On a heaved breath, I approach Cross, jaw grinding.He watches me, expectantly as I mutter, “What the fuck are we going to do?”
His eyes flick toward the main compound, scanning. “We’re gonna tie her up and leave her here. And you? You’re going to get your head on right.”
At the implication I’m losing it, my jaw twitches. Hard. The worst part is, I know it’s the truth. I turn my head, eyes flicking to Delilah.
“Hayze.” He grips my shoulder, bringing my attention back to him. “You can’t go soft. You know what will happen if we give a single signal that we didn’t handle this exactly as we were meant to.”
I grimace, shaking my head. Blink a few times before training my gaze on him. “Sorry. What happened back there. It got to me. I thought for a minute?—”
“That I was an asshole?” He huffs out a noise of disappointment. Glancing at Delilah, he murmurs, “If I were an asshole, I’d have dropped that chain hooked to her collar and not cared if it yanked on her neck.”
True enough, but— “Why did you alter the correction?” It’s not the first time I’ve realized I really don’t have a fucking clue what he’s thinking.
“I had to.” He props his hands on his hips. “Hayze, you have to fucking watch what you say and do where she’s concerned. You, Arrow, Malakai. All of you looked on the verge of a rampage. And I… I don’t know.” He grimaces. “Where she’s concerned, I couldn’t let them have a clue what’s in my head. I don’t owe them that. Neither do you. And if that means things go a little sideways sometimes…” He grabs me by the back of the neck, tugging until our foreheads meet. He stares at me dead in the eye. “We can talk more later. Get the collar off her.”
Hating that he’s right, I shove him away before pivoting. The chain links clank together as I loosely coil the length on the ground beside Delilah. Her eyes ping from Cross’s retreating figure, then return to search mine. I don’t even know what to say to her. “I’m sorry,” I grit out, but the apology feels hollow, like it carries no fucking weight. It doesn’t help that we’re about to abandon her out here, and she knows it.
She huffs out a derisive chuckle. “You aren’t sorry. Not about any of it.”
Rubbing my free hand over my face, I take a step closer to her and reach into my pocket for the key to the collar and unlock it. Expelling a breath, I murmur, “I am. You don’t know how much.” Unhooking the metal, I free her of its weight and drop it near her bare feet.
Her toes curl into the cool, damp grass, and she wraps her arms around her body, watching me cautiously with a narrowed gaze. She mutters, “You’re a liar, Hayze. I don’t believe a goddamn thing you say. Won’t ever again. I may as well ignore every word that leaves your mouth. Nothing you say means a thing to me.”
“When did I lie?” Irritation flares within me, but at the blaze in her fiery blue eyes, my mouth snaps shut. I get it. She doesn’t understand the intricate balancewe’ve been walking. A voice in my head whispers,You didn’t do enough to protect her.But how the fuck was I supposed to do more? I grind my teeth. I can’t yet see how we’ll be able to break free of the hold the Collective has on us.I’m unsure whether it’s even possible.And I doubt she has any idea what’s in my head… or that she’s the reason for the upheaval festering inside.The tension between us escalates until it grows arms and threatens to strangle me.
“Why was Finneas wearing the fucking wolf mask, Hayze? Youtoldme to watch for it.”Fuck. His motherfucking mask.I exhale hard, understanding dawning. Blinking rapidly, she finishes, “Youtoldme you’d come for me. Youlied.”Her breath hitches on that final word, an angry sob wrenching from her chest. “Just go away.” She pushes at my chest, her face contorting when I don’t budge. “I don’t want you anywhere near me.”
Every bit of the angst and betrayal she feels cleaves my heart in two. She’s not wrong. But she will never understand our life. I let loose a ragged breath as I step close, eyeing her. “I didn’t lie. We tried to find you.Triedto help you. And when we finally located you, we did the best we could to extract you from the situation unscathed.”
At that, a disjointed sound that might be a laugh falls from her lips. “Unscathed? Is that what you call this?” She glances down her body as a tremor rolls through her.
“As for the mask—Finneas is the wolf, yes. Butmine is identical to his by birthright.”Because I’ll take over this madness someday.“I had no idea he’d returned, not a fucking clue that it’d be a problem when I said it.” I rub an agitated hand over my face. “I didn’t have any way of knowing, Delilah. Believe me, if I had—” Idon’t know what I would have done differently. I don’t.My next exhale is heavy as I wait for her response.
