Chapter 6
1169 Words
A scent woke me before sunlight did.
Wood smoke. Mint.
My head felt like a drum being played by toddlers. My eyes hurt, I couldn't open it so I settled for squinting.
The ceiling above me wasn’t mine. Wooden beams. Firelight. Blankets tucked around me that definitely weren’t mine.
“Where the hell am I?”
A steaming mug sat on the nightstand. Tea. I brought it closer sniffing it, it was peppermint.
I made to get out of the bed when a wave of nausea hit me, sending me back to the pillows' embrace, my eyes fluttered shut.
I must have drunk all night, what happened to me? Did I go to bed with another man? Oh, hell no.
I couldn't imagine doing that, giving it up to some stranger? Someone I don't love? I don't think I could forgive myself.
It should have been Dimitri, if only he had looked at me during our marriage, five years and he never once kissed me.
Good riddance, a stranger might just be the best thing to happen to me.
I jumped down from the bed, wincing from pain. I planned to leave before whoever it was got up. I don't think I could face them.
As if on cue the doorknob clicked, I reached for the golf club right behind the nightstand just in case.
The door opened slowly, letting in a sweet scent I couldn't quite place. My hand tightened around the golf club.
A tall guy stepped in, ginger haired and handsome, his eyes swept over me and he smirked.
Another figure filled the doorway behind him. Taller. Quieter.
The first guy glanced at him and muttered, “Told you we should’ve cuffed her.”
I blinked, frozen between offense and confusion.
“Who are you guys?”
“The ones who saved your life,” the first one (Henry, I’d later learn) said, his grin lazy and a little too amused. “You’re welcome.”
Saved my life? My brows pulled together.
“Which one of you was it?”
They exchanged a look, both pausing like they didn’t quite get the question.
I lifted my chin, staring them both down. “Speak.”
That’s when it clicked for them. Henry burst into laughter loud, careless, a little cruel.
“No one, blondie,” he said, still chuckling. “You’re not exactly our type.”
I exhaled so hard my shoulders slumped.
“Thank God,” I muttered, relief flooding through me before the sting settled in.
Not exactly our type.
Well, ouch.
That one hurt more than I cared to admit.
I lowered the golf club and sat back on the edge of the bed, “So, if no one was trying to… you know, bed me,” I said, waving a hand vaguely, “why am I here?”
Henry shrugged. “You fainted. In public. In front of a club called MIRAGE, if that rings any bells.”
Oh, it did. The dance floor. The music. The blur of lights. The moment I’d laughed so hard my chest ached, the closest thing I’d felt to joy in years.
Then… crying. Dimitri. My knees giving out.
I winced. “Oh God.”
The man behind Henry finally stepped forward.
I looked up and there was the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. If I wasn't sulking over Dimitri I might have made a pass at him.
He was something else, tattoos curling across his throat and hands, eyes an impossible shade of gray-green that seemed to size me up and see right through me all at once.
He didn’t speak, didn’t even move much, just looked at me.
It was unnerving, like being weighed and judged.
Henry crossed his arms. “You should thank Aaron, by the way. Big guy here carried your sorry ass all the way out of that club before some creeps could.”
“Carried me?” I echoed, horrified.
I glanced at the emblem hung on the wall, it looked familiar.
Henry grinned wider. “Princess here even called you Dimitri before she passed out.”
Aaron’s gaze flicked to mine, “Your cheating husband, is it?”
My stomach dropped.
Oh, kill me now.
I swallowed hard, gripping the blanket. “Drunk mistake. I… I must’ve thought—”
“I don’t care,” he said. Calm. Cold. “What are you?” he questioned.
“W... what am I?” I stuttered. “A woman?”
“Don't get smart with me now.” he paused “I can smell you, you're not human, so what are you?”
My heart lurched, was he a warlock? I didn't smell lemon balms, werewolf then.
“I don't understand what you're saying” I responded trying everything to not let this escalate. “You over there” I say using the golf stick to point at Henry.
“You're just gonna stand there and watch your friend talk crazy?”
“It's not exactly crazy if we saw you cry diamonds now is it?”
My eyes widened with disbelief, what the hell happened yesterday? How do they know about that? What else do they know?
“It's ridiculous when you think about it, almost as if you smell like a wolf *without* a wolf.” he finished.
My throat felt dry, and I turned my gaze away, “And what if I am?” I asked haughtily.
I wasn't gonna take any of this anymore, I was as much a werewolf as any of them were.
“You need a place to stay” Aaron spoke, “And I have a pack, a home, you won't survive without one, especially wolfless”
I made to cut in but he didn't spare me the chance.
“Think what you want, but I'm offering you a chance here, and opportunity to start over. The full effect of the broken mate bond would take place soon and you'd need care to survive it”
His words struck me like a lightning bolt.
I didn't think more could go wrong, maybe because I'd stopped thinking altogether, now strangers know everything about my personal life
He stated it so calmly, like it wasn't my life that just blew over. I had spent five years showing love to a man who didn't give a damn about me.
Five years trying to prove my worth to him, why didn't he want me? Why couldn't he love me anyway?!!
What didn't I try? I learned all his favourite things to do. Hunting, pole dancing, name it.
And even then when he acknowledged none of it, I was satisfied with him eating my meals. Because at least it meant he saw and appreciated a part of me.
But, not anymore. I won't live for anyone's validation ever again.
“What's in it for you?” I probed.
“The diamonds” Aaron answered, eyes cold like steel. “You'll have to cry me a river.“
- Writer
