22

The air thickened with tension as Ruarc glared at Sia, and Sia glared at me. My mouth is still open, mind you. Ruarc is the first to break the silence, not with words, but actions. He pinches my lips close, so that Sia’s dick won’t go in. But man, I wanted it in. I scowl.
“Shouldn’t you be with Anita?”
Sia rolls his eyes again. “I thought something had happened to you. And I was right. Something did happen,” he says, eyeing my bandaged ankle.
His words tugged at my heartstrings. Did he really leave that bitch to come check up on me? My wolf is swooning.
“She’s fine and doesn’t need your help.”
I do need his help. Sia is the only one who can stop my impending lap dance with Ruarc and he just did that.
“Doesn’t seem like it. It’s obvious that you were about to force her into something she has no intention of doing.”
“Crinka, please tell my darling brother that I wasn’t forcing you into anything.”
“He… he wasn’t forcing me into anything,” I say weakly.
“You don’t have to cover up for him Crinka. His evil deeds should be exposed.”
Look who’s talking. You breaking my heart is downright evil.
“See the pot calling the kettle black. You talk as if stealing Anita from her mate is not evil.”
Ruarc has a point. Separating Anita from her mate is pure evil. Sia’s jaw clenches at the accusation. He doesn’t say anything. I scoot closer to Ruarc, brushing my leg against his on purpose.
“Go away Sia.”
He stares intently at my hand on Ruarc’s arm. I hope he’s very affected. Ruarc throws his arm around my shoulders just to further annoy his brother.
“You heard the lady Sia, get out.”
“Massa said he wants to speak with you. Says it’s urgent.”
“Tell Massa that until he gives me back my mistress, I don’t want to talk. Now get out of here.”
So not only does he have six wives, he also has a mistress. Sia locks eyes with me and I can see the promise in them. He leaves after he’s sure I have gotten the message.
I’ll get you back for this.
“What was that all about?”, Ruarc asks, pushing me away, standing up. “You said you don’t want to dance now you’re clinging to me just to make Sia jealous. What do you take me for? A fucking toy?”
Fuck, I’ve made him mad. I stand up wobbly on my feet wincing in pain. Ruarc eyes me with disdain.
“What are you doing?”, he asks when I pop a button on his shirt.
“Giving you what you want. Why, you sound surprised.”
“No. I won’t have you do that to me in this manner. As I am talking to you right now, I’m pissed and really need a fuck.”
“Then fuck me,” I say without thinking. “I’ve told I would make up for it.”
“I won’t fuck the woman that Sia has fucked. That’s why I refused Anita last night. Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to get laid.”
What just happened? What am I doing? Asking Ruarc to fuck me? I sit back down on the bed, the painkillers not numbing the pain. I need a massage and I need it now. Why couldn’t I give Ruarc a lap dance? Why does touching him make me so tense? Why does my heart race when I look at him? This has to be more than just a crush. I am attracted to Ruarc and I don’t know why. He might have nice abs and a great body, but I don’t know jack about him. All these thoughts are just too much. I have to apologize to him, and I have to do that without injuring myself. I stand up again using the table as help. I walk carefully to the door, careful not to apply pressure on my injured foot. Ruarc had shut the door. Opening it wasn’t an easy task, but I succeeded.
“Ouch!”
“Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
I look up to see who I have fallen into. It’s a guy. He has brazen eyes that are full of anger. His dirty blond hair is up in a bun. I’ve stepped on him unknowingly, and I right myself, holding the wall for support.
“Maybe if you weren’t standing in the way like a big oaf, I wouldn’t have bumped into you.”
“It is obvious you were walking with your eyes closed. Forget it. What were you doing in my room?”
His room? I thought that room belonged to Ruarc. Who the fuck is this guy?
“Leave the poor girl alone Cocci. It’s obvious she is not thinking straight.” Ruarc is in the same hallway with us, drying off the droplets of water on his chest with a brown towel. My eyes are glued to his wet abs. I take in every inch of him with a small smile on my face.
