Talons

Chapter 126: The Trash

Colton’s POV

As soon as I walked into my suite Orlin pushed to the surface. I couldn’t help but to just stare at my mate who is wearing one of my t-shirts as she is cooking something. I swallow hard as I approach, and I very creepily sit down at the table so that I can get a better view of her.

She doesn’t acknowledge me, which is perfectly fine because if she says anything right now, I might lose my composure and jump on her.

No woman has ever worn my clothing, and while I know it’s just a shirt, I feel like Rhea is trying to send me a message.

"Maybe she’s jealous?" Orlin says in a lustful tone, and if that is the reason, I may need to introduce her to more of my past flings.

“Alpha... Did I do something wrong?” My mate calling out my title like that made me stand like a predator, and her back being toward me drew my eyes straight to her perfectly round ass, but as soon as she finished her question, all the arousal I was feeling toward her completely melted away.

“What do you mean?”

“Y-you are making me feel uncomfortable.”

“Why are you wearing my clothes?” The woman literally drops what she is doing and turns to face me as if I just uttered the absolute worst question she has ever heard.”

“I- I’m s-sorry. J-Janet said it was t-trash. I didn’t-”

“Rhea...” My mate jumps when I call her name, and I find myself approaching, making her shut her eyes tightly, so I stop. “The shirt was among the things that I asked Janet to get rid of, you aren’t in trouble, it's just that I really like the way it looks on you.” I probably shouldn’t have said that because my mate literally tried to run, but I caught her by the waist and held her close to me. “Please don’t do that; not right now.”

“Just let me go, okay?” She whispers.

“I don’t want to, and I don't know if I can. I really want you Rhea." I was just about to kiss my mate's neck when she completely spoiled my mood.

“Colton, I'm scared. P-please d-don’t hu-hurt me this way.” Those words successfully snapped me back to reality and I ran into my room where I try to remedy a very painful erection.

Rhea’s POV

I could see something odd in Colton’s eyes, but I didn’t know it was because of the shirt I’m wearing. As soon as he shut his bedroom door, I went to change, relieved that he actually listened and let me go.

I heard from Mike, Luke, Lark and even Brent that the ‘sexiest’ thing a woman could wear is a man's shirt; specifically, one of theirs.

I would never have put Colton's shirt on, knowing that, even among humans, the action is like a declaration of s****l intent.

“He couldn’t have thought that after what just happened…” Sylvia is as shocked as I am, and truthfully, I don’t blame her.

“He feels the mate bond. It's not him acting out; let's just look at it as though he is sick.” I can't believe I just defended Colton, but I really do feel sorry for him.

“But still…” Sylvia says with an attitude I can’t quite place.

“Are you angry?” I question, but my wolf avoids the question completely. “You're blocking me out?” I ask in shock, but she quickly corrects me.

“No, I just wanted to stop talking about it. I'm not angry with Colton, I’m just annoyed. We are in a situation where we aren’t safe, and he won’t reject us.” There is a little bit of a lie in Sylvia’s words, but I refrain from pointing it out. “Fine, you want the truth? I’m extremely upset. Colton is a monster and yet he has women who love him enough to abandon their pride. Meanwhile, we treated everyone fairly, and no one has ever cared about us in the same way.”

I understand where Sylvia is coming from, and I too have thought about how unfortunate my love life has been.

“When you and I get out of this situation. We will focus on finding love, okay?” My wolf scoffs, and I can’t help but to feel sorry for her. 

She never liked Jack, but she found comfort in Mike who betrayed us. Then the rogue we both liked turned out to be Colton. Basically, luck isn’t on our side.

“And he really thought I would willingly wear his clothing…” I laugh aloud at the statement and head back to the kitchen, where a red-faced Colton is fidgeting near the stove.

Colton’s POV

I smelled something burning, so I stopped what I was doing to make sure there wouldn’t be a kitchen fire. As I was turning down the flames, I heard my mate’s cute giggle coming from her room before she opened the door and spotted me messing with her food.

“Sorry, I thought I smelled something burning.” She nods at me, and I give her space to resume her activities. "You didn't have to change."

"I… you… I know." I really wish I could read my mate's mind right now because I desperately want to know what she was going to say.

