The Mate Switch

CHAPTER 8.

Giselle’s animalistic side burst forward at once. She twisted, flashing her claws with a low snarl, but a familiar scent hit her nostrils and she froze just short of striking.

Enrique.

“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed, yanking her arm back.

“It’s the only way I can get you to talk to me,” he shrugged, muttering, “Or look at me.”

“That’s the point.” She gritted her teeth, holding back her frustration. “I thought I already made myself clear.”

“You’d have to make it clearer, because apparently, I’m slow,” he shot back, sighing helplessly. “Look. I was worried, okay? Especially when you look like you’re planning a siege while washing dishes.”

Her breath caught despite her efforts to stay cool. She stuttered. “W-what? A siege—I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

He arched his brows. “Relax. After the way Iris spoke to you, it’d be insane if you didn’t have negative thoughts.”

Clearing her throat, she corrected. “Luna Iris.”

He scoffed. “She’s not my Luna,” Enrique murmured.

Giselle stared at him curiously. Maybe it was time to ask him what the deal was. Why Elias and Celeste were so threatened by his presence. Why had he been so hostile toward the Luna and still managed to keep his head?

As much as she wanted to know all the answers, they weren’t relevant to her cause. It’d be a waste of time engaging in a conversation with Enrique when the goal was to get farther away from him.

“What do you want?” she asked instead.

“You,” he replied smoothly, like it was the most obvious choice.

She wrinkled her face. “Well, you can’t have me. Are we done here?”

“Not even close.”

She turned away, her heart already pounding. She tried to slow it down, or stop it from beating completely. “You shouldn’t have pulled me in here.”

“I wouldn’t have needed to if you weren’t being so damn difficult,” he said loudly.

“Quiet!” she snapped, covering his mouth with her hand. “Do you want someone to hear you?”

His chuckle came muffled against her palm. “They’re the least of your problem.”

They locked eyes, the meaning of his words sinking in. No, no, no. She refused to let him be her biggest obstacle. A distraction. He was the enemy. He was from darkhowl. He was handsome with pretty eyes and a smile that—

What the hell was she thinking?

Giselle tore her hand away from his mouth as if it burned, stepping back until her spine brushed the cold wall. Her wolf paced in tight, angry circles inside her, torn between lunging at him and curling up at his feet like a traitor.

Get it together, she ordered herself. This is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she whispered harshly. “You don’t just grab people and drag them into rooms.”

“People usually look at me when I speak,” Enrique replied dryly. “You’ve made it your life’s mission to pretend I don’t exist.”

“That’s because you shouldn’t,” she snapped. “You don’t belong anywhere near me.”

He tilted his head, studying her the way one might examine a locked door, already mapping out how to break it open. “It almost sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself.”

Her jaw clenched. “I don’t owe you anything.”

“No,” he agreed. “But you also don’t owe these people s**t. You were barely hanging on in there, and they weren’t making it any easier. You’re still not fully healed.”

That was where he was wrong. She owed them a lot, everything actually. She owed them pain and suffering. She owed them death.

She laughed under her breath. “Congratulations. You noticed. Want a medal?”

“I want the truth.”

That made her wolf rear up, its hackles bristling. Giselle crossed her arms defensively. “You don’t want anything that comes from me.”

“I think I do,” he said quietly. “You just don’t want to give it.”

She pushed past him toward the door, only for him to block her path with one arm braced against the wood. Not touching her, but close enough that she could feel his heat, smell pine and smoke and something unbearably intoxicating.

“Move,” she warned, using the last of her self control.

“Not until you answer me.”

Her claws slid out halfway. “This isn’t a request.”

“And yet,” he murmured, his eyes moving to her hands, “you haven’t cut me yet.”

Damn him. She shoved at his chest. He didn’t budge.

“I said move,” she growled.

“After you tell me why,” he shot back, the edge creeping into his voice now. “Why you flinch when someone raises their voice. Why you freeze when Iris walks into a room. Why you look like you expect to be hit at any second.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“It is when it’s happening under my roof.”

She scoffed bitterly. “Then why do you keep acting like you don’t know what goes on around here?”

His face twisted in confusion. “Maybe… because I don’t?”