This dude is Cocci? The Cocci? Well, it isn’t nice to meet him. It looks like I’m not the only one eyeing Ruarc’s abs. Cocci is too, and he’s not even hiding it. Why do gay guys, well most of them, have to be so hot and downright sexy? Moreover, are all Icelanders this hot?
“But Ruarc,” he whined. “She touched me! I don’t like her hands on me!”
“You don’t like anyone’s hand on you, so I’m not surprised.”
Cocci wiggles his brows. “Except for you Ruarc.”
Ew. I thought they were brothers?
“Anyways, what is this bitch doing here?”, he asks, glaring at me.
“I’ll never know. I guess she just has a habit of barging into people’s houses.”
Ruarc just denied me. Is he still mad?
“Well, you should throw her out. She’s taking up space.”
“She’s just leaving Cocci. Right Crinka?”
I’m disappointed. This is the second time this shit has happened.
“Right.”
*******
“You should have stayed back. Why are you here?”
I made good friends with Cocci, before Ruarc chased me out. The walk back to the cabin was long and difficult with a torn map guiding me. Sia was helping himself to a bowl of raspberries when I walked in. The heavy rainfall had reduced to a slight drizzle, so my clothes, which are actually Cocci’s, are damp.
“Because I had nowhere to go,” I reply, closing the door behind me. I don’t see Anita in the living room, and I hope she has left for good.
“You have nowhere to go? What happened to, ‘I’ll go back to my pack?”
He’s mocking me. The jerk.
“You happened. Because of you, I’m now a rogue. So, stop mocking me because it’s not funny.”
“Of course, it’s not. Everything is now my fault. Sia this, Sia that, when will it never end?”
His voice has risen, so I raise mine too. After all, two can play this game. “I don’t know why you’re mad. Can’t I just get a break?”
“A break? You want a break? Then leave! I took responsibility for you even though I didn’t want to! I’m walking on egg shells with Anita and it’s all your fault. If you hadn’t come into our lives, things would still be okay!”
“That’s where you’re wrong Sia! Things would never be okay because Anita is not what she seems to be!”
“What are you talking about?”
I should have shut my mouth; I should have let Ruarc tell him in a way he would understand but I let anger and jealousy get the best of me and control my tongue.
“Do you know where she was last night? Do you know what she did and with whom? Well, I’ll tell you. She was with another guy!”
Neither of us noticed the bedroom door open and close. Anita comes in, in only a towel. Sia forgets about his raspberries, standing up. “What are you saying? Anita is not like that. I won’t listen to your lies.”
Poor boy doesn’t know his bubble would soon burst.
“Ruarc told me everything. How she had come to his house drunk, smelling of someone else. She even kissed Ruarc, mistaking him to be you. If you don’t believe me, you can ask her yourself!”
“Ask me what?”, she asks, weaving her way across, until she was standing beside her lover.
I love this.
“Tell him Anita. Tell him where you were last night.”
She freezes. Just the expression I wanted.
“Prove her wrong sweetheart. Tell her the truth.”
“I was out with my friends,” she lied. “I would never betray you Sia. She just wants to separate us.”
Is it that obvious?
“Are you satisfied?”, he asks, pulling her closer to him.
No, I’m not. “Are you saying that Ruarc is lying? That you weren’t with someone else?”
“Sia, she’s lying. And so is that bloody brother of yours. Ruarc would do anything to see us apart. You know because he…”
Sia cuts her off. “Don’t say anymore. Crinka doesn’t need to know about my past. Come, let’s go inside.”
He puts his hand on the small of her back, leading her inside the bedroom. Anita turns her head back, smiling at me. She might have won this time, but she won’t be so lucky next time. I’ll make sure of that.
********
The moon looks beautiful among the stars. Sia had retired to bed with Anita but I had no place to lay my head, so I decided to look at the stars. I would continue to sleep outside in my wolf form until Anita goes back to Lyles.
“Here take this.”
I look up to see Anita handing me a blanket. What is she doing out here? I thought she was asleep. I don’t take it and she put it on me, before sitting on the grass, stretching her legs before her. Had she come here to kill me? Had Sia sent her to me or was she here on her own?
“I’ve never seen a red wolf before. You’re the first.”
