Chapter 4
1360 Words
It was like seeing a ghost.
He was more real than ever before. Looked older than he had when I had last seen him. There were also new markings marring his skin in some places.
Burn marks. Large, angry looking things that climbed up the side of his neck, barely touching his hairline.
I choked back a cry of disbelief. Clutched the strap of my cross-body purse, right above my heart.
Because it ached. Burned. Screamed at me to make a move. Forget the life I had created and run away with him. With Xavier.
Andrew.
Andrew.
Levi.
He needed his father. Needed the man who had raised him all these years. Andrew had never been a bad father. Never hurt Levi. Loved him more than he even loved me, that’s for sure.
I couldn’t go. I couldn’t.
Levi.
“Sutton… I thought… I thought…” Bastian nearly wheezed, eyes widened and nostrils flared.
My heart gave another ache.
“Here I am, Bas. How have you been-”
His lips were on mine in an instant. Rough. Hard. Desperate for me.
And like with Xavier, my body melted into his with scary precision. Became supple beneath his touch. Pliable in such a way that only he could mold me if he wished.
Strong arms wrapped around my middle, pressing me to him. Lifting me up against his body until I had my legs wrapped around him. So close. He was so close to me and I wanted to inhale him.
Tears sprung to my eyes. Dripped down my cheeks in torrents.
Still, Bastian kissed me. Slid his tongue across my bottom lip, asking for my permission. Which I granted without a second thought. Instinct kicked in and I was washed away in the frenzy of my body. Heat pooled dangerously in my core.
My back hit the wall of the pack house as Bastian’s kisses grew frenzied. He broke the kiss with a moan and trailed his swollen lips down my neck. Over my ear. Down my collarbone. Every piece of skin open to him, he ravaged with sloppy kisses that had my body tightening in his grasp.
This was what heaven was supposed to feel like.
Until my eyes fluttered open and I realized several guards had spotted us. Frowned my way. Then it clicked who they were and I nearly vomited right then and there.
“Bastian!” I screamed and pushed his shoulders harshly.
No. This couldn’t happen. They were off. Had the next three days off. And they had that run this morning.
Fuck.
Where was Andrew? Could he see me? Could he see this?
He was going to leave me. Break me. Take Levi in the process and fling me to the curb with little regard for an explanation.
My chest constricted, air refusing to come into my lungs.
Bastian pulled away after I had pushed him and eyed me with a raised brow. “Sutton? What’s going on? What’s wrong?” He asked rapid-fire.
There was no way I could answer. Kept staring at the men who were now pointing our way.
Bastian noticed my frightened look and turned his head. The men scattered all at once. Vanished into thin air before the Beta of another pack could rip into them. Still, I remained silent. Unable to suck air into my being.
“What. Is. Wrong?” Bastian asked urgently and set me on my two feet.
Knees wobbled from the effort of keeping upright.
When my eyes refused to make contact with his, he snapped his fingers around my chin and forced my face to his. Icy eyes narrowed. Studied me.
“Those were my husband’s friends. They’ll… They’ll…” I barely got out before nausea rose and crashed into me.
Eyebrows pinched together, creating lines between them. The corners of his lips twitched.
But I didn’t stay in his space long enough to explain. Instead, I swatted his hand away, despite the growing dread inside me, and stepped around him. Cast a look over my shoulder at him that conveyed my guilt. My shame.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered and hurriedly dashed to my car.
By the time I was inside, Bastian was beside me, banging on the glass for me to stop. For me to let him in. Explain why I was so afraid. He pleaded and pleaded, even as I reversed and set off down the road again.
It had been a mistake to indulge Xavier in the first place. An even bigger mistake to have tangled with the both of them. Wounds were opened. Bled. Tears ran down my cheeks with no sign of stopping soon.
I shouldn’t have gone. Should have stayed home and pretended I never saw Xavier, no matter how much it pained me.
Andrew was going to have a f*****g field day.
Swallowing down my rising panic, I focused on the road. Tried my best to keep my wits about me. And failed miserably in the process.
Their hopeful faces refused to leave my mind. Branded themselves across my soul.
They had found me, those faces had read. Found me after so long of being apart.
For the second time in my life, I had to say goodbye to them. Come to terms with the fact that I had lost them. Which shredded my soul. Broke me so thoroughly that even my sobs no longer hurt. How could it when the pain in my chest was so much worse?
Levi.
I was doing this for my son who had only known one father his entire life.
Levi.
The moment I stopped the car, I scrambled out and into the house. Threw the door shut so hard that the windows beside it rattled. Fear became a thick lump in my throat that I couldn’t swallow down.
At least Nora wasn’t home. Her shop was open today and had some special function happening later on. Normally, I would help her but she had arranged for someone else for the day. One of her friends.
No doubt I would be scolded tonight for her needing to ask someone else for help, despite me always offering. She enjoyed throwing such things in my face for reasons I couldn’t understand.
But I had worse things to worry about. Much worse.
Would Xavier and Bastian simply give up looking for me? Would they see that I had made my choice and nothing would change my mind?
Or were they going to continue pursuing me, despite my earlier warnings about what would happen?
A sound from the bedroom had me twisting in that direction. Water running. Then coming to an abrupt stop. A phone rang and I knew, in my gut, what was about to happen.
“Hello?” Andrew answered.
He was headed for a warm bath, as he always did after a run. But had been interrupted by this call. This damning call that would have me losing my life.
The world around me seemed to slow down to a crawl. Frozen, I could barely lift up my foot to try and intercept what was about to happen.
In the background, there was an off mumbling. Andrew spoke. Yet no words reached me as blood roared in my ears.
No.
I shouldn’t have gone to that f*****g pack house. Why had I gone? Was I just angry at Nora for berating me? Felt nostalgic? Wanted to see what Xavier could grant me with no regard for my existing family?
Now it would all be ruined by my idiocy.
Blinking, I realized Andrew had entered the living room. Fully clothed still but covered in sweat. His eyes roamed over my body. Anger simmered in his eyes. His face. The phone in his hand had been decimated, pieces falling to the floor.
“Do you have something to tell me, Sutton?” He asked, rage warping his words into ugly things. “Anything you’d like to share with the f*****g class?” He asked.
Next thing I knew, the phone flew clear across the room and splintered against the wall beside my head. I whimpered.
But death itself crept closer.
- Writer
