Chapter 7
The door slams open a moment later.
Aaron’s eyes take me in. On the bed. Adam sitting beside me
and his hands holding mine.
He growls.
“Stop!” I yell. “This is my friend, Aaron. One of the only ones
I have. And just where the hell do you get off acting jealous, when you’ve got Jessica trying to hump you everytime you turn down the hall?”
He scoffs.
Then he turns to Adam. “Your visit is over. Get out.”
Aaron comes within inches of Adam and his nostrils flare. He’s looking for evidence.
“I’m not lying! Will you stop already!”
Adam rocks back on his heels. His smile is confident, taunting. “It’s been incredible seeing you, Leah. And I’ll be sure to get
things ready for when you come home.”
He means with my treatments.
Aaron snarls. “My wife isn’t going anywhere.”
Adam glances at me. “You need to tell him.”
“Tell me what!” Aaron shouts.
2/5
I press my lips together.
Adam sighs.
He sidesteps Aaron and walks out. His men surround him.
“Your boy looks awful smug, but he won’t be laughing for
long,” Aaron says.
“What does that mean?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Let’s just say, big changes are coming. And they’re
coming soon…”
Leah is nervous. She’s doing that thing with her hair and eyeing me like I’m a predator who hasn’t eaten in a week.
Speaking of… she looks terrible.
Too skinny and weak.
Her scent is off too.
3/5
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask.
She blanches. “Nothing.”
“I’ve warned you about lying to me, princess.”
She twists another curl. “I haven’t eaten in days, Aaron. What the hell did you think would happen?”
Fair.
But I never expected her to hold out this long.
There were nights when I wanted to break down the door and force her to answer me. But her will is strong. Too strong. And though I’ve done many things I’m not proud of, I’ve never beaten my wife.
But that’s not to say I won’t. Always, pack comes first.
Always.
4/5
If she is a threat to them, she’ll find I won’t be as patient as I
have been.
I push the platter of food toward her. It’s filled with meat and vegetables. “Eat,” I command her.
She gradually picks up a roasted vegetable. But I don’t think she does it to obey me, or even because she needs the sustenance, her whole demeanor is just bored.
While she was locked away these last days, I structured the plans to ensure our pack’s safety. Her father’s pack won’t survive. It’ll all come out at the Regional Council meeting.
Once the Collective sees what Alpha Roberts has done, they’ll
seize his lands, accounts, and corporations. The Council will
order his execution.
It’s a ruthless strategy, even for me.
“What have you done, Aaron?”
She knows me well, this woman.
“Aaron, answer me.”
Now it’s my turn to be smug. “No.”
Besides, she’ll see soon enough, and the fallout of what’s
5/5
about to transpire will ripple through these packs for years to
come.
12
“Please tell me you’ve thought about what I said, Leah?” Adam asks anxiously.
His voice is even and cultured, the practiced cadence of a doctor who, no doubt, has used this speech before.
“Nothing has changed,” I say.
don’t realize it until I hear the drip, drip of tears hitting the floor, that I’m crying. I touch my face and wipe them away.
Adam’s sigh is loud through the phone.
I move from my chair to the chaise lounge near the window. The light is bright and I can hear birds singing outside. “You have a pack here, family.”
“Yes,” I agree. “And my father’s pack has prospered amid the peace.”
Peace brokered with my body and blood.
3/6
Arresen my former pack has thrived is also because
with which stocks to buy and trade a skill t learned in this very reading and stening as Aaren brokered deals Na corporation Aaren even fought me how to forecast vestments and to monitor the market for when prices would
The read countless books on finance. I listen to podcasts. Take classes paling
The amassed my dad and my brother a fortune. That’s good
gwen’t
won’t have to warry that they’ll struggle or
a company will falter when I’m gone
A cookies over the years will ensure my pack’s
www.yg after I’m gone
You actually love him Adam asks, dragging me back from my scored high
Move was that love that made me sick
wowatoros bad love”
There’s several seconds of silence and then he says, “Go
