Page 29

She seemed bored here, because I often saw her sitting at the grand piano in our living room, playing.

She had already tried three times to persuade me to play, but I had politely declined each time, because even though I enjoyed listening to this type of music, I was all thumbs when it came to playing instruments.

I stared at the crammed shelves.

Maybe there were more things I envied Alarik for after all...

My little brother, Finn, would be able to do whatever he wanted, just like him. I wouldn't force him to do anything. I wouldn't be able to force him.

Damn, my father and I were so alike. And I hated it. Because every day, he showed me how wrong it was to be yourself.

With a sense of inner turmoil, I straightened up, ready to leave the room, when my cell phone slipped out of my pocket and fell onto the soft carpet.

“Shit,” I cursed silently, hoping no one had heard me.

Emely had almost caught me the other day, but I had just managed to climb along the wall around the house.

I reached for my phone as the display lit up.

I froze.

Her smile still triggered a reaction on my skin that spread across my entire body, giving me goose bumps on my arms and the back of my neck, while at the same time igniting warmth in every pore of my existence. It was a smile that you could feel all over your body, that consumed you and made you want to sink into it, drown in it...

I almost smiled back. But the destructive present devoured the light of my sun like a shadow, separating me further from the only warmth I desired.

I had stopped texting her back then, even though I stared at our chat history every night, and her unanswered messages stung like thirty-four needle pricks along the outer layer of my heart.

I had tried to forget this incredibly charming girl, breaking her heart and leaving her behind with all her fake friends.

I had hoped she would make it, that she would get over me and lead a normal human life. A beautiful one, just like she deserved, far away from Blairville, at a university where she would meet someone who could love her uncomplicatedly.

Her smile. How could anyone not fall in love with her?

My heart began pounding.

The mere thought of other men laying eyes on her, of another man's hands around her waist, ate away at my mind like a threatening cancer, but everything would be better than a relationship with the son of an Alpha.

She no longer belonged to me, was no longer part of my life. At least, that's what everyone thought. The reality was different.

Unfortunately for her, she had stayed here, and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a selfish euphoria at the thought of her being near me.

Nothing would ever happen to her outside her house. I had already made sure of that.

But to make matters worse, her brother had died.

Her smile was gone, as were the flowers on her clothes and the sparkle in her eyes.

It seemed easy to protect her from the physical dangers of this town, but impossible to keep the emotional ones away from her.

I had failed. And I didn't know how much longer I could watch Mady fall.

Chapter 5

Bayla

Numb3rs

Jay Varton