Page 31 of Resisted

“What exactly have I done to push you?” Oh, I knew. I knew every little thing I’d done that would piss him the fuck off. Hell, I knew there was far more than he even realized at this point.

“You went to my parent’s house for starters.” He widened his stance, trying to project power.

“You never specifically told me not to. I couldn’t tell Margret no.” I crossed my arms. We all knew I could tell Margret no, but the fact was, she hadn’t invited Silas. She’d known he would reject it, so she went around his authority. But why? What was Silas was so dead set on hiding from us?

“If anyone were to tell my mother no, it would be you.” He stepped into my personal space, and I sighed. So it was going to be one of those problem-solving sessions. I started rolling up my sleeves as he spoke again. “You knew I didn’t want you over there.”

“If I don’t know the why, how am I to deem your orders important?” I moved from my right sleeve to my left.

“Because I’m your fucking alpha, Vince. All orders are important.”

He had a point, except… “It was never a direct order.”

“What?”

“It was never a direct order,” I repeated.

He thought about it for a second and must have concluded that my assessment was true before he added, “But you knew I was staying away and had expressed a desire for you to do the same.”

“She had food.”

“You’re not a fucking kid. You can resist temptation.” Could I though? I was beginning to doubt it. Each time I looked at Bella, my mind flooded with images of her at the barbeque and inside the garage. Fuck, I wanted to resist her, I really did, but I was never the best at avoiding temptations and my eyes could never resist a glance at a plummeting neckline.

“Tell me why it is so fucking important that I stay away from a family function?” I questioned.

“It was my family function,” he said, trying to use that as an excuse, but it was completely invalid.

“We’ve been a subpack for a long fucking time. My family is your family, yours is mine.” Not like I had much family. Only two of my dads were still alive.

“I think you understand that this isn’t the point here,” he said with a growl.

I stepped closer. “All I’m trying to do is get to the fucking point, but you’re too busy pussyfooting around, avoiding it like a coward.”

I knew the blow was coming, but I didn’t try to stop it. When his fist connected with my eye, I let the force of it throw me back, making me stumble until my back hit the tree. He needed it, I knew. He needed to get his frustration out so we could get to the bottom of this, but I wasn’t about to make it easy. His fist raised again as he stepped forward, but I ducked under it, rounded his back, and wrapped my arm around his neck. He slipped out easily enough, but it bought me a few moments before he swung again.

It didn’t take long before we were in the pile on the dirt, both our frustrations being pounded out against the skin of our friend, our foe, our own damn family. I knew it wouldn’t solve much, but it sure as fuck was making me feel better, even as my eye was swelling shut and my fist ached.

I had just landed a blow that had him falling to his knees when I finally questioned him, my chest heaving. “What are you hiding?”

He just shook his head at me, the movement causing droplets of blood to pepper the dirt. I kneed him in the chest. “Tell me.”

He licked his lip, his tongue concentrating on the blood that poured out of the split. “You wouldn’t understand.”

I’d been his family for too fucking long for this bullshit. The fact that he doubted me hurt my feelings a bit. “Try me.”

His knuckle connected with my jaw, a blow I failed to block. “It’s complicated.”

We were shifters that hunted humans, in a world where shifters shouldn’t even exist. How fucking complicated could it be? “You’re making it complicated.”

I ducked under the swing, but the movement caused me to lose my footing and nearly fall back to the dirt. He paused, putting both hands on his hips as his chest rose and fell. His teeth dug into his lower lip, his eyes nearly glazed as he thought. “I don’t want you around Bella.”

“Me? What the fuck did I do? I’m not that fucking terrible of a person.” I wouldn’t deny that I’d had some questionable moments, but if I was good enough to babysit her as a child, I should be good enough to be around as an adult.

“Either of you.” I nearly reeled back from his words. Boyce was a fucking boy scout. I couldn’t imagine what had Silas so bent out of shape that he would lump the saint in the same column with me.

“Why?”

“It’s not your place to question your alpha,” he hissed.