STARLETTE
“I won’t lie.” Lucius groaned as he jumped back to his feet. “That kind of hurt.”
In a split second, Maximus was next to him, slicing through his chest with his claws and yanking him aggressively against the tree.
Lucius grunted in pain but quickly replaced his expression with an amused smile. The cut on his chest healed immediately, surprising me. Those without wolves had a very slow healing ability, and I wondered how he healed so fast.
“I don’t want to ever see you near her again.” Maximus warned, his jaw clenching with anger.
A smirk played on Lucius’s lips. “Why? Are you perhaps worried that I would fuck her like you fucked my girlfriend?”
“No, little brother.” He continued. “I am not a monster.”
He jumped to his feet, dusting dry leaves off his body. “Why do you care anyway? You don’t treat her right.”
“I am worried that you might have helped orchestrate her escape.” Maximus growled in response.
Lucius chuckled. “That wouldn’t have been bad. I would think about that sometime. She deserves better than you.”
His words sparked another fit of rage within Maximus, and he raised a fist, ready to grace his brother’s face with a punch, but Lucius was quick enough to dodge it.
“Not again, brother.” He groaned. He glanced at me briefly before returning his gaze to his brother. “Treat her wrongly again, and I’ll really help her escape like you suggested.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Maximus growled.
“Oh, try me, brother.” He smirked and whisked out of our presence immediately.
That was intense!
Maximus shifted his gaze to me, and with the frown slated on his face, I needed no one to tell me that I was in trouble.
A shiver ran down my spine, scared of what he might do to me. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing I was scared. So, holding my head high, I began to walk away from him without attempting to say anything to him. But I had only taken a few steps before a hand suddenly gripped my arm, and the rage consuming him was palpable in the way he dragged me through the woods to the pack house. His hand never left mine, not until we reached the room.
Another wave of fear crawled up my spine once we were in the room. Alone. With no guards or whoever to save me from him if need arises.
“Alpha-” I tried to explain myself before he made assumptions about me and Lucius, but he cut me off.
“I don’t want to ever see you with him again!” He yelled, his index finger pointing furiously at me.
“But-”
He cut me off again. “No buts, Starlette. I want never to see you with him again.”
“He is your brother. Why do you hate him so much?” That was supposed to be a thought, but it happened to slip off my lips.
“That’s none of your business. Just stay away from him. He’s dangerous.” He groaned.
I rolled my eyes, a sudden confidence finding me. “Why do you suddenly care? You always neglect me anyway.”
“It is not a request, Starlette!” He growled. “It’s an order. I don’t want you doing anything or talking with anyone that could harm you.”
“He’s not going to harm me.” I responded rather confidently.
He sighed exasperatedly. “Where did he even take you to? Where did you go to? What did he say to you? What did you do?”
“I don’t know where exactly. Somewhere in the woods.” I wasn’t going to reveal his secret place.
“Of course you won’t tell me.” He pressed his lips together before narrowing his eyes. “Is he planning an escape with you? Did he promise to give you a better life?”
“What?!” I exclaimed, scrunching up my face at his assumption. He’s so ridiculously paranoid.
“Answer me.” He pressed.
“No!”
Rage was starting to build up within me and I needed to leave there before I exploded. So, sighing exasperatedly, I made my way to the bathroom to take a shower. What I needed the most at that moment was water pouring all over me to cool me down and distract me from everything that was happening. I didn’t even know how I got the guts to talk back to Alpha in that manner. My fears melted into defiance within seconds. Let’s just hope he doesn’t punish me for that.
I stripped naked and stepped into the shower. The cold water that splashed over me was so refreshing that I made a satisfying sound. As the water continued cascading down my body, thoughts of what Lucius said to the Alpha crossed my mind.
“Are you worried I would fuck her like you fucked my girlfriend?”
I wondered who the girlfriend was and what history both brothers had to make them hate each other so much. Maximus said Lucius might harm me, but from my interactions with him, he didn’t seem like a dangerous person. He was just broken. Like me.
The bathroom door creaked open, and I instinctively covered my breasts with my hands.
“I am naked!” I pointed out, hoping he’d leave. But he didn’t seem like he was going to. He just stood there and gazed at my nudity.
Unwantedly, his eyes on me caused my body to heat up, and all I wanted was his hands on me.
“Fucking mate attraction!” I seethed inwardly as I quickly turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around my body.
I raised a brow. “Did you need something?”
“Uhm…” he gulped and blew out a breath. “I am serious, Starlette. I know he’ll still come to you, and I want you to stay as far away from him as you possibly can. I don’t want any harm to come your way.”
“Really?” I replied with a raised brow. “But all you do is harm me.”
“I have and would never do anything to harm you. I don’t harm women.”
“I’m not sure about that. You’ve harmed me so many times. Emotionally. One minute, you’ll show that you care, and the next minute, you treat me like trash. You’d buy me nice things, then humiliate me before your girlfriend the same day. And now you don’t want anything that would harm me. Stop being two-faced!”
“I noticed that you don’t wear the clothes I got for you. You still wear those.” He paused for a second. “Rags.”
Of course, out of all the things I said, that was the only thing he chose to speak on.
“Because I don’t want anything from you!” I retorted.
I didn’t know how I got the nerves to be that defiant. But I surprised myself as much as I surprised him.
“And you can’t tell me what to do. I could choose not to wear them, and I could choose to speak with Lucius,” I added.
“I said, Stay away from Lucius! He is dangerous!”
I tilted my head, my eyes narrowing. “But you seem like the dangerous one.”
“Listen to me!” He growled, the intensity of his growl causing me to gasp and shiver.
He sprinted towards me, and before I knew what was happening, his hands were already on my shoulders, pushing me against the wall.
His dark eyes staring intently into mine, he continued with a low and menacing voice. “If I ever see you close to him or hear you talk to him again, I will rip out your skin!”
I was damn right about him being the dangerous one!