Is she trying to make small talk? My fur is crimson, the colour of blood. But why is she talking to me? To my wolf? This is strange and I must say that she’s acting really weird.
She touches my fur and I recoil. What is she doing? She sighs.
“This would actually be easier if you’re wearing skin.”
So, she wants me to shift. Curious to know what she’s up to, I shift, using the blanket to cover my nakedness.
“Thank you,” she breathes out.
“What do you want? Shouldn’t you be sleeping with your lover?”
She winces at my harshness.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Because it is. Sia is with her after forming a blood bond with me. I didn’t come out here because I had no place to lay my head. No, I left the cabin, because I couldn’t stand hearing her pathetic moans and Sia’s grunts. I don’t say anything and she continues talking.
“I came here to apologize.”
“I’m not interested in your apology. Why did you lie to Sia?”
“I didn’t lie to Sia. I was actually out with my friends, taking a break from Lyles and his grabby hands.”
“Then who is this guy you slept with?”
She crosses her legs. “I didn’t sleep with anyone. I was drunk at the party yes, but I never slept with anyone.”
Why isn’t she telling me the truth?
“Then who was he?”
She avoided answering my question, saying, “If I had known I would tell you, I shouldn’t have gone to Ruarc.”
“That’s not the answer to my question,” I say, narrowing my eyes at her.
“I don’t have the answer to your question Crinka, I swear I don’t.”
I liked her better when she called me alpha.
“If you don’t tell me everything, I would tell Sia you were raped.”
Her eyes widen. “No! Don’t tell him that. It was just…”
“Just what?”
“One of Massa’s friends groped me that’s all. Massa threatened him so he stopped.”
Massa was at the party? Interesting.
“Massa was there?”
“You don’t know him? Well, he’s Sia youngest brother.”
“I already know that. What was Massa doing there?”
“Partying as usual. You got a problem with that?”
Nope. Could Massa be there because Cecilia was there? I have to meet Eloive someday and get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.
“None. You just didn’t come out here to apologize, did you?”
“No,” she confessed. “There’s actually something I wanted to tell you.”
“Shoot.”
“I want you to help me tell Lyles that his efforts are useless and I’m not interested.”
I’m furious. What am I? Her messenger? I can never destroy Lyles’ happiness by doing such a thing. The poor guy deserves to be happy.
“No. I won’t do that to him. You know why? Because he is a good person and doesn’t deserve what you’re doing to him.”
“I knew you would say that,” she mused, clicking her tongue. “So, I’m gonna use the hard way.”
I feel the cold barrel of her gun against the side of her head. Did she think she could threaten me with bullets? If she did, Sia would feel it.
“What are you doing?”, I stammer, pretending to be scared.
“I’m going to call Lyles now and you’re going to say what I want you to say or I’ll blow your fucking brains out.”
“I give you permission,” I say sarcastically.
She ignores me, whips out her phone and dials his number. He picks up and she puts it on the speaker.
“Lyles, I’ve been calling you. Why didn’t you answer?”, she asks, smiling at me. I didn’t know you could find a signal in the woods.
“Baby,” he slurred. Lyles is drunk. This is not good. “I was in the shower. What’s popping?”
My brain obviously. “I’ve found Crinka. She wants to talk to you.”
Lyles was looking for me? Oh, how sweet.
“Give her the phone.”
She doesn’t do as he says, slapping my arm so that I can talk. I want to talk to him, but not on this note.
“Lyles I have something very important to tell you.”
“Go on.”
I let out a breath and Anita nudges me with her stupid gun. Where did she even get one?
“I want to tell you that Anita is,” I pause.
“What about Anita?”
“Anita doesn’t want to be with you because she’s with Sia.”
There I said it.
“You bitch!”, Anita yells, throwing the phone away.
I take to my heels, shifting into fur. She fires, the bullet whizzing past my head. I pick up my pace, paws hitting the ground forcefully. She fires again and I yelp, the bullet grazing my side. That was so close. I ran faster, despite my wolf being in pain. The bullet just had to be fucking silver. Dizzy, I collapsed at Sia’s feet.