Chapter 5
1293 Words
I had known fear before. Knew it from first-hand experience. It was nothing new to me. Your body betrayed you in every way when it happened. Muscles locked into place. Stomach bottomed out. It was a normal reaction to have.
Yet I had never felt it whilst in the presence of Andrew.
He had always been kind in his own ways. Caring. A little rough around the edges most days but never this. A living ball of rage and betrayal.
And I deserved it. Deserved his fury. His wrath.
I had broken a vow to him that I could never take back. Cut his trust in me to smithereens.
He would never hurt me, though. Never. That much I knew. He wasn't Xander. His hands belonged by his side, not on my skin. Not breaking my bones. There was a line in the sand that Andrew wouldn't cross and this was it.
No matter how angry he was with me, he wouldn't hurt me, despite the bits of phone having flown past my head.
Lifting up my palms, I shook my head at him. "Please let me explain. Please. Whatever it was you heard, it is true but there is a story behind it all. Please." I whispered, feeling my heart sink.
Anger tipped the corner of his lips into an ugly sneer. He took one, menacing step forward and my body buckled beneath me. Knees knocked together from the terror swamping my nerves.
Flashbacks raced across my mind, reminding me of what happened when you angered a man. Brutal flashbacks that I swore I could still feel to this day. The images weren't kind.
He wouldn't hurt me. He wouldn't hurt me.
The mantra played over and over in my mind. Reminded my body that this was not my ex. This wasn't Xander. This was Andrew and Andrew loved me dearly, albeit less than most. He wouldn't harm the mother of his child. The woman who did nearly everything for him.
"How long has it been going on, Sutton?" Andrew asked, still approaching me slowly. His eyes were wild. Nostrils flared, scenting the air around us. Scenting the smells on me.
When he got a good whiff of the lingering male scent on me, something inside him snapped. I could see it wash over his face. Could see the turbulent anger riding him.
And my fear spiked worse than it had in a long time.
"It happened today! Today! Please! I love you," I pleaded and contemplated falling to my knees. Xander loved it when I fell to my knees for him. Loved to see me grovel for my life. Maybe Andrew would be the same. Maybe he would spare me.
"Why! Why the f**k have you done it, Sutton! I gave you everything! When the world chewed you up and spat you out, I was there! I put the pieces back together!"
Each word was a carefully placed slice across my body.
I knew I had made a terrible mistake the moment I kissed Xavier. Knew I had thrown my life away when I had fallen into Bastian's arms. But I couldn't help myself. I never could when they were involved.
They were my mates and I loved them since the moment I saw them. And years ago, I had thought I had lost them. Every last piece of them.
That wasn't an excuse. Not even remotely. What I had done had violated the vows we had taken. The life we had built together. There were not enough words on this earth to tell Andrew how much I regretted what I had done.
"They are my mates, Andrew. I couldn't-"
The last pieces of his sanity broke. His face contorted into a feral sneer. Feet lunged forward, slapping hard against the perfectly mopped wooden floor. He was in my face within an instant, fist colliding with the wall beside the door.
I yelped and my body finally responded. Finally woke up. Jerking to the side, I slipped back out the open door. Fresh air hit me in the face but it wasn't nearly enough to calm my raging heart.
I had screwed up. Screwed up worse than I had ever done before. Which was saying a lot
Andrew followed me out.
Each step I took backward led to him taking two forward. Determination sat heavily in his eyes, along with something else I had seen so many times before on someone else. Unadulterated rage. The worst kind. It was the kind that led to the inside of an infirmary.
"Mates? More than one! You cheated on me with more than one man! How dare you, Sutton!" He was screaming in my face, spit flying.
Until the most unimaginable thing happened. His hand shot out and wrapped around my throat.
My head emptied out. Fear clamped down on my heart, forcing me to wrap my fingers around his wrist. My eyes bulged out of their sockets, terror sluicing through me, causing pins and needles along my muscles.
"I have given you everything! And you go around and w***e yourself out to men? You are a disgrace! Wait until Levi hears about what his mother has been doing. Wait until-"
His words didn't reach me anymore. Blood pounded too loudly in my ears. Roared a malicious chant over and over again. Once again, I had brought this doomed fate down upon myself. Once again I chose wrong.
Andrew was right. He had given me everything and I had given him nothing in the end.
"Spare him," I barely choked out, his fingers digging into my windpipe.
If he wasn't going to kill me today, his digits were going to leave a brutal scar in their wake. A permanent reminder of what he was capable of. The person he could become.
All my fault. This entire scenario was all my fault. I couldn't blame him for a fraction of it.
Andrew's eyes flickered. Moved down my face until he was scanning his hand around my throat. Then the fingers I held around his wrist. His eyes guttered and his hand released me.
I sucked in a greedy breath, lungss filling past the point of comfort.
Andrew took a step away. Then another. And another. Horror morphed his face. Pinched his brows together in confusion as he stared down at his open palms. "What have I done?" He asked hoarsely and looked up just in time to see me massaging my neck. He turned a pale shade. "I'm sorry. Sutton. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Goddess. I was just," His fingers dug into his hair, sticking up the ends in several directions.
"It's," I started but my throat cramped. Panic flared brightly in my chest. Swarmed me.
Had he broken something?
"Forgive me, my love. I didn't mean to hurt you," He rushed out and stomped towards me. The tips of his fingers brushed my skin for an instant before I slipped out of his grasp. Recoiled.
The self-loathing he felt plastered across his face, but it wasn't a patch compared to what I felt. The hatred that burned inside my chest was all-consuming. I had f****d up, and now I would pay the price.
He was going to leave me. A few bruises were nothing compared to stripping my son of his father.
"I'll take you to the doctor tomorrow, okay? We can tell him you tried to hang yourself or something. That it went wrong. He can help, okay? You'll be fine. Just fine." His voice was a tidal wave of panic.
But I nodded along and followed him inside.
I also remained a few inches further away from him than normal. Old habits died hard, I guess.
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