Page 16 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

Heart surging with happiness, I bounded outside and spread my arms wide to breathe in the fresh air.

“Which way should we run?” he asked, watching me.

“Which way? Don’t we have to stay in the community?” I asked.

He shook his head. “We can leave if we’re together.”

“Then that way,” I said, pointing in the direction of the gate.

We started out with a light jog until I realized he was purposely keeping pace with me. Once we were outside the gate, we picked up the paved trail, and I lengthened my stride, which was considerably shorter than his.

I focused on my breathing and waited for that moment where everything warmed up and the usual euphoria swept through me. Running was something no one could take away from me. It was necessary.

Bennett stayed even with me as I settled into my long-distance pace. It felt so good to run all out. He didn’t attempt to make conversation until we slowed to a walk on the way back.

“I didn’t know you liked running. You weren’t in track.”

Still breathing hard, I glanced at him. “If you show what you like, people will find a way to take it away from you.”

He frowned again, and his pupils dilated.

“Do you know they’re doing studies regarding the correlation between anger, stress, and early-onset dementia?” I asked.

“Pardon?”

“You need to figure out a way to manage your temper.” I gestured down to his fisted hands. “You’re going to end up in a memory care facility before Mom and Dad if you don’t.”

“I’m upset that you think people will take away what you like.”

I snorted, since he was one of those people, and started jogging again. Alternating between jogging and walking was part of my cool-down process. However, Bennett caught my arm to stop me.

“Talk to me, Wrenly. Why do you think you can’t have what you want?”

“Because I can’t even leave the community without permission, Bennett. Do you need it? Do Mom and Dad? Aiden or Karter? No. Just me. I’m only allowed to do what I’m allowed to do. Not what I want to do. Not since the day I?—”

I looked down the path, hating what I’d been about to say. I loved Mom and Dad, but sometimes, I hated them too.

“Please let go of my arm,” I said. “You’re going to leave a bruise.”

The uncomfortable pressure of his grip vanished.

“I don’t know you,” he said. His words carried pain and disbelief, which I thought was laughable.

“Of course you don’t. I’ve been gone for seven years. Before that, you were gone for five. We’re pretty much strangers, Bennett.”

I started jogging again, uncaring if he was with me or not, until I reached the gate. There, I paused to make sure he was close. He stopped jogging, only a few steps behind me.

We stared at each other. For the first time ever, Bennett looked like he had no idea what to do.

“Do you want to keep running, or should we head back?” I asked. His shirt wasn’t even a little sweaty, while I could feel my sweat running down my back.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Head back. It was a good run. If you’re up for one after work tomorrow, I’m game.”

He nodded, and we walked together through the gate.

“Did you run often at school?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Where?”

I glanced at him. “That’s a weird question. Where do you think I ran?”

“They have one track, and you never used it. So where did you run?”

“How do you know I never used it?”

“It’s monitored, and the instructors said you never used it with the other students.”

I shook my head in a combination of disbelief and amazement. It didn’t surprise me that Mom and Dad had gotten updates from school, monitoring my activity from afar. It surprised me that they shared the information with Bennett and that they, along with the staff, had been so damn clueless.

“Yeah, well…there are a lot of places there that weren’t monitored,” I said, thinking of our rooms and how there’d been dead spots in the halls and grounds. Especially the one near the section of fence that I’d gotten really good at climbing over.

“Are you really not going to tell me?” Bennett asked.

“What does it matter?”

“I feel like you’re keeping secrets from me.”

“Who cares if I am? It’s not like you tell me every little thing about your life.”

“If you want to know something, I’d tell you.”

“Oh?” I stopped walking and faced him with my arms crossed. "Then who’s your mate?”

His gaze dipped to my crossed arms, and he said nothing.

“See? We all keep things to ourselves, Bennett. They’re not secrets, there’s just parts of us we don’t feel like sharing.”

He didn’t look happy with the valid point I’d made, but he wasn’t angry.

“Tell me where you ran, and I’ll make sure you can leave whenever you want as long as you have your phone with you.”

“Deal!” I said, not hiding my excitement. I couldn’t believe he’d actually initiated a deal first. My plan had actually worked. “I ran on the road outside of school.”

He frowned. “How? You didn’t have permission to leave, and they monitored the gate.”

“That bit of information would require another deal,” I said.

“What do you want?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know when I think of something.”

He didn’t say anything else until we reached the front door.

“Did you think of something?”

“Not yet.”

His pupils dilated, and I shrugged.

“I think I’ll wait to see how good you are at keeping your first promise before making more deals.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Nope.”

He scowled at me and then stalked off to the study.

Too happy from the run to care about his grumpiness, I jogged upstairs and closed myself inside my room to take a shower.

As I washed off the sweat, I considered my next move. If Bennett kept his word and I had permission to leave, that meant I could meet up with Sophia.

Giddy at the idea, I hurried to blow dry my hair and rushed out to my bedroom, only to stop short at the vast emptiness where my bed once resided.

It was gone. Not just the mattress, but the whole damn thing.

“Bennett!” I yelled angrily.