"I know I said only one meal, but would you mind if I joined you?" Rhea nods her head and I find myself sighing in relief.

I'm so glad she didn't offer herself to me for a rejection because I would have said yes, which would have been a lie.

I would have had her tied to my bed, screaming my name for days, and just like that, I'm aroused again.

"Just do it," Orlin urges.

"And if she's really a virgin, then what?"

"It won't matter because if we wait any longer, it's going to feel like it's her first time even if it isn't."

"We aren't going to just f*ck our mate… yet." I made sure to add that last part because I'm not going to lie to myself. 

I plan to pound Rhea on every surface of this suite, but not before she is ready. 

"C-Colton… you are scaring me again."

"Sh*t, sorry." I hadn't even known I was staring at my mate until she said something.

I refocus on my meal which successfully distracts me from thoughts of my mate panting underneath me, but I swear that everything is reminding me of s*x right now.

"Rhea-"

"Col-" My mate and I spoke at the same time, but she yielded to me, so I finished my statement first.

"I… Holly said that…"

"Just f*cking ask," Orlin says exasperatedly, and I know the anxiety he is feeling is real.

"Have you really never… you know." My mate looks extremely uncomfortable, and I quickly tell her that she doesn't have to answer.

I should have known there was no way she was a virgin. Especially since that General person was obsessed with her.

"I haven't," Rhea suddenly says and my eyes snap to her face. "Before you ask, I wasn't saving anything; it just turned out this way." That statement doesn't even bother me because what's important is that my mate is all mine.

"What were you going to say?" I add, trying hard to keep my teeth behind my lips.

"I wanted to talk about Gale." The smile melts from my face and my nostrils flair in annoyance, but I don't immediately cut my mate off."

"Was she girl A or B?"

Rhea's POV

Surprisingly, the night ended on a positive note and after confirming that Gale was indeed one of the letters, Colton decided he wanted to know about Jack, Mike and General. 

I told him the truth about all three men, but he didn't take the information about General well.

I find it amazing that a man who used to hit me for fun now finds it unimaginable that someone else could do the same thing.

Colton practically worked himself into a rage, but because he knows that attacking General would be unnecessarily provoking a sleeping bear, he chose to run off his aggression rather than to formally challenge him.

Sitting up, I rubbed some of my healing balm on my feet before sliding them into two pairs of socks. 

My only boots were soaked through after Colton put me in a shower with them on. They are still damp, and they've begun to chafe at my skin. Today though, I plan to let them sit in the sun while I work on the flower beds around the daycare. 

I opened the door to my room, shocked to see Colton sleeping outside of it.

"The mate bond is really cruel," Sylvia says, and I find myself nodding as I consider waking the sleeping man, but the decision is made for me when his nose twitches and his eyes shoot open.

Colton's POV

I'm back to being five again so I know I'm in a dream. I'm excited to go to the Claw pack grounds. Luna Mavis lets us play freely, so Dolton and I love going anywhere she is going to be.

As soon as we get to the territory, my brother and I are off in search of adventure. He immediately finds the twins, but I don't like playing with the girls, so I make my way toward the tree line.

I can hear a small voice, so I investigate and find, who my conscious mind knows is Rhea, playing with dolls.

The five-year-old me doesn't know who she is, which is odd because my mind knows she and I have already met.

Rhea's eyes light up when she sees me, and she pulls me toward her toys.

"What's your name?" I ask, and she tilts her head.

I touch my chest and say my name, and she repeats the action.

"Thea," I repeat, once again getting her name wrong. She starts digging around her pockets and pulls out a piece of chocolate.

"I'm not allowed to have candy." The girl looks annoyed with me, and just like before, she unwraps it and shoves it in my mouth.

She's looking at me expectantly, but when I don't give her the reaction she's looking for, she kisses me.

We are both startled by the sound of my brother's 'oo' and 'Thea,' runs.

She is so fast I can't even see her in the tree line, so I'm left just staring at the woods.

"Mom's going to kill you," Dolton says.

"Who was she?"

"Robin says she's an alien."

I feel a shadow looming over me, so I look up, startled to see my adult mate looking down at me. 

"Did you sleep here?" She questions.