to look at
me.

Talon tenses beside me,
squeezing my hand.

“Angel,” he says breathlessly.
His shoulders are slumped and only now do I notice how terrible he
looks. He has dark circles under his eyes and he too hasn’t shaven,
but the tension in his body eases as he looks me in the eye.

“Johnny,” I say, watching
as he winces at my words. I haven’t forgotten the last words he
said to me before I left. I just hope he’s changed his mind about a
marriage to Caspian. I’m still hurt and angry at how he treated me,
so when he rushes up to me and holds me against him, I stand there
frozen unable to hold him like I usually would.

“Honey.” He pulls away from me
and I take a step back. He looks down at me and I watch as his eyes
take in my injuries, starting with my bruised nose. A low growl
rumbles as he looks at my jaw, and when his eyes take in my
bandaged palms, his shoulders tense and he raises his head to look
at Talon.

“Who did this to her?” he asks
them.

Talon pulls me against his side
and kisses the side of my head.

“Alpha Johnny, we have it under
control. We have wolves searching-” Talon tries to speak, but
Johnny interrupts him as well.

“A name. Give me a name and a
territory. NOW!” I cower and hide my face in Talon’s chest.

“Drake. His name is Drake and
he’s from Point Bright. They found her in Point Bright,” Nixon
blurts out.

“Nixon!” I scold.

“He belongs to the Black Valley
Pack?” My father growls, looking down at me.

The authority he holds as Alpha
thickens in the air, I have no other choice but to answer him.

“Yes.”

“His Alpha know about it?” He
asks, looking around the room. I don’t get a chance to answer
before Tyler opens his mouth.

“The Alpha
knows,
Drake is the Beta of
his pack. This is the same bastard who hurt Angel and the Alpha
knew about that time too. Seems the Alpha hasn’t got the balls to
punish his Beta,” Tyler continues.

“Tyler! Stop,” I shout. He’s
just going to make my father angrier. I know what he’s doing, he’s
trying to get my father to direct his current anger on someone else
and not him and his brother.

“No, I won’t
stop, Angel! You need to stop defending him!
That
is not
our pack and he allowed his Beta to harm you, they both deserve
punishment for what they’ve done.” Tyler takes a step forward, away
from Kate’s side.

“Drake,” Johnny spits the name.
“The piece of shit that hurt you, his name is Drake? He’s the Beta
of the Black Valley Pack and his Alpha knew all about it and didn’t
punish him. Is that right?” My father trembles on the spot; I can
sense the fury coming from where he stands.

“That’s right, Alpha,” Talon
says from behind me.

My father points to me and the
twins, then to the door that stands wide open. “Get in the
car.”

Talon tugs gently on my hand,
forcing me to follow him out of the door. Jacob stands leaning
against the car door with his arms crossed, glaring at the twins as
they make their way to the car. My father silently gets into the
driver’s side and starts the car. I sit between the twins, Talon
wraps an arm around my shoulders pulling me into his side. The
silence in the car as we make our way back to the pack house is
absolute torture; I can sense the anger coming from both Jacob and
my father.

Alex is running down the porch
stairs before the car is even parked. I climb out of the car and
she pulls me into her arms. Even though I’ve missed her, I still
can’t forget how she failed to stand up for me when Johnny threw
his fit.

I stand stiffly in her arms,
and if Alex feels it, she doesn’t let on because she continues to
hold me tightly.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie. I’ll be
a better mother… I promise you. I’ll be better and I’ll tell you
everything you want to know.” She pulls away from me, kissing my
forehead and running her hand through my hair.

Her eyes widen when she sees
the bruising on my nose and jaw. I haven’t been able to get hold of
a mirror yet, but I can feel it. They must look pretty bad if this
is the response I keep getting when people see it.

“In my office now,” my father
says, walking past us. All the rooms here are somewhat soundproof,
but his office is completely sound proofed. He clearly doesn’t want
the rest of the pack to know about any of this.

I pull away from Alex and
follow Johnny, not giving her a chance to ask questions. Of course
that doesn’t stop her though and as soon as we’re all in the
office, the door is slammed shut and she starts yelling at the
twins.

“What happened to her? How
could you allow someone to hurt her? Who did it?” My father pulls
her away from the twins before she has a chance to take her wrath
and confusion out on them.

“Shh…
C
alm down, honey. We’re
getting to that,” Johnny says, holding her tightly and trying to
calm her down. I sit in the middle of the sofa wrapping my arms
around my waist looking down at my bare feet.

They’re so lucky to have each
other. How I wish that my mate’s loved me that way.

Even though Talon and I seem to
have made up, we still have so much to work through. So many unkind
words have been said and so many hurtful things done to spite the
other. How do I even begin to just forget that? I watch a tear fall
onto my wrist and I blink as a couple more fall. I quickly wipe
them away and calm my breathing. Wiping at my cheek I realise the
room is silent. I look up and see my parents as well as the twins
staring down at me with wretched looks on their faces. Alex covers
her mouth and starts sobbing. I look at Tyler who has a hand to his
chest, looking as if he’s battling to breathe. I look around at
Talon and as soon as our eyes meet he rushing over, pulling me into
his arms and holding me tight.

“W… what?” I don’t know what
the hell is going on.

“The sadness that emanates from
you…” I hear Tyler’s voice void of any emotion. I look over Talon’s
shoulder and he’s watching me.

“I didn’t mean to project
anything. I’m sorry,” I almost whisper, as Talon pulls away and
cups my cheek. He looks into my eyes and I feel him trying to link
with me, so I allow him access into my head.