In the Land of Gods and Monsters

Chapter Thirteen

When I awoke, the sun shone brightly from the large window near the bed, and for a moment I was content. I smiled lazily at the trees swaying gently in the October breeze and forgot for a minute why I was there altogether.

But reality snuck in with a knock on the door.

"Poppy, do you want to come down for some food?" Ezra asked from behind the door. I waited for a beat to decide whether to respond or feign sleep once again.

"No," I eventually called back.

"Can I come in?" he asked, his voice softer.

"Okay," I said quietly. Hearing this somehow, the door clicked open and he strode toward me. I gazed up at him quizzically from the middle of the bed.

"I'm truly, wholeheartedly, sorry," he began. "You are the most beautiful, smartest woman in the world. And you could never be a disappointment to me."

I scoffed a little at this and sat up in the plush bed.

"I accept your apology, but I won't forget your actions," I leveled.

"I can appreciate that," he replied, though his face revealed his dejection.

"I need to go back to school now," I said, swinging my feet over the side of the bed.

"Poppy, come on."

I glanced back in his direction.

"You said you would take me back today, are you going to break that promise?" I asked.

"Poppy, it's for your own safety, please, please try to understand."

"Get out," I said, staring straight into his sad, puppy dog eyes, and jamming my finger toward the door. "If that's what you have to say for yourself, then get out."

He stalked toward the door and threw it back open dramatically. He turned to face me, and perhaps check to see if I was serious, and when he was assured I was for real, he stomped out of the room and slammed the door casually behind him.

I groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

******

"So, why are you in Massachusetts again?"

"Mom, I told you, my apartment got broken into, and Ezra offered to come pick me up and stay with him for a few days because I was scared," I lied.

"This is the boy at our house over the summer?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Yup."

"You're going back to school, right?"

"Of course," I lied again.

"Okay, well, stay safe then sweetheart. I'll call you tomorrow to check-in, but the restaurant is getting busy now, so I have to go."

"Okay Mom, love you."

"Love you too," she said. The line went dead and I tossed my phone onto the bed. I felt awful lying to my mom but I wasn't sure how to tell her the truth. That my werewolf mate was holding me hostage on his pack lands in Massachusetts after his brother kidnapped me in a plot to get land, and I was banned from returning to school to prevent a second kidnapping.