Bound in Silence

Chapter 6: The Accidents of Anger

Cassian

She makes it incredibly difficult to resist her.

Getting naked in front of me and then pulling me into the bed? Is that just odd behavior because of her upbringing? Or does she feel the mate bond as strongly as I do?

There’s still so much I don’t know about her life, and I don’t want to take advantage of her, and make her feel unsafe with me.

She looks bothered by the fact that I chose to lay on top of the blanket, and she pulls on it, though it doesn't budge under my weight.

“What? Do you want me to get off?”

She shakes her head, still tugging at the blanket. Then she sits up to get a better grip, and the blanket falls off her chest, exposing her breasts.

I can’t help but stare in admiration, at my mate’s perfect body.

She follows my gaze and quickly pulls the blanket back up.

I frown. She's definitely not shy, evident by her trying to undress in the middle of the clothing store. So what is it that makes her want to hide in front of me specifically?

“Are you a virgin?” I question.

No, she shakes her head.

But her answer makes me wonder, how is she not? She had never left the club.

My guesses make me angry.

Which she notices, and she cowers back under the blanket.

“I’m not angry with you. Just angry about what was done to you.”

Her eyes peek up at me from under the blanket, and I relent.

I get under the covers with her, and let her naked body cuddle up to my clothed self. She seems very satisfied with this, like she finally won a prize she was working so hard for.

I can feel her relax. My hand moves to brush her brown hair with my fingers, and she sighs into my rib cage.

It feels so good being this close to her, and I never want her to sleep without me again.

It scares me, how much I care for her, and I know I can’t keep fighting it. I’ll never be able to love anyone else.

This is it.

She’s mine.

Her breathing becomes slower, indicating that she’s already fallen asleep.

I let sleep take me as well, and I’ve never slept better.

In the morning, I wake up and she’s already gone from the bed.

I panic for a split second. She better have put some f*****g clothes on before she left the room.

When I get up, I trip over her stupid backpack of cans. I swear I should just throw that thing away when she’s not looking.

I run downstairs, hoping she just went to the kitchen for breakfast.

A huge sigh of relief escapes me when I find her— wearing clothes— sitting at the dining table, with about thirty different dishes in front of her. She’s taking a single bite from each dish, then pushing the plate away.

“That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

She lights up when she sees me, and I see her smile big for the first time.

I take the seat next to her, and sit facing her. She is wearing clothes, but not the ones I bought for her. She’s wearing her pink sweater and jean shorts that she came here with.

One of the cooks— a short woman in her early 50s— comes out and sees her pushed away plates, then clicks her tongue, annoyed.

“Rita, you're off the hook.” I say to her before she can run back into the kitchen.

“Thank you, Alpha, I couldn’t figure out what in the world she wanted.” Rita replies, then saunters back through the kitchen doors.

Lillia’s smiling face turns to concern, then she looks at all of her plates.

“It's okay, you didn’t know.” I take one of her plates and start digging into it, letting it be my breakfast.

“I’m going to be having some friends over today, my beta, who is my second in command, and a couple of neighboring alphas that I have alliances with. I’ll need you to stay in your room, okay?”

I was expecting her to be offended, but she just nods. Which actually makes me feel more guilty that she must be used to it, but I can’t risk her being a total weirdo in front of these important people.

She gets up from the table, and goes up to her room. I can hear her door close behind her.

Uh, okay, it’s still a few hours until they arrive, but whatever works.

I take this opportunity to get some work done in my office before my guests arrive.

When I go downstairs, the dining table is already set for a late lunch. The first to show up is my beta— a man named Khet, who lives in a house a short walk away. The next two men are neighboring Alphas. Lincoln, of the Red Rock pack, and Dante, of the Silver Dawn pack. These three men are basically my only friends, and Lincoln— who shares the border with me that the club sits on— is the closest thing I have to a brother.

They definitely cannot find out about Lillia, at least not yet.

I spend most of the meeting thinking about her, wishing I was in bed with her instead. I’m also praying she doesn’t come downstairs right now.

My prayers go unheard, because of course, I see her pass through the dining room and into the kitchen, wearing her yellow backpack of empty beer cans. Luckily, I’m pretty sure I was the only one who saw her.

“Sorry guys, I have to check on something.” I excuse myself from the table, and follow her into the kitchen.

I find her sitting at the counter, drinking a beer.

I'm livid.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You disobey me to come down here and get drunk?” I scold.

She glances at me for a second, but then goes right back to sipping her canned drink.

I march over to her, grabbing the can and smashing it in my fist. Then I throw it at the wall.

She screams again, her classic high pitched shrill. Tears instantly fall from her eyes.

She runs over to the crumpled can that's now on the floor, desperately trying to push it back into shape.

I pull her up from the floor, and she starts slapping me.

In return I grip her arm, just trying to get her to stop freaking out.

I’m so enraged, that I don’t notice my claws emerging from my fingers. I accidentally slice through the sleeve of her pink sweater, and two lines of blood start dripping, staining the fabric.

She doesn’t even flinch.

I pull back instantly. “Lillia, I’m so sorry, baby.”

She takes a slow step back, then makes a break for the back kitchen door that leads outside.