Page 29

There were no clauses underneath the contract that stated the consequences of breaching it, but I know how these things go. I'm in a bind, in debt, and until Soren lets me go, I will not be free.

So I step back. Offer a polite smile to Alpha Baldwin. "My place is with my husband. But I promise to take you up on your offer... one day." I must sound like a stupid broken record.

Hiding my trembling hands behind my back, I address the small crowd. "If you'll excuse me."

I turn on my heel and do what I should've done the moment I saw Soren at the hospital.

I flee.

But I can still feel his eyes on me.

Burning into my back.

Even long after I'm behind the safety of my bedroom door.

Ronan left.

But not without making a scene. He's never lost a single battle in his life, and I know he'll be back. I know him well enough to understand that his retreating only means there's something worse just around the corner.

"I'll be back with the reports," Eric says, but I don't miss the way his green eyes dart to his brother's and hold with a tinge of worry.

I haven't spoken a word to either of them since the Hunt. It's been three days since then. A chaotic three days for us all, and I have been much too calm for someone who just uncovered her husband's plot. Frighteningly so.

"Seraphina—"

I hold up a single finger, poring over Axel's transactions of what should've been funds pumped into the purchase of weapons for the packs closer to Ronan's borders, noting the discrepancies. "Later, Eric."

I know what he wants to say and I have no interest in listening.

He exhales harshly, but nods anyway before leaving.

"It would seem Axel no longer hides his intentions. Might need to look into Ivan, too. There's so much missing?—"

"Seraphina," Soren breathes, voice strained. "Talk to me."

My fingers crinkle the papers. "Should we put this out in the open, it might send the rest into hiding. It would be wiser to find everyone he's working with?—"

A hand circles my wrist and I hiss, jerking away and out of my chair at the unexpectedly hot contact. "Don't touch me."

His chair scrapes, hands bracing on his desk. "You've been avoiding me. You won't let me touch Landon. You don't sleep in our bedroom anymore, much less mine. You can't even look me in the eye."

I make the mistake of meeting his gaze for the first time in days and I instantly regret it.

The Soren from the Hunt, cold and cruel is gone, and back in his body is more of the man I thought I knew.

Soft, expressive eyes. Lips that twitch for different reasons.

Tense shoulders. Clenched fists. "I just need time alone.

Surely, that can't possibly be too much to ask after all that has happened. "

His eyes flash gold. "I found the notes Ronan sent you. You kept them. Do you plan on returning to him? Maybe your body remembers just how much you miss his touch?—"

" Fuck. You ," I snarl softly. "You enjoyed it, didn't you?

Inviting him here, knowing it would affect me because you always knew what he was to me.

Did you laugh at me? Did you laugh after I cried into your arms and let you touch me?

After confiding in you, trusting you? Was my life, my pain a joke to you? "

The desk groans under the weight of his hands. "You know it wasn't."

My heart physically hurts and I don't want it to. I rein in my temper, letting it all ice over. "No. I realize that I do not know a single thing about you."

I turn around to leave, but his voice halts me mid-step. "Why did you choose to stay with me?"

Because a part of me wanted to. Because the thought of never seeing you again felt like a blade to my heart . "Because you never would have let me leave. Not while I am still indebted to you."

His voice is closer than it was a few seconds ago, brushing against my neck like the caress of an intimate lover. "We both know that is a lie." My skin heats where he brushes my curls off my shoulder. "You stayed because you wanted to."

I stiffen, reaching for the door quickly, but it slams shut as he cages me in, my chest hitting the door, his pressed flush against my back. "Get off me, Soren."

His lips tease my ear. "You touched my computer."

My heart jolts, but it isn't entirely fear that chases each heartbeat.

There is a strange tightening in my lower belly and my body, of its own volition, grows supple against his, melding in all the right places.

His thighs to my ass, his groin somewhere between my ass cheeks, my cleavage pressing harder against the cool door and my breathing becomes heavier.

"I don't know what you're talking about. "

"You saw it, didn't you?" he murmurs, voice thick and rough, a little accent slipping in. "Your pictures."

His scent fills my nostrils, and it is a struggle to put my words together. "You have my pictures?"

Soren laughs darkly. "Nice try, Sera." Something sharp grazes my neck, and I jump. "Did it frighten you? Did you hate me for it? And the little clause at the end of the contract? Didn't you think it...brilliant?"

I whirl, pissed off and bewildered. But all it does is bring our bodies closer in the most disturbing of ways. "I think you're a piece of shit."

He...he nips my cheek softly and then nuzzles the spot. His fingers curl on my hip. "Tell me something I don't already know."

I've exerted myself faster than possible. My next words are a harsh pant. "You disgust me."

Another humorless laugh. "You wouldn't be touching me if you considered me appalling." True to his words, my hands are pressed against his chest, feeling the heat seep into my skin from his silk shirt. I snatch them back and try putting some distance between us, but there is nowhere to run.

"You should feel sorry. You should be apologizing. You should be seeking my forgiveness," I say, shocked at his lack of remorse and the intent that glitters in his eyes. The heat. "I'm not some dumb bimbo you can mess around with whenever you feel like."

He presses his hot mouth against my forehead, my temple.

"Gods, far from it." His hands run up my sides and back, and I gasp when I hear the snap of my bra's clasp.

"Why seek forgiveness when I have no regrets?

My deceit is the only reason I get to touch you like this.

" He bends over, green eyes lit up like burning torches, and my lashes flutter when he rakes his canines from my jaw to the sensitive spot behind my ear. "I'm not sorry, Seraphina."

I wait a second, and another.

And then, with every ounce of strength I have in me, I ram my knee up, sending it against his groin. It hits home and Soren jerks away, his roar rattling the walls.

His face is pulled back in a fierce, scary snarl, and I bare my teeth back at him in defiance, even as his aura pulls at every shred of sense I have, trying to force me into submission. "No, but you will be sorry, Soren Winter. Touch me ever again and I'll fucking stab you."