Territory - Prequel (24 page)

“Look at her Dell.” Cindy continued, “You’re hurting her.  You’re hurting your mate.”

Chloe felt Dell
carefully
peel
his hands from her.  Slowly, Chloe
eased off the wall
, noting that Dell had stopped growling
.  She
pulled away from him and
inched her way toward Cindy. 

Cindy held up a hand indicating that Chloe should stop so Chloe froze in mid-step.  She watched Cindy for several tense moments as Cindy spoke
to her.  “He’s
not himself right now.  He’s too fresh from the fight.  He was aroused
when he found you
with another
viable male
.  His wolf assumed you
were trying to mate another.  W
hen
he scented your blood
..
.”  Cindy tore her eyes from Dell to look at Chloe,
“Please don’t judge him by this.
H
e cannot control his wolf right now.  The need to claim you is driving him insane.”

Dell growled and Cindy’s eyes slid back to him, “
Your enemy is dead.  You’re mate is safe.  She’s not going anywhere.”

The hell I’m not.
  The instant it was safe, Chloe had every intention of running from the compound and never returning.
  She stared at Cindy and watched as the other woman’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Chloe?”

The regret and pain in Dell’s voice was so strong that Chloe nearly turned to look at him.  She caught herself
before she did. 
She k
n
ew
it was finally safe, that Dell ha
d regained control of himself.
A sob tore loose as she
ran from the room brushing past Cindy.  She didn’t even return to Dell’s room for her things.  She dashed out to her car and pulled the keys from where sh
e’d left them
t
ucked
in the visor. 
She raced from the compound without looking back.

Chapter
20

“So how was your weekend with Captain Yummy?”  Marissa stood in the doorway to Chloe’s office with her legs crossed at the ankle, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand.

Chloe rolled her eyes, “
Captain Yummy?” 
It was
Wednesday
and she’d successfully avoided Marissa all week long only to be cornered in her own office. 
She sighed in exasperation, “It was fine
.”

“
It was fine
!” Marissa’s gra
y eyes saucered in incredulity.
“Come on Chlo
.  You gotta giv
e me more than that. 
Please don’t be stingy with the details.”

Chloe continued to type, her posture stiff.  She’d been trying to forget Dell since Sunday and the last thing she needed was her
friend hounding her about him, the week had already been long enough. 
“Look,” she stopped typing and turned to face Marissa.  “
I spent the weekend with Dell Blackbird.  Nothing happened.”

Marissa uncrossed her ankles, her mouth falling open as she closed the distance to Chloe.  “Dell Blackbird?”

“
He’s Mace’s brother.  Nothing
is
happening, and nothing is
ever
going to happen between us.  It was a polite night out as a form of peacekeeping between our families.”

Marissa’s shoulders visibly slumped.  “Oh.” She didn’t try to hide the disappointment in her tone.  “That’s a damn shame, cuz he’s the finest piece of ass I’ve seen in a really long time.”

Chloe rolled her eyes
again
and turned back to her computer.

“Knock, knock
.  Special delivery.”

Chloe turned to the door and the annoying front desk secretary
,
who stood beaming at Chloe holding a vase
full
of two dozen
yellow
roses
.

“Somebody’s got a special admirer.
  Yellow, symbolic of a new beginning.
”
  The secretary strolled in and placed the vase on Chloe’s desk
and winked at her, “What have you been starting?”  She didn’t wait for an answer as she s
troll
ed
back out of the office.

As much as she didn’t want to, Chloe let h
er eyes find Marissa who stood gaping
at her with an ear-to-ear grin.

“
Polite night out my ass!
  You don’t get flowers like that for nothing sister.”

Chloe opened her mouth to argue, but when Marissa plucked the card from the f
lowers Chloe jumped to her feet, bumping her hip that had been wounded during Dell’s fight with Hayden
.  She winced but still managed a shrill, “
Give me that
!
”

Marissa waggled the card at her, “If you’ve got nothing to hide
.
”

Chloe blanched in horror watching as Marissa tore open the small envelope and pulled out the card. 
Dear God please don’t let him apologize for
attacking me
!

Marissa read the card silently, her grin sliding slowly from her face before she peered up at Chloe, “Geez Chlo, what happened?”

Chloe snatched the card and
rea
d
the two lone words.  ‘Forgive me.’ 
Tears sprang forth, but she blink
ed them back.  “Nothing,” she lied
tucking the
card
back into the flowers
an
d returning to her desk.  “He must be
apologizing
for his family’s
role in my brother’s death.”

“It’s none of my business,” Marissa bent to sniff the flowers, “but it seems to me like he’s interested.  If he’s not a bad guy, you should give him a chance.”

Reclaiming her sea
t and c
ontinuing to type with her spine rod straight, Chloe pursed her lips.  “Well, for your information he
is
a bad guy, so no, I’m not giving him a chance.”

Marissa sighed heavily and shrugged.  “What a waste.”

***

Dell hoisted the axe high over his head and brought it down, using his arm strength to project it through the log that sat on end.  The log split
in
two and fell away.

