The Haunted Memories (Forgotten Series, #4)

Memory IX

"I have twenty." I smiled brightly at the two face cards I had in my hand as I put them down on the bedspread.

Arlo flipped his cards and gave another sigh. "Nineteen. You win again." He looked a bit perturbed as I scraped all the poker chips towards myself with a big grin. "You are a verifiable card shark." He pointed to my rather large pile of poker chips and I eyed up his small handful.

"I guess you shouldn't have taught me how to play." I started sorting my chips as he gathered the cards.

"I'm sure it just beginner's luck." He shuffled the cards and I carefully put each chip into the right pile before tossing a few into the space between us. Arlo was teaching me card games and the newest one was blackjack. I was beating him pretty badly at it if my large piles of chips were anything to go by.

He dealt out another round and tossed a few of his chips into the pot. I picked my cards up and frowned at the thirteen in my hand. I tapped the covers and he gave me another card. I frowned at the three he had gave me and held out my hand for another one. I gave a small chirp of excitement at the five and threw my cards down.

"Twenty-one!" I grinned widely as he out a groan and pushed the chips towards me.

"I regret teaching you this game." Despite the words a smile tugged at his mouth. I giggled at him as I wiggled in my spot, rattling my poker chips.

"I don't!" I had rarely won at anything growing up so the fact I was actually able to win at something was a new feeling for me and I liked it. I threw more chips into the middle, eager to start another round.

The door opened and my mood immediately fell, even Arlo's shoulders slumped as if a heavy weight had been pushed onto them.

"Why is she still in bed?" Malak's voice was overly controlled and Arlo let out a small sigh as I wrapped my arms around my stomach. "She isn't even dressed." It was a heavy warning that laced his voice and I watched through my eyelashes as Arlo pulled his broad shoulders back as if gathering courage.

"She wasn't feeling well and asked if we could stay in the room for the day." He gestured to me and I stared at the covers of the bed, letting my hair fall in front of my face, hiding away from Malak. "I figured that it would be best for her to be here to be more comfortable." Being in the bedroom did make me more comfortable. It didn't look so strange for me to dash to the attached bathroom as it did for me to run across the pack house searching for one that wasn't occupied.

I could feel his eyes on me, even though my hair hid me from his gaze. "You are still sick?" He gritted the words out and I swallowed hard. I didn't want to be punished for what my body was doing. I couldn't control it.

"I-I didn't want to bother you with it, Alpha." An upset stomach wasn't anything I knew he cared about. Telling him would result in complete coldness as everything I said or did. I wasn't to truly speak. It was what my position was in life.

His large hand gripped my chin tightly and he yanked my face up so he could meet my eyes. "You are to tell me everything you are feeling." His words were just as icy as his dark eyes and I lowered my gaze to the new bruise he had on his jaw. Him and Nexus were fighting a lot more than usual.

"I'm sorry." It was a faint whisper that I knew he didn't care about as he let go of my chin. I let my gaze fall back to the bedspread.

"What are you two doing?" His voice held a heated anger and a rather large amount of censure.

"I taught her how to play card games." Arlo's voice was rather light and carefree, as if he wanted to remove the heaviness that Malak's presence had caused. "She's a real card shark. She's practically stealing all my chips." He sounded proud of me but all I was aware of was Malak's gaze on me. My body loved it, craved it, but my mind was so repelled by it. I was torn down the middle again. My stomach rolled unpleasantly and I swallowed convulsively.