Page 81 of Resisted

BELLA

Oh,they were going to be mad. I had no doubt about it. How fucking dare they assume I wasn’t equipped enough to join in on the mission to save Silas? I was strong enough, even if I couldn’t shift. I was small enough to hide in small places, a point I was only proving right now buy stowing away in the back of Vincent’s SUV. And smart? I was a damn genius sometimes.

“She’s really mad,” I heard Vincent mutter, more to himself than to Boyce. “Really mad.”

Damn right I was really mad. They didn’t even give me a chance to prove that I could be helpful. Just sent me inside, where I proceeded to lock myself in my room, blare my music loudly, then sneak out my window and into their vehicle when their backs were turned.

“She didn’t even answer me when I knocked to tell her we were leaving,” Boyce mused. “It was probably her awful music she had blaring.”

Guilty. That was what the music was for—it was easier to pretend to ignore them if they thought I couldn’t hear them. But my music wasn’t awful, and I’d make him pay for that assessment later. My stomach tightened at the thought of making Boyce pay. What sweet retribution that would be. I imagined he wouldn’t be anything like Vincent was in the bedroom. Where Vincent was rough, Boyce had a softer and gentle quality.

“The awful music definitely had something to do with it,” Vincent added.

How. Dare. He? Like, how dare he? The audacity of that man. The fucking audacity. Sure, his cock was exquisite, but when he was acting like he had today, the cock became less alluring and the desire to punch him in his perfect face grew stronger by the second.

The interior of the vehicle grew quiet, both men pondering their own thoughts for a while, until Vincent broke the silence. “If he’s dead…”

Fates. “He won’t be.”

“But if he is, promise me you will take care of her, because I’m going after whoever did this to him and I won’t stop until every one of them is dead.”

“Easy, Rambo.” Boyce rolled his neck. “We go at this together. We’ve got Roth and his men. We’ve got our animals. We’ve got weapons. We are a hundred percent more prepared to take them on then they will ever be to take us.”

“Just promise me, asshole.” He slammed his head against the headrest before twisting to look at Boyce. “Silas never told her. And one of us needs to stay for her.”

Told me what? I really wished I knew. In fact, I was kicking myself twenty times over for not just letting him tell me before I fell asleep, but the moment had been perfect. His body had been warm against mine, and for a moment at least, we’d fit. We made sense. I knew if I’d let him talk, it would’ve ruined it all. Didn’t I deserve a moment with him, one where he wasn’t angry or mad, he was just relaxed, at peace? Well, as at peace as a man like Silas would ever get.

“I’m not making you any fucking promises,” Boyce said, finally responding to Vincent. “I won’t even entertain the idea that you won’t make it. We’ll all be home by sunrise. Bella will hardly notice we’re gone.”

I resisted the urge to snort. Hardly know they were gone? Sort of impossible when I was riding around with them to destinations unknown. Not like they knew that, of course. The conversation lapsed and the motion of the car started to soothe me. In fact, I was so relaxed that I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes to a flashlight being shined in my face and a furious Vincent watching me.

I opened my mouth to say something witty, but all thoughts vanished when I saw an equally angry Roth standing over his shoulder. Roth was intimidating on any given day, but when he was angry? Shit, I wanted to claw my way up the seats of the Jeep and escape through the open passenger side door. Roth’s anger didn’t show. It radiated off him in waves so strong that my wolf quivered inside of me, whimpering and whining at his disapproval.

“She snores,” I heard Gage inform the others as he walked away from where I was in Vincent’s vehicle. I wanted to argue his lies, but I was paralyzed in place by the fuming anger of the pack alpha.

“Explain,” Roth ordered, and fuck, he didn’t have to ask me twice. Words were already spilling from my mouth before I could stop them.

“I wanted to help. I can help. Silas…”I paused, not knowing what exactly to say except, well, the truth. “He’s mine to protect.”

“You should not have come.” He looked at Vincent. “But from what I know, it’s always hard for a mate to stay away.”

“Oh, I’m not their—” But I looked at both Boyce and Vincent, seeing panic clearly setting into their faces as they looked at Roth, slowly shaking their heads.

“Oops,” Roth said, his voice holding literally no emotion or feeling, as if he hadn’t singlehandedly shattered my world and then shaken the pieces until all that was left were shards. He turned to the boys. “Figure this out.”

Roth walked away, and neither Vincent nor Boyce tried to speak. They both looked at me like I was a bomb that was going to rapidly detonate at any moment. My heart pounded, but deep down, Roth’s words rang true. But maybe I already knew it. Maybe this whole time, I’d known these men belonged to me, even though I had no physical proof. But if they knew, then…

“You knew,” I stated. “How long?”

“Silas, apparently years. I didn’t find out until we fucked. Boyce… I think he learned the night before Silas left,” Vincent answered before he sighed, the heaviness drawing at his face. “Look, baby, we never wanted to hurt you, and I know Silas was going to tell you. I sure as fuck didn’t want you to hear about it from Roth.”

I bit my lip, trying to will the tears that were welling in my eyelashes not to fall, but I knew it was useless. They trailed down my cheeks, anyway. It hurt, but the hurt was going to do me no fucking good because regardless of how I’d found out, the fact remained that these men were mine and it was my duty to help protect them.

I took a deep breath in before letting it out slowly. “I want to help.”

“Bella—” Boyce began, but I cut him off.

“No. None of you get to Bella me and treat me like a fragile princess. I get a say. If what Roth said is true…” I knew it was down to my very core, now that the words were out. “Then it’s my job to protect him as much as it is his to protect me.”