Page 24 of Resisted

She didn’t invite me, which led me to believe that my mother might’ve been scheming. Maybe it was already fucking working, because Vince made nobody coffee but himself. “You didn’t tell me you were going.”

“I figured you were invited and opted out of it.” Another smirk behind the coffee mug. “Plus, you never told me not to visit your parents without you.”

“It should’ve been a given.”

“Why? Because you need your hand held each time?” he challenged. “I don’t. Therefore, I went without your assistance.”

I growled, and the glass chandelier above us shook, making tiny little clinking noises. “I demanded you stay away.”

“Why is that, Silas?” Bella cut in.

“None of your business, Belladonna. This is a conversation between Vince and me.”

“No.” She stepped forward, placing her body between mine and Vince’s. “You do not get to talk down to him like he did something wrong.”

“By disobeying my orders, they both did something wrong.” She stared me down, and for once, it was me who looked away. “Why are you here, Bella?”

“Because you’ve been avoiding me.”

I had. “I have not.”

“No?” The stubborn set of her chin told me I was about to lose this battle, when I hadn’t even realized I was in one. “Prove it.”

“I’m not proving shit.” I kept my gaze locked on hers, the purple nearly unsettling to look at. “Why are you here so damn early?”

She smirked, a slightly sinister look taking over. “Well as it turns out, we had a pipe break during the night. My room’s flooded. Could be weeks before the situation is taken care of.”

“What does that have to do with me? Or any of us, for that matter?”

“Well, since you clearly aren’t avoiding me and I have no other real place to go, Mom said I could crash here until the repairs are done.” She looked victorious as she dared me to challenge her, and I wanted to. I wanted to challenge her so damn badly, but then that would only prove her point. It would only verify what she suspected. It would mean she won.

“Okay.”

She raised a brow. “Okay?”

I felt the air in the room shift, felt the tightly coiled muscles of the men around me as they fought to object, but I ignored it. If they wanted to be alpha, they could challenge me and decide themselves. Besides, neither of my men knew the truth. If they did, I would’ve known by now. All I needed to do was keep things cordial until her room was repaired and she was back to her normal living situation. Easy enough.

“Okay.”

She looked between everyone and nodded, probably a little too eagerly. “Okay then, I’ll be back later.”

She put down her empty mug and walked toward the door. Whatever happened to savoring the flavor of coffee? She’d downed that cup in no time. I followed her. “Do you need help?”

It was an empty offer, one I really didn’t want to follow through with. Partially because then I would be forced to see my mother face-to-face, and I wasn’t ready to see her gleaming eyes and knowing grins. I would have words with my mother, that was for sure. Whatever she did to set this up had gone too damn far.

“I’ll get it. If I needed any help, I’m sure I could get someone to lend a hand.” It was infuriating that she felt she couldn’t depend on me. Like yeah, I might’ve been avoiding her, but I’d never given her reason to trust my word. “I’ll call you later.”

She walked away, heading straight for her car as the sun just crested the horizon. When she pulled away, I turned, only to see Boyce and Vince’s eyes on me. “What?”

“She cannot stay here.” Vince’s voice sounded strained. “She cannot.”

“Looks like she is,” Boyce added, though I could tell even he wasn’t too thrilled.

This was going to suck. It was absolutely going to be a fucking nightmare, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out how I let my mother and the child she’d raised manipulate me so damn quickly. But my subpack was strong, we always had been, and if anyone could survive and not fall victim to the mate curse, it was us. We could do it. Together.

“Well get through it. It’s only a few weeks,” I responded as I slammed the door.

“I sure hope so,” Vince mumbled as he headed back to his room. “But you and I know how quick a few weeks can turn into a lifetime.”