She presses her lips together, as if she doesn’t quite know what to make of what I’ve said, as if she’s hovering on the edge of disbelief and clarity.
I’m still trying to figure out what else needs to be said when a commotion rises from the back of the main building. Frustrated by the interruption, I let out a groan, eyes wandering as I seek out the source.Shit.Finneas, Henry, and Kiefer appear, stalking off toward the tree line like they’re on a mission, which they probably are. My brow furrows. They’ll be organizing putting all the parts in place as we get ready to reconstruct the bridge. Those chosen to work out there today with them trail in their wake, striding quickly through the high grass.
At a glance, I spot Arrow and Evren, followed by both of my brothers, with Gannon’s lazy ass bringing up the rear. They’ll have left Leif and Fenix to deal with the feeding of the animals and any other task they’re deemed old enough or strong enough or knowledgeable enough to deal with on their own. Aside from Cross and me, the only others notably absent are Nolan and Malakai.
“Iheardyou.” Those words have bite and steal my attention as they shoot from Delilah’s mouth. Each one impales me in the chest with their ferocity.
“What are you talking about?” I stare at her, scrambling to piece together what she’s referring to, then sneak a glance behind me. We’ve got an audience. As I begin backing her up to the tree, her eyes grow wide with distrust. In low tones, I murmur, “We’re being watched.” Pinning her to the tree, I make a show of putting a hand around her throat. The farther away the work crew gets, the better off we are, but I can’t take any chances. “It doesn’t matter what you want, Twenty-Three! You have no say. Next time just spread your thighs and accept the Hunting for what it is. It’s a fuckingprivilege,” I snarl loudly.
Her blue eyes flash, and they race over my features, assessing before they dart toward the group of men walking toward the woods. Instead of arguing, she thrashes in my hold, though only just enough for show.
With my body pressed to hers and our faces mere inches apart, we remain locked together. I breathe in her breath, and she takes in mine. I’m incapable of controlling the downward dart of my eyes to where her breasts are pressed against the wall of my chest. Gluttonous, hungry eyes study her, taking in the expanse of creamy, soft skin. They crash shut as what transpired in the gathering room earlier flickers through my mind, making the blood in my veins heat. My throat goes dry. She carries the evidence of that correction. Inside her.She bears marks from hands, bruises from fighting back all over her body.
I want to lie her down on the crisp, damp grass and take away what we did to her. I want to be with her again, but this time without the onlookers. Don’t want anyone to tell me it’s wrong. Don’t want to be punished for thoughts or actions. But more than anything, I want Delilah to want the things we do to her. Will she ever not hate me for my upbringing? My cock hardens behind my zipper, weeping at the idea of having a woman who desires me, who doesn’t shy away from my touch.
Fuck my father. Fuck his rules and demands. Fuck the Collective.
Shaken to my core, I open my eyes and stare into hers. She can’t possibly be aware of the path my thoughts have taken, yet her lips part and her chest hitches, a hard swallow working down the delicate column of her throat. Her mouth hardly moves when she finally clarifies her earlier statement for me. “I heard what you said in the woods.”
It takes me a few seconds to realize what she’s referring to. And we’re right back to where we were, her scowl quickly developing when I don’t immediately have anything to say. I release a frustrated exhale and let my gaze bore into hers for a count of three before I let it track closer to the forest and into the darkness it holds.
“In case you forgot, I’ll remind you,” she whispers pointedly. “You said you were looking forward toseeing how that disgusting man would—how did you put it?—oh yeah. Bring me to heel.” She clamps her lips shut and stares at me, furious indignation lighting her eyes. “As if I were a dog to be controlled.” She’s so angry, tears have sprung to her eyes.Why does that fight in her make my cock stiffen?“Oh wait. That’s right. All the men in this compound think I’m just another bitch to manip?—”
She never gets the remainder of her thought out. In the blink of an eye, my mouth crashes over hers, and I press my body more firmly against her naked one. Overcome by a base instinct, heat flames to life within my chest. While I grind my erection against her, I torture myself by nipping and licking at her lips, before pushing my tongue past them. A lusty groan rips from my throat as I give in to the taste and texture of her and the way every little noise she makes has my body demanding things I shouldn’t allow. If a single person were to see what I’m doing?—