He appeared in my open doorway and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He just stared at me as his pupils slowly grew.

“Where is my bed?” I demanded.

He stuck his hands into his pockets and leaned against the doorjamb.

“I took it.”

“I already figured that part out. Where is it?”

“How did you leave school?”

“I already told you. I’m not making a deal until I verify the first one.” Stomping my way to my closet, I grabbed a pair of underwear and slipped them on underneath the towel I had wrapped around my torso.

A second later, my back was against the closet door, and my hands were pinned over my head by one of Bennett's. I could feel the edge of the towel I’d tucked in above my breasts loosen.

“Cut it out, Bennett. Save your tantrum for when I’m dressed so I don’t embarrass both of us.”

His gaze raked down my body in a way that set off the warning bells in my head.

He breathed in deeply.

“Stop smelling my emotions!”

“You’re frustrating me,” he said.

“Me? You took my bed!”

“What do you see me as, Wrenly?” he asked with a level of calm that made me want to hurt him.

“Probably not the best time to ask me because you won’t like the answer.”

He growled and dipped his head so I felt his exhale on my neck. My eyes went wide as I realized what kind of mood he was in, and I started fighting against his hold.

The towel came loose and pooled around my feet.

I froze.

So did Bennett.

Closing my eyes against the swell of embarrassment and pure rage, I said, “Leave before I do something that will see one of us bleeding again.”

“I’m not giving up, Wrenly. I’ll never give up.”

Then he released me. I quickly opened my eyes as I covered myself, but he was already gone.

With my temper flaring, I slammed a drawer closed…or I tried to. It was one of those silent kinds that wouldn’t slam, which only made me madder.

What did it matter how I left school? Why was he being so obsessive? He needed to get a life. No, better yet, he needed his dumb mate.

In the middle of my silent rage-fest, doubt crept in.

What if he told Mom and Dad I’d snuck out of school? The thought worried me. I needed their trust if I wanted to attend the University of my choice.

I let out a frustrated growl.

Bennett was right. We weren’t done with this topic.

I hurried to finish dressing then found him in his bedroom. He was facing away from the door, just standing there like a lunatic with his hands fisted at his sides. At least, he hadn’t thrown his dresser this time.

“If you say anything to Mom and Dad about me leaving school without permission, I promise I’ll tell them what you just did.”

He was in front of me so fast that I never even saw him move.

“What did I just do?”

The anger in his gaze had me second-guessing my threat, or at least the timing of it.

I retreated a step, but he followed.

“When are Mom and Dad coming home?” I asked.

“They aren’t. You’re stuck with me, and I’m out of patience.”

He was out of patience? What about me ?

Realizing we couldn’t both be out of control, I purposefully emptied myself of the storm of emotions I was feeling. Once I shut that afraid and angry part of myself away, I looked at Bennett with a calm gaze.

“What do you want?”

His hand cupped the back of my head, and I felt the tremble in his fingers as he drew my face toward his. My heart stuttered with fear and panic, though I tried not to feel it, and I turned my head away from him.

He set his forehead against my temple.

“I want you to stop seeing me as your enemy,” he said softly against my ear. “Please.”

The ‘please’ confused me. Bennett never said please to anyone. At least, not that I’d ever heard.

“I don’t see you as an enemy,” I said, resisting the urge to pull out of his hold.

“You don’t trust me.”

“I don’t know you, just like you don’t know me. Do you trust strangers?”

He was quiet for several long, tormenting seconds.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He sighed and released me, looking more in control.

Bennett definitely wasn’t stable. No one stable could switch moods that fast, could they?

“Will you give me a chance to get to know you?” he asked.

“Sure. Just don’t expect me to tell you everything like we’re at some weird, girl slumber party.”

“Is that what you did at school?”

I snorted. “Not my school. Were you serious that I can leave whenever I want now? By myself?”

His expression closed. “Why? Where do you want to go?”

“I’m not sure yet. I think I just want to see if I can.”

“Okay. Then, I was serious. I’ll call the guard now and let him know.”

A smile erupted on my face. “Thanks. Can I borrow your car too? I promise to be the most responsible and sensible driver and return it in one piece.”

He looked down for a second. “You’ll need to talk to Mom first.”

“What? Why? I thought you said you could make it so I can leave whenever I want.”

The intense way he looked up made me want to retreat a step, but I held my ground.

“You can. It’s just that…Mom will worry and want to know where you’re going and who you’re meeting.”

I stared at him, certain that, if I had his sense of smell, I would have caught him in a lie.

Without looking away, I dialed Mom and put her on speaker.

“Mom, can I borrow a car?”

“Of course, sweetie. Where are you going? Do you want company? Bennett could go with you.”

“Bennett’s busy, and I don’t know where I want to go.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “You just got home and don’t know the area well. I would feel better if you waited until Bennett wasn’t busy.”

“And I would feel better if I were treated like an adult and not a child who has zero common sense.”

“Oh, sweetie, that’s not what?—”

I hung up on her, turned around, and walked out of his room.

Something crashed behind me, but I didn’t care about his poor, rich-boy meltdown. I was trying to avoid my own.