Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 14926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 75(@200wpm)___ 60(@250wpm)___ 50(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 75(@200wpm)___ 60(@250wpm)___ 50(@300wpm)
She turned her head to the side as hot tears leaked from her eyes.
Ben kissed them away, the tenderness of his response only making her feel worse. He thought they were from the incredible orgasm, not the wracking guilt that darkened her chest. Easing out and settling beside her, he pulled her into his arms, kissing her face and hair, nibbling on her ear. “Te quiero… te amo.”
More tears. “I love you, too, Ben.”
He held her until her body stopped trembling and their temperature returned to normal.
“I’m going to go to the restroom and then I’ll make us some lunch,” she murmured, slipping out of his embrace. In the bathroom, she unzipped the cosmetic bag where she hid the pills and stared at them with disgust. Her stomach clenched and she wanted to throw up. If only she could throw up the half month’s worth she’d already taken. She wondered what would happen if she stopped taking them today. Was there still a chance for pregnancy? And if so, would the baby be healthy, or would the pills cause some abnormality?
The sound of the door opening behind her made her jump and gasp, yanking her hand with the pills behind her back as she spun to face Ben.
He froze.
It was stupid to try to trick him—he had shifter instincts she couldn’t understand. His hearing and eyesight were ten times better than hers.
His expression showed nothing, but any doubt she had of whether he saw something faded when he said in a deadly voice, “What’s that, Ash?”
Tears of shame immediately spilled from her eyes as she reluctantly brought her hand forth to show him. “I’m sorry,” she said, spreading her fingers to show him the pills.
He stared, a look of disbelief clouding his face. “What is that?” he repeated.
He was going to make her say it. She couldn’t meet his eyes. Staring at the pills, she repeated, “I’m sorry, Ben.” Her voice cracked on the words. “I’ve been lying to you. I—I just didn’t know if I was ready to have children.”
Ben hadn’t moved. He stood deathly still. “Why lie?”
More tears spilled down her cheeks. “I just—” Her shoulders sagged. “The first time you brought it up, I wasn’t really thinking straight and after that… I don’t know. I was a coward, I guess. I was afraid.”
He took a step—not toward her, but backwards. “You were afraid of me?” His voice was so quiet, so devoid of emotion, like the blankness on his face, that it frightened her.
“Ben—” She stopped. What else was there to say? She had no excuse, no explanation for a deceit she’d allowed to go on for far too long for him to forgive. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He turned away, peeling off his shirt as he walked away. Which meant he was going to shift. She stood in the bathroom door, watching as he shed his pants in the hallway and transformed with liquid grace into an enormous black wolf.
“Ben,” she called out, inanely.
He didn’t turn to look back before he nosed out the dog door, disappearing.
The house had never felt so hollow.
2
Ben couldn’t believe it. He loped off, up into the foothills, his mind and body numb. They had purposely rented a house near the wilderness so he could roam at will in wolf form, and he ran up the steep side of a mountain face now, wanting to run forever.
Ashley had lied to him. She’d betrayed his trust. But even worse, it had been because she was afraid to tell him the truth. That fact had hit him like a fist in the gut. What kind of mate was he if his female couldn’t even talk to him about the things that were important to her?
Because he’d never witnessed an ounce of cowardice in Ashley. Even as a human, she had alpha female written all over her—confident, whip-smart, and a social genius. She could wrap anyone around her finger. She’d dared joke with him on her interview, even though she’d been nervous. And she’d kept opening her heart to him, when he’d repeatedly shut her down.
So to hear she feared him meant she hadn’t forgiven him or forgotten the way he’d marked her. It meant they didn’t have any level of trust between them.
Images of his mother, cowering from his father’s wrath, flashed before his eyes. He ran faster, over the rocky terrain, the cold February wind blowing through his fur. He’d always feared he’d become his father. It was why he hadn’t wanted to lead his brother’s pack, and hadn’t looked for a mate. But you can’t escape your parentage, it seemed.
The loving, trusting relationship his brother so easily modeled with his wife and he’d foolishly thought he might find with Ashley was not for wolves like him. The gray day turned colder, the higher he climbed. Time and distance fell away and he reached the tree line, where snow still covered the ground. Fresh snow began to fall.