Talons

Chapter 158: The Payback

Rhea's POV

Since Colton thinks so low of me, I might as well own it, so I make my way over to Trey who became engrossed in working out from the moment Ken started talking to me.

"You know, if you wanted to say those things to me, you should have just said them yourself." Trey nearly crushes his chest with the barbell after my words, and after helping him the men around scatter like bugs.

"W- what are you talking about?"

"Come on, don't play dumb. Ken told me that you told him what to say."

"Are you f*cking joking?"

"No, I just wanted to talk to the man who wrote that he’s crazy about me in person." Trey tries to run, but I grab hold of his arm, and by now the men around know exactly what I'm doing. 

Trey is a man, and since he thought it was appropriate to test my ‘loyalty’ to my ‘mate’ then it's only right that I test his loyalty toward his alpha. 

Even the slightest hint of arousal could make Colton react aggressively because that's what the mate bond does to people. However, I don’t plan to let it get physical, I just want to teach them both a lesson they desperately need to learn.

"Please Luna, show mercy." 

"Are you not interested anymore?" I'm yanked away from Trey and feel Colton's huge arms wrap around me in a possessive manner.

"Mine," he growls, making me roll my eyes.

"Alpha," I say, turning to face him with a smile. "You're very kind to allow your men to be open about their inner thoughts regarding me." Pure confusion crosses his face as he struggles to figure out who he is angry with, but there is no one to blame except himself. "It takes a very secure man to do that. Also, you were right about Ken, I really like him, and I would like him to be my personal guard.”

“He can’t-”

“Thank you,’ I interject, pressing a kiss to Colton’s cheek. “He is perfect.” 

Colton's POV

Rhea is twisting her words around with Trey, so while it sounds like she's flirting, she's actually just questioning him, but Orlin pushes to the surface, and I can't stop my feet from moving.

I find myself conflicted, knowing that my gamma wrote the words under my command, and when Rhea turns her attention toward me, my mind starts to implode. I gave Trey permission… I picked a man she likes.

"What were we thinking?”  Orlin questions, not sure how to respond, but when Rhea tells me she wants Ken to be her personal guard, we snap out of our stupor and react, only the words get trapped in my mind when Rhea thanks me, and kisses my cheek, leaving me unable to respond.

I just stare at her perfect body as she leaves the gym, and it’s not until I hear people laughing at me that I shake my head in confusion.

“What the f*ck just happened?” I ask, drawing out more laughter.

“I think you just got played in your own game,” Dolton replies, but there’s a hint of some other emotion in his tone.

“Just say what you need to say. I don’t like when you hold back your words with me.” Dolton screws up his face before shrugging. 

“How could you have done that to her and in a public setting.” I look around the room, wondering what my brother is talking about because no one seems to be as put off as Trey and I. He feels like sh*t for ‘betraying’ his alpha, and I feel like crap for ordering it.

“Maybe you didn’t notice but Rhea clearly won that round, ask anyone.” Dolton rubs his temples and I feel like I’m missing something. “What?”

“Alpha, if I may.” I turn to see Ken, who I really don’t want to look at, but it's my own fault. “Your luna… I think her feelings were actually hurt.”

“She looked fine-” It takes me all a few seconds to realize that Rhea’s reputation isn’t all that great and even though they are lies, I made it appear as though I was worried about them.

“Everyone in this room knows that my luna is not what people have said she was, right?” Several nods and grunts go around, and it’s obvious that they have only just put two and two together. “How the f*ck could I be so stupid?”

“It’s the bond,” another member of my pack adds. “I was like you in the beginning too, always comparing myself to others, but in the end, I was always the one who was hurt.”

It takes me all of one minute to realize that B is blaming herself for my actions, and although she made her point, she is clearly not happy that she had to.

I run out of the gym, hoping to catch up to her before she locks herself in her room, but I’m too late. I knock at the door, pleading with her to open it, and when she does, I’m almost instantly aroused.

