She bit her bottom lip. “Yeah.”
My brows furrowed as I sensed the cloud of discomfort hanging over her head. With our new bond, I could feel her in ways I’d never felt anyone before. She was easier to read now, and the invisible anvil that pressed on her chest sat heavily on mine just the same.
“What did he do to you?”
Her eyes became slits. “I don’t want to talk about him. He’ll be dead soon, anyway, if he isn’t already, so it doesn’t matter.”
I bristled at the sudden wall she erected between us, though I shouldn’t have expected anything different.
A moment of awkward silence spanned between us. She ran a hand through her mess of hair. “So, are you back to being an asshole again?”
“Mhm.”
“Too bad. I prefer the hairy version. Better dick too.”
“I was going to make you eggs and bacon for breakfast, but if you keep mouthing off, all you’ll get is a throat full of cock.”
Her bunny ears perked at the mention of food. It occurred to me that she had to be starving.
“When’s the last time you ate?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. The morning they drew my name?”
Annoyance flared through me, though I wasn’t sure if it was because she hadn’t eaten in two days or that I cared at all. “They don’t give you breakfast?”
She shrugged again as if going days without a proper meal was no big deal. “They used to feed the sacrifices but when the new alpha was appointed, he instructed our Elders to make the sacrifices fast once selected.”
“Fucking Lars,” I mumbled, turning around to dig through the fridge.
I felt her stare heavy on my back. “Who?”
“My pussy of an alpha. He’s just as bad as his father—the piece of shit who impregnated that sacrifice.”
“Your entire pack deserves to die for that…” Her voice was almost a growl.
“It was years ago,” I said dryly. “But you’re probably right. Except for Lila. She’s probably the only one of us worth a damn.”
Lounging against the counter, I motioned at Ruth. “Come here, Ruthless.”
She hesitated for a beat before approaching me.
I reached for her throat, not missing the way her breath hitched. My brows furrowed as I took in the bruises I’d left. Then, my attention slipped to the silvery scar marring the side of her neck.
My mouth watered at the memory of her tiny body twitching as I’d made the bite. I quickly turned back to the bacon, pushing the dirty thought away with the menial task.
“So, uh, you said some pretty heavy stuff last night about keeping me here,” Ruth said from behind me.
“My beast has a different idea of what this new mating bond means. It’s sleeping now. You have time to eat before it wakes up.”
“Then what?”
“Then you leave.”
“Oh…”
Our bond was fresh and new. It demanded we be as close as possible. The mere idea of being apart felt wrong. I had no damnclue how we were going to deal with never seeing each other again.
That was a post-breakfast problem.
