“What did Donnie do to Sierra?” She asks all of a sudden, and bile rises in my throat.
I release my hold on her hand and let it drop at her side. Wordlessly, I press my palm to the scanner and wait until it beeps. This is a conversation we should have inside, behind closed doors, and without an unnecessary audience.
Besides, if I bring Sage inside, she can’t escape me. Out here, the world is her playground, and she can take off whenever she pleases.
The door opens, and I place my hand on her lower back, giving her a little push. Still, she doesn’t move, instead, she folds her arms across her chest and glares at me defiantly.
Somehow, I find it hilarious that she is so protective of her wolf when they are technically the same person. While she turns to her wolf for the smallest issues to escape me, right now she is demanding answers without a single speck of fear in her eyes. My Luna is facing me like a mother bear defending a cub.
“I will tell you everything, answer all your questions. But we need to go inside. Please, Sage.” I feel a little defeated, although the battle between us is just about to begin. It’s hard to explain, and I’m sure it would be harder if I had to spill my emotions.
“Why can’t you tell me out here?” Sage snaps back. The tone of her voice changes to a higher and sharper tone, as if she is at the end of her rope. My patience isn’t the only one that is being tested.
While I admit that I am a bit annoyed, I fight the urge to smile. As much as this exchange irritates me, there is something much more important that I can’t allow myself to overlook.
The longer she glares at me, the more I understand that telling lies won’t lead us anywhere. If anything, it will push back the progress we have reached, so I sigh and come clean with her. “Because I worry you will try to run when I tell you. She took it the wrong way, please just come inside, Sage,” I motion for the door.
My words must have made her uneasy as she stares at the door and returns her gaze back to me. She gulps, probably thinking about the pros and cons of entering the house. But thankfully, even after the moment of initial hesitation, she steps inside.
As I follow her, I leave the door open. I would have to trust her sooner or later, I need to find out if she still wants to run away from me.
Maybe if she doesn’t feel like a prisoner, the temptation to leave will recede.
Sage looks all sorts of puzzled as her eyes focus on the open door. She raises an eyebrow at me right when I walk past her. “You’re not going to close it?”
Her question makes me stop and turn to look at her, but she is already standing at the door and closing it. Sage turns around, and a moment later, the intense scent of her fear hits me. All I can do is stare. I am so darn confused now. Isn’t she the one who closed the door? I’m not holding her prisoner or forcing her to stay. What kind of backward reality is this?
“I think she fears what awaits her outside more than she fears you,” Donnie guesses. He might be right, and the assumption makes sense.
I think about his words as Sage turns around to face me.
We both just stare at each other like confused kids, so I clear my throat and speak up. “You could have left it open.”
Her eyes widen, and she quickly shakes her head. “What if someone gets in?”
I raise an eyebrow and take a step closer to her. I know I am testing my luck, but she didn’t push me aside on our way home, so maybe she’s getting a little more comfortable around me. “Someone or one of my pack members?” I ask, just to understand what exactly it is that scares her the most.
“Anyone,” she whispers so quietly that I barely catch it.
I’m pretty sure I know what she means, but I still try to make her talk more. “Anyone or other men?” I ask. I need Sage to acknowledge that she just locked herself in the house with me.
Her eyes dart everywhere but at me, as if she’s scared to look at me when she speaks. “You won’t hurt me. Well, you don’t want to anyway,” Sage whispers.
“My pack won’t hurt you. They aren’t monsters, Sage. Zane hasn’t hurt you.” I bring my hand to my face and pinch the bridge of my nose. Sometimes she is so difficult.
“No, but he says weird things,” she blurts with a scrunched nose, and I furrow my brows at her sudden outburst.
“Like what?” I gently prod.
Sage can’t possibly fear my Beta, can she? I know Zane would never harm her, and he is already protective of her. Zane knows better than anyone that a pack needs a Luna.
I keep my gaze fixated on my little mate as she shrugs and steps closer to me. “I don’t know, it seems he wants me to fear you,” she says.
I give myself a brief moment to ponder her words. Since I can’t reach any reasonable explanation for this situation, I give in and seek answers where I can find them. “What sort of things does he say that bother you?” I ask more pointedly.
“Nothing really, just that I shouldn’t upset you,” she answers, I sigh.
He is talking about Angie. I loved Angie. I still love her and probably always will. But Angie was different, she liked pushing my buttons and testing how much pressure she could force on my boundaries.
She grew up differently than I did. The woman didn’t have much say in my pack, but now. I would do anything to have her attitude and rage back just to hear her voice again. Just once more before I have to let go of her and the memories we created fully.
However, life goes on. I must remember that after I lost Angie, as miserable as I became, that tragedy brought me, Sage. And now, I won’t make the same mistakes ever again.
“Angie upset me a lot and liked to get under my skin.” I chuckle.