Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
My focus is on the human climbing to his feet, apparently still capable of walking. He won’t be soon.
“Asher, no!” She bites my ear.
I jerk my head away, but she clamps her teeth down harder, breaking the skin. Blood drips down my neck.
Some question pops in my mind about what’s happening, but I can’t focus.
She puts her hands over my eyes, so I can’t see.
I pause, finally registering that she’s trying to stop me.
“Asher, you have to stop now.”
Reality starts to seep in through the fog of rage. Reality and a whisper of dread.
Oh, fuck. What have I done?
My breath is coming in hard. I take a step back and then another.
Lotta uncovers my eyes, and I stare at the mess I’ve made.
“Fuck.”
“It’s okay.” Lotta sounds like she’s trying to talk herself into it, too. “He’s still alive. He doesn’t even look hurt. You get out of here now. I will handle this.”
I stay frozen where I am. The enormity of what I’ve done hits me like a bowling ball to the stomach. I just attacked a human. I broke the biggest pack rule, right after never revealing our nature to humans. Fuck, I broke that one, too. Because that guy just had a taste of my super human strength.
“Fuck, Lotta. I’m sorry. I–I didn’t mean to.” I’m still staring at the guy staggering around on the grass. “I mean, I did, but I lost control.”
“I know. He was assaulting me. You couldn’t help it. But Asher, you can’t tell them I’m your mate. Let me handle this. Please?”
Oh.
Oh, fuck.
This is it–the moment I always knew would come. I’m going to be banished like my father was. I became the man I now want to kill.
If I tell them Lotta’s my mate, I might be released from culpability. They would understand there’s nothing more powerful than a male wolf’s need to protect his fated mate. Everyone knows that, whether they have a fated mate or not.
But I won’t do that to Lotta. As much as it’s killing me, she needs us to remain a secret. She needs this job, and I have to respect her wishes. Especially when she directly asked me not to tell.
It’s all right. I was never going to be able to make it on the straight and narrow path, anyway. I would’ve tried for Lotta, but it’s too late now. After the shit I’ve put her through, the best thing I can do for her is leave.
She didn’t want to be cuffed to me, anyway. She made that plain from the beginning. She doesn’t want to be a wolf or have a mate.
I take another step backward.
Lotta splits her glances between the man out on the grass and me.
There’s blood dripping from my hands. I must’ve grasped the jagged window frame when I was trying to get out.
“Asher—go,” Lotta hisses. “Get out of here. You will only make things worse. I’m going to fix this.”
I hold no faith in her ability to fix this. But yeah. I’m resigned to this fate.
I was never going to get the happy ending. I was never going to have a mate who wanted me to claim her. Her parents were never going to accept our mating. This town was never going to support me after what my father did, and now I don’t blame them.
“Yeah. Okay. I’m gone.”
The weight of two tanks fill my limbs as I turn and jerkily walk away.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lotta
“Oh my God! You must be made of rubber!” I make my voice sound cheery, as if I’m congratulating Andy on getting defenestrated.
He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. And it doesn’t look like he’s actually hurt. So I just might be able to smooth this over.
I have to–for Asher.
“What the fuck?” Andy staggers to his feet.
“Seriously, did you see that?” I stand in the broken window and make my eyes wide with wonder. “You just flew through a plate glass window without a scratch. That’s amazing. If I had that on video, it would go viral.”
Andy shakes the glass out of his hair.
In my peripheral vision, I see Coach Jamison intercept Asher and escort him in the direction of the parking lot.
Oh fate. He’s probably going to take him straight to the sheriff’s. Or to Alpha Green. I want to run after him and stop him, but containing the Andy situation is the most important thing. If I can’t lock this up tight, Asher’s fate will be sealed, and the pack will be at risk.
But I can still fix this. If there’s one thing I learned in the last four years, it’s how to play in the world of humans. That’s something most people in this town don’t understand.
Andy’s spoiled. His parents are rich. If he takes offense over this, there will be hell to pay. But he’s also an egotistical idiot. So if I can make him feel special instead of affronted, I just might be able to avert the criminal and legal nightmare this could become.