“You don’t get to take me down and then decide we’re done. That’s not your call to make.”
He’s silent for a moment. “I didn’t mean to make you angry.”
“Didn’t you?” The words slip out before I can rein them in. “Pretty sure that’s exactly what you were trying to do.”
“Fine. I did.” Elation at being right burns through me, but it burns away a moment later when he steps close, right into mypersonal space. “I did try to make you angry on purpose.” I stare up at him. I forgot until just this moment how much bigger than me he is. It’s so rare that males are taller than me, and he’s got a good few inches on me. He makes me feel small, and that’s super unusual for me. “I wanted to get a response from you, any kind of emotion.”
I scoff. “You just accused me of having emotion, and that made me a bad fighter.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I know. You shouldn’t have emotion of any kind when you fight, or it will be used against you.”
I cock an eyebrow. “And yet, you just said you tried to get me to show emotion.”
“I wanted to prove to you that you have emotion. Any kind of emotion. If that was anger, then I’d take it.”
Shock replaces my anger. “Why?”
He meets my gaze head-on. “Because I want you to know that you’re still human. You can still feel.” A rebuttal rises on my tongue, but he continues. “You may be a vampire, but you can still feel. You can still be happy, angry, sad, any of those things.”
“Like you?” I scoff and shake my head.
“What?” His tone is dark.
“You tell me I’m emotionless? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re the embodiment of emotionless.” Regret burns through me even as I say the words. I don’t like being heartless and cruel, no matter what I am. I take a step back. “You were right the first time. We’re done here.” Then I turn and flee. It takes me until I’m all the way back to my room to realize that Ava and Bryce disappeared somewhere in the midst of that showdown between Hunter and me. Frustration burns through me. A quick glance outside shows it’s too late to go for a run; the sun is high in the sky. I pace my room, wishing I could run. I need a break from my thoughts. I can’t get Hunter’s wordsout of my mind. He doesn’t understand. I don’t get to have emotion.Being happy? I snort out a laugh to the empty room. He really doesn’t have a clue. Even anger and sadness can’t be a part of my life. Because if they are, then I might give in to the crushing soul-deep hopelessness I felt when I was first taken. I made a promise to myself to never go back to those dark days. The only way to avoid that is to not feel anything. It’s worked for me for the last several years, and I’m not changing it now for some broody wolf.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sherese
Friday night’s here before I know it. The last few days passed in a blur. Garrett, Emma, and Daniel transferred back to their home. Emma’s doing well but still taking it easy. Bryce and Hunter have put me through the wringer and made me fight Hunter several more times in preparation for tonight. Thankfully, there’s been no more talk of emotion. Actually, Hunter hasn’t talked to me at all since the other day. He shows up to each of our sparring matches physically but definitely not mentally, but I don’t push it with him. I’m not ready for another conversation like the one from the other day. I haven’t really slept well since that conversation, but at last, things are back to normal. He talked to me this morning, and then he proceeded to drop his head to my neck. He also ran his hands up and down my bare arms and my back. He told me he was covering me in his scent, so the wolves would only smell him and not vampire. I’m not really sure that’s going to work, but he told me I don’t smell as strong as other vampires…probably because of my healer blood.
There’s a knock on my door. “Ready?” I hear Ava call out.
I open the door. “Yep.”
She eyes me and frowns. “Is that what you’re wearing?”
I look down at my leggings and crop top. “Yes.”
Bryce shows up behind Ava. “Raechel’s here.”
I frown. “Why?”
He shrugs. “I’ll go find out.”
He doesn’t get to, though, because Raechel shows up a second later. “Hey, Chicas. Miss me?”
“Why are you here?” I ask in surprise.
“Nice to see you too, Vampy,” she says easily. She gives me a once-over just like Ava did. “Yep, just as I thought. You need to change. Good thing for you, we’re both about the same size. You have a few inches on me, but it’s close enough.” She pushes past me, and I stare after her. She throws some clothes down on the bed I hadn’t even realized she was carrying. “Here. Try these. Never mind. I can tell they’ll be too short. Here, try this.”
She thrusts clothing into my hand, and I stare at it and then her. “What is going on?”
Ava sits on the bed and waves a hand. “The girls dress up for fight night; it’s a whole thing.”
Raechel rolls her eyes. “You make it sound like we wear dresses and heels to fight in.” Ava shrugs, and Raechel turns to me. “We don’t. We really don’t. But do we dress sexy to make our mates lose their minds? Yes. We definitely do that. Hence, the black leather leggings and red V-neck I’m wearing.”
I take in her outfit. “You’re wearing heels,” I feel the need to point out.