“We have enough fire wood.” Cindy strolled toward Dell and cracked open a can of soda before handing it to him.

He ignored the offered drink and grabbed another log, standing it on end and lifting the axe.

“Seriously bro, we couldn’t burn that much wood in
six
winters.”  She was hoping levity would open the door to conversation.  When it didn’t work she did what always seemed to work for her and got right to the point.  “
Dell, she’ll forgive you she just needs time.”

Despite the cool air, his coat was tossed aside and his button up shirt was halfway undone, the sleeves rolled up to reveal corded forearms.  “Would you forgive a
man that murdered another in front of you then attacked you for nearly being raped
?”

Cindy winced.  “Well when you put it like that, no.”

“There’s no other way to put it.”  Dell continued to chop wood, sweat dripping down his forehead and off the tip of his nose.

“Sure there is.”  Cindy grabbed an uncut log and set it on end as a make shift seat before sitting on it and taking a sip of her brother’s unwanted soda.  “We aren’t
like them Dell.  There are rules, protocol.  She understands that.  You’re an Alpha that
has yet to
assert dominance over his soon to be claimed mate. 
It made you temporarily irrational. 
You wouldn’t have hurt her.”

With one final chop, Dell let the axe stay embedded in the block he used as he straightened and ran a sleeve over his face.  “Clearly she doesn’t understand that.”  He jerked the axe free with one hand, “And in case
you missed it, I did hurt her.” 

“Well, you can’t just let her go.”

“And what do you suggest I do?”

Cindy shrugged negligently, “I dunno. 
You want me to bring her back?”

He stopped chopping to frown at his sister.  “I thought you said she needed time.”

Eyeing him over the rim of the can as she took a healthy drink of the soda, she righted it and shook her head.  “I just say that type of shit
‘
cause it’s what people expect to hear
from a woman, but i
f I were you I’d
hide in her parking lot until she came out then toss her in the trunk and drag her back up here ‘till she saw things my way!”

Laughter erupted from Dell and he shook his head, “I have no idea why you’re not the Alpha.”

Cindy smiled too, “
Yeah that
makes two of us!”

Chapter
21

By the end of the wee
k
Chloe
missed
Dell
terribly
, at least she hoped that was the emotion she was feeling.  A
steady dull ache had
settled itself in the center of her chest
, and it
was reminiscent of the pain she’d suffered over the loss of her brother.  Only this was worse.  It was self-inflicted and could be cured at any time. 
But she didn’t want to run back to Dell.  She was still afraid of what had h
appened.  She’d replayed the scenario a dozen times in her head and she couldn’t help but admit her fault in the whole situation.  She should have gone after Dell when Hayden ente
red the room.  She never should
have allowed him to get close, to touch her. 

She knew what Dell had seen when he entered the room
,
How
humiliating!
  He’d warned her of the consequences of being n
ear another male, but she had never
believed things could go so far. 

She shook her head remembering how he’d
slammed her into the wall.  He’d been in a jealous rage.  Over her
.
  She realized now that he
’d been
attempting to assert his dominance to make her submit.  It was so easy to forget that he was part animal.  Wild, virile, uncontrollable. 

The most humiliating thing of all wasn’t being nearly taken against her will and it wasn’t his sister walking in on them and having to talk him
down from ‘teaching her
her place’, it was the fact that after all that had
happened
she still
wanted him. 
It was inexplicable
.  Hell, it had taken her a full day to even realize that he’d taken a life for her. 

Hayden deserved to die.
  He’d crossed the line that she’d heard Dell warn him of several times, and he’d paid with his life. 
She shivered at the memory of his rough hands on her. 
When he told her Dell wouldn’t want her once he’d
claimed
her, she’d been terrified, which was ridiculous because she’d been more afraid of Dell not wanting her than of Hayden actually raping her.
 
What in the hell is wrong with me?
  She knew something had to be for her to be
dying to see Dell, to be near him, to touch him after all that had occurred. 
No sane woman would ever consider seeing him again.
  Perhaps it was the mating bond he spoke of, but she couldn’t shake him.  She actually feared never seeing him again.
  She also feared the consequences and repercussions of Hayden’s death.

She wondered if anyone was looking for Hayden, if they’d trace him to the compound, if Dell would be arrested.  The thought was terrifying.  She could be implicated, she’d been there. 
She’d noticed that when Hayden died that he had stayed in his wolf form, which was a relief.  It’d be much easier to dispose of the body that way.

Dispose of the body
?
  Listen to me, I sound like a psychopath!
  She reached for her phone and swiped it on, touching the picture icon that would dial her mother.

“Hello?”

“Hey Ma, it’s me.”

“Chloe, everything alright
?
”

“Yeah,” she lied, “are you free?  Do you wanna have dinner?”

There was rustling on the other end of the line.  “Well I was just
lying
down, but sure.  Can you give me fifteen to freshen up?”

“Sure.  Do you wanna meet at the new steak house
by the fairgrounds
in thirty-minutes?”