I’ve never seen her fresh out the shower with hair still wet, and skin still flushed from the heat. I swallow deeply at how beautiful she is, and my desire almost gets the best of me before she metaphorically hits me in the gut.

“How was your date with Mike?” She asks.

Rhea’s POV

I can’t believe that Colton could go so far, and while my feelings are a little hurt, I’m more upset that he didn’t just ask me about Mike.

If he did, he would have known that my feelings for the man died the night he decided that his physical needs superseded his respect for me.

I climb out of the shower and start to dry my hair, unsure why I'm so worked up. Someone knocks at my door, and I hear Colton start begging me for forgiveness. 

It's not until he starts questioning what he did wrong that I pull open the door, wanting him to know that I know what he did.

"How was your date with Mike?"

"Horrible," the man admits. "I can never compete with him, and I let jealousy get in the way of rationale. I shouldn’t have tested you that way."

"I don't expect much, you've always thought the worst of me, but next time just ask me what you want to know."

"But you could be lying."

"Just like you could be lying. For all I know, you and Jessica are-" Colton pulls me into his chest and I go completely still, scared that I may have set the man off. We sparred today, and although we were playing, I know I cannot beat him. 

“No one will ever compare to the way I feel about you, and they never will. You’re always nice, and after years of knowing you, you are basically still the same girl. You don’t care about titles and even though you know I’m broke, you don’t care about money. There is not one other girl I can confidently say that about.”

“Yet you send a lookalike to flirt with me?”

"You're right; I was wrong, but I'm so jealous of him that it's driving me crazy."

"Jealous of what?"

"Don't make me say it." Colton leans his body weight onto me like a sad child, and I feel like I’m missing something.

"What did he tell you?" I suddenly realize that he may have been told more than the truth, and he likely believed it all.

I cup Colton's face, wanting him to understand that I will answer any question he has, because truthfully seeing him like this doesn't make me feel good either.

"I just hate that you let him into your heart."

"I let him in because from the moment he and I met, he was nice to me. If you had continued to be nice to me, he wouldn't have even had a chance." Colton mistakes my closeness and leans in to kiss me, but I turn my face away. 

"Are you sure you even like me? I look nothing like the men you…"

"Colton,” I interject, once again annoyed by the man. “Please leave my room.”

Colton’s POV

I’m not sure what I said wrong, but I just wanted to know how my mate sees me. Being fated to a person doesn’t mean they instantly become your type, and there is a goddess studies story we learn about to teach us about the limitations of the bond.

The first recorded high alpha had a literal harem, and when he met his mate, he wasn’t satisfied by her appearance, so he mated her with someone more suited to his taste laying on top of her.

I can’t even imagine how humiliating that must have been to the woman, who went mad and eventually killed herself. We later learn that the alpha lost his mind, and all he could think about was what he had done to his mate. 

He later became one of the founders of the Werewolf Council, thinking it would rid him of his guilt, but he too lost his mind, and unable to live with the guilt of his actions, he also killed himself.

I hope my mate doesn’t think that I would ever do that to her, but then again, what assurance does she have that I wouldn’t?

I stopped her from speaking because I didn’t want to hear it, but the truth is that she doesn’t know anything about my relationship with Jessica other than the girl cheating on her fated partner with me. 

Everything else she knows is based on what I told her when I was her mysterious friend and before I know it, I’m knocking at her room door again.

“What?” she says through the door, making me frown.

“Can’t you open the door?”

“I don’t want to see you right now. I’m still angry.” I can imagine my mate pouting, which is cute to me, but I don’t like that she is upset with me over something stupid.

“I understand, but before I go to bed, can you assure me like I assured you?”

“Fine, you want an assurance.” Rhea pulls open the door and stares me in the eye neither angry nor sad, but somewhere in between. “Mike put something in my drink and if two of our mutual friends didn’t stop him, I’m not sure what he would have done.”

“And you didn’t report it?”

“How could I do that? If general found out, he would have forced himself on me; I have no doubts about it.”

“So, you…?”

“Fled, missed my graduation, and hid. Just like you, Mike only cared about himself.”