Blue Moon (Colors of the Moon #1)

Chapter 26

Ortiz's words echoed inside my mind, while I tried to convince myself that I must have heard him wrong. However, despite doubting my own ears, I edged an almost invisible step backwards.

"What?"

"I'm the one who put the peanuts into the lemonade."

My mouth fell open, not because of his admission, but because of the cold and direct manner in which he said it. I glanced at my left and right, trying to figure out which direction would be the wisest to run off into. Then again, with his werewolf speed there was no way I could out run him.

"Don't worry." He lifted his hands into the air and took a step backwards. "I promise I won't lay a single finger on you."

For a second I contemplated calling Jared, but then I remembered with what exactly he was preoccupied with. I refused to add another worry on his already too loaded shoulders. Especially not so soon after the almost kidnapping.

"Why are you doing this then?" I wrapped my arms around my middle and moved another step away from him.

"Because I don't want to keep lying to my own Alpha." Ortiz lowered his hands and leaned his back against the trunk of a nearby tree. "I'm going to tell him the truth, but first I thought I should clear things up with you."

"You want me to forgive you and convince Jared to do the same?"

"No." He shook his head. "I want you to stop living in fear of someone inside the pack being after you. I know what I did is wrong, but..."

"But?"

"But it was before I found out."

"Found out what?" I stopped thinking about taking another step backward, and instead focused solemnly on what he was telling me.

"That you're not just an obligation." He lowered his eyes onto the undergrowth in between the two of us. "Ever since we freed you from that hideout, I though Jared was only keeping you around because you were his mate. I didn't... I didn't know he thought of you as more than that."

"So... You put peanuts into the lemonade because..." I tried to understand what he'd just told me.

"Because I wanted to show Jared how weak you were." He slumped even further against the tree. "I wanted him to see how easy it would be for someone to harm a Luna like you and therefore, propel him to reject you. The peanuts were one of the ways I tried to achieve that."

"One?" As if a blindfold had been torn off my eyes, the incidents flashed in front of my eyes. "The underground floor. You're the one who locked me up and pushed me down the stairs."

"Yes." He nodded, while still keeping his eyes on the ground.

"And my clothes and the sheet."

"What?" He snapped his eyes up to mine.

"You destroyed all of my clothes and wrote the word hunter in red over my bed."

"Someone entered your room?"

"Y... Yes." I slowly drawled, while wondering why he would admit to some incidents, but deny others. It didn't make sense. Not unless...

"That wasn't me. I haven't done anything since Jared admitted he loves you." Ortiz narrowed his eyes. "When did it happen? Did you tell Jared about it?"

"Did she tell Jared about what?"

The cold female voice caused both Ortiz and I to turn around. With almost soundless steps Elena walked through the forest, and stopped a couple of steps away from us. Just as always she spared me nothing more than a fleeting glance before her cold eyes settled on her brother. Instead of the smile I expected her to shoot him, she observed him with an expressionless mask.