“Are you asking?” she sounded puzzled too.

She didn’t like the way his gaze sharpened, the way she could feel his wolf brush against hers in an invisible web, keeping them tangled and connected.

“You act like I stood by and watched you suffer,” he continued. “Like I knew what was happening to you and did nothing.”

She laughed again, but this time there was no humor in it at all. “Didn’t you?”

A dangerous silence fell between them.

“How many times,” she said quietly, stepping closer, “have I been shoved into walls? Slapped? Starved? Humiliated in front of this pack?”

He swallowed. “Gloria—”

“Answer me,” she snapped. “How many?”

His jaw tightened. “I don’t know.”

“Exactly,” she hissed. “You don’t know because it’s been numerous, uncountable times. It’s been happening for fifteen years and you did nothing, suddenly I matter because of some mate bond.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Oh?” She snarled. “Then where were you? Every time they laughed at me? Every time Elias—” She stopped herself too late.

Enrique’s eyes narrowed. “Elias what?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly, but the damage was done.

“You said his name like he did something,” Enrique noted. “Are you afraid of him? Did he hurt you?”

Her pulse spiked. She didn’t mean it that way. She meant to call Celeste too. Think. Lie. Deflect. It was the only solution she could think of.

“He’s the Alpha’s son,” she said flatly. “Everyone fears him.”

“That’s not what that was.”

She tried to step around him again. He let her this time, but followed, lowering his voice.

“You keep blaming me for not stopping all the things that’s been happening,” he said. “But here’s the part you’re missing.”

She turned angrily. “Oh? Enlighten me.”

“I wasn’t here.”

His words seemed to slow down everything around them. She blinked multiple times, trying to put pieces together.

“What?”

“I left,” he said. “Fifteen years ago. My mother took me and disappeared.”

Her wolf went utterly still. Fifteen years. The same number echoed in her head, loud and deafening.

“That’s impossible,” she said, forcing a scoff. “You’re Darkhowl through and through.”

“Am I?” he countered. “Because last I checked, the pack barely acknowledges my existence unless it’s convenient.”

She stared at him, her heart beginning to skip. “You’re lying,” she said weakly.

“I wish I was,” he replied. “We left because of the war. I don’t really know the details. My mother kept me in the dark.”

Her breath grew shallow. “Why—I don’t—”

“Something about corruption and disappearances. Packs were being wiped out. She must have feared for my life.”

Her vision tunneled. “Why would you be in danger though?”

He opened his mouth, then shut it almost immediately. Shaking his head, he forced out a response. “Beats me.”

Giselle stood, staring at him. It was all a little much to take in.

“So don’t stand there and accuse me of watching you suffer,” Enrique continued, switching up. “Because I wasn’t even here.”

She shook her head, stepping back as if the room had tilted. “That doesn’t make sense,” she whispered. “If you weren’t here, then why—” She stopped herself.

Enrique however, was now staring at her suspiciously. “How do you not know this?” he asked. “You’ve been here longer than I have. Why wouldn’t you know that?”

Her pulse roared in her ears. “I’ve been serving here since I was young,” she said carefully. “I don’t keep track of who comes and goes.”

“Were you serving here fifteen years ago?”

“Yes,” she said, inaudibly.

His gaze settled over her. “Then you should know I wasn’t.”

Her stomach dropped. “I—I didn’t notice,” she said. “I was… a child.”

“And then you grew up,” he shot back. “You’re making no sense right now, Gloria.”

Her wolf paced anxiously now, sensing danger. “You’re asking a lot of questions,” she said sharply. “It’s confusing.”

“I’m asking the right amount of questions.”

She crossed her arms tight. “I already told you to leave me alone.”

“You’re hiding something.” Enrique took a step closer to where she stood.

“So are you,” she countered. She moved for the door again. This time, he didn’t stop her. Her hand froze on the handle. “Stay away from me.”

“And if I don’t?” he asked.

She slipped out into the corridor without answering, finally able to breathe, her wolf howling in confusion.

That was close. I almost gave everything away.

This was the prize of letting her emotions get in the way of her goal, the prize for wanting answers. It wasn’t all in vain though. At least now, she was sure of one thing.

Enrique played no part in the pain inflicted on her sister.