The Mates of Monsters

Chapter 35

I tug at the blanket around my naked body and say, "David, there's something I didn't tell you. Something I asked Tarlo to keep to himself as well. I'm assuming he kept his word and didn't mention anything about a visitor while you were with your father."

I take his silence as a hint to continue. "It was Aurora. She came out of the blue and said she wanted to talk to me. She wanted the truth regarding what happened between Nicodra and me up North."

David questions, "And you told her the truth?"

"Yes. I did. And she wasn't mad about it. She didn't seem surprised at all. Aurora is very aware of how her mate can be." I swallow and say quietly, "He hurts her, David. She showed me a horrible bruise on her arm."

He says something under his breath, a string of curses or a call to the Goddess. I forget about my stupid injury and turn to face him, sliding my knees up and my feet under myself, like a mermaid toweled, fresh out of the ocean. He glances over. "She needs help. S-She asked for my help. If it weren't for the baby, she wouldn't have, I know it. But even then I didn't promise her I would because..." My chest aches. "She wants him dead."

David gives me a look of disbelief as he releases his breath.

"Aurora asked me to help her, and-and I'd be lying if I tell you I didn't think about saying yes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about how to do it-to get away with it. She told me she wants to do it when they're here this month."

He gets off of the bed, and for a moment, I think he's going to storm out.

"I know now that I can't. But I also can't leave her and her baby-"

"Don't," he cuts me off, "don't say another word."

I close my lips and move on the bed as he moves around the room.

"You waited, what, a week to tell me this? Damn it, Brigette."

His tone sends a shudder through my body. I frown and panic like a child in trouble, needing to do what I must to avoid another grounding. "I know, okay? I know I should have told you-"

"You know you should have but you didn't, did you? You were considering murdering an Alpha on our land, but you thought it best to keep this from me?"

"David, I-"

"You would have gotten yourself killed. Fuck's sake," he mutters. "You go behind my back to piss him off, and I forgive you, Brigette. I support you with the Union and get you his spot. Now you tell me you planned on getting me in a bigger mess when we haven't even fixed the first one. Do you know the consequences of killing another Alpha like that? Do you? Of course you don't! Because in your mind once he's dead, everyone would be safe, right? Everything is fine except for the fact that you'd be completely fucking me and my pack!"

My teeth grind together so furiously that I think they might crack. I take the ice pack from the comforter and throw it at him, hitting his chest, doing no damage but satisfying the anger bubbling up within me. I get off the bed and storm to the door, jerking away when he comes to stop me. "Don't touch me," I warn, speaking very clearly. I yank the door open and immediately walk out.

Breathing hard enough to pop my lungs, I enter the spare room where most of my clothes are, where my luggage is and my passport and my money. I grab a pair of underwear and pull them on under the blanket, then I drop the dense thing to strap on my bra. My guilt and shame are cured by only one thought: leaving.

David comes to the open doorway and watches as I drag my suitcase into the middle of the floor. "You don't get to leave," he says, no longer yelling, but not any less angry.