The Wild Moon by Riley Storm

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Your soulmate is here,” Lars said, gesturing behind him. “She has come to her senses.”

“Has she now?” Johnathan said archly, crossing his arms. He still didn’t descend the stairs.

“I have,” I spoke up before Lars could say anything more. I didn’t want Johnathan getting any false impressions. I had to make it very clear to both Alpha assholes what the rules were while I was here.

“Of her own free will at that,” Lars said. “She’s a strong one, Johnathan. A good Alpha’s mate.”

“Seriously?” Johnathan said, gaping at his father. “After what happened the last time she was here? After how she treated Mother?”

Lars chuckled. “Mary should have been more aware of where she was going. She’ll get over it.”

And that sealed it. If I’d had any remaining thoughts of actually somehow making things work with Johnathan and his family, they died there with the dismissal of his mate. Women weren’t valued in the Aldridge household, and I don’t know why I ever thought differently.

My Soulbond pulsed in my head, and I lifted my eyes to meet Johnathan’s. Damn. This isn’t going to be easy. The closer I was to him, the more my body and soul ached to go to him. Even now, I was filled with the desire to go to bed with him. It was foreign, at odds with the disgust my mind and brain felt, but I couldn’t deny it didn’t exist.

No wonder Lars had been confident and agreeable. He knew the Soulbond would turn me. No matter what my terms were now, it would eventually push it all aside, turning me into the perfect mate for Johnathan if I gave it the time to do so.

Which I wasn’t going to. I had mere days before the Wild Moon, and I knew if another one came over me while Johnathan was around that I wouldn’t be able to fight it. I had to get what I’d come for and get as far away from him as possible before it happened. Or live in servitude like Lars’ mate for the rest of my life.

That’s a hell no from me. I will not end up like that!

“I don’t like it either,” I said to Johnathan, glaring up at him. “But when you showed up in Kellar, it showed me the truth. I can’t run from this. I don’t like you, and I don’t like admitting that. But I’m not going to run forever. So we're going to compromise, and that’s that.”

I strolled past Lars and up the stairs, aiming to bypass Johnathan and head down the hallway to the guest quarters. Courtesy of my time dating Johnathan, I knew the layout of the house rather well.

“A compromise,” he rumbled as I approached. “How is that?”

“Ask your father,” I said. “I’ll be in my guest quarters.”

“Guest quarters?” Johnathan asked, looking past me at his father, then back at me.

I smiled broadly at him, teeth and all. “All good things take time. Surely you have the patience to wait for your mate, don’t you?”

Johnathan’s jaw clenched, the veins in his temples standing out. He didn’t like this one bit and was quite obviously having a hard time with his temper.

Oh, well. Maybe you shouldn’t have been such an asshole, and we could be mated happily ever after. Sorry, not sorry. Dick.

I let my eyes convey my thoughts as I walked past, fighting hard on the inside not to sashay my hips a little as my Soulbond pulsed stronger than ever. That was expected, however, and I’d braced for it, preparing my mind not to be distracted as I walked down the hallway.

I very carefully did not look at the relic room as I passed. No sense in giving anyone the slightest clue what I was planning. Better to catch them unawares if that was possible.

Not long after I’d shut the door to my chosen guest quarters–I’d chosen the farthest one possible from Johnathan’s room–he entered. No knock. He just waltzed in as if he owned the place.

His dull blue eyes locked on me. I forced myself to look at the bridge of his nose instead. This close, the pull toward him was strong. I had to resist in any way I could.

“Well?” I said as airily as I could. “Did you chat with dear old dad?”

“Yes.” The single-word reply came out clipped and short.

“So, do we have a deal?” I crossed my arms and tried to stare him down.

Johnathan sighed. “You really do hate me, don’t you?”

I gaped at him, stunned by the confusion in his voice. “Of course I hate you. I fucking loathe you. You ruined my damned life, all because you couldn’t handle being dumped. So, yeah, I hate you. Just a little bit. I wouldn’t expect any loving or tenderness for the first, oh, ten or twenty years.”

Hopefully, comments like that, pretending that I was thinking about the long-term, would help keep at bay any doubts Johnathan or Lars had. Maybe.

Johnathan bit his lip. He wasn’t happy about the arrangement, but I didn’t give a shit. He’d made his own bed. Now it was time he slept in it. Alone.

“How long are you going to be staying in the guest quarters?” he asked gruffly.

“Until I’ve got carpal tunnel in my wrists and nothing but dead batteries,” I said, scoffing at the idea that we’d share a bed anytime soon.

“What about children?” he asked, lifting a hand, palm up, in question.

“I just got here,” I said. “We’ll discuss conjugal visits later.”

He eyed me, and I saw suspicion creeping into his gaze.

“Of course I’m not happy,” I snarled before he could say anything. “I hate this. We’re Soulbound. But I can recognize reality just as well as you can. So, just leave me alone, and I’ll see you at dinner, okay?”

Johnathan shook his head. “I’m not buying any of this. Three days ago, you fought me in the ring.”

“Three nights ago, I kicked your ass in the ring,” I corrected.

He bared his teeth at me. I gave him the finger. It was the truth, whether he liked it or not.

“There’s no way you’re submitting to me now, not so soon after that.”

I sighed. Time for a bit of honesty. “It’s not about that,” I said, voicing my actual feelings about what that night had taught me. “It’s about what your presence did.”

His forehead wrinkled between his eyebrows, but he stayed quiet, letting me continue.

“You showing up there reminded me that I’ll never live a life without you. Or your father. You would always both be after me. Always showing up to ruin whatever life I tried to make for myself.”

Johnathan nodded. “I’m drawn to you like you’re drawn to me.”

That wasn’t at all how I’d meant it, but whatever, if it got him to agree with me, I’d go with it.

“So, I thought about it. At least if I come here, I can live my life in a place I’m familiar with and at least be happy to the extent I’m not looking over my shoulder all the time. If I need to pretend that I like you when we’re in public, then so be it.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I slashed a hand between us.

“But that is in public. Not private. Are you understanding that yet? Is it getting through your brain?”

I swore I could hear his teeth grinding from across the room.

“Yes,” he said tightly. “But I’ll find a way to make things up between us.”

“Bring my parents back,” I said, naming the only thing that might make me hate him less.

He stared at me. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“Exactly,” I said. “But you may as well get started now. So get out, and I’ll see you for dinner.”

I pointed at the door, and he took it.