Home > Roman (Wolves of Winter's Edge #2)(13)

Roman (Wolves of Winter's Edge #2)(13)
Author: T.S. Joyce

“You could’ve said goodbye.”

“No, I couldn’t. Mila, you don’t understand. I couldn’t. Saying goodbye wasn’t an option. Another second with you, and I wouldn’t have been able to leave. And what life could I give you? I was forced to be rogue, but you had a shot at the pack where you could be safe under my dad. You were loyal. Even at sixteen, you were so damn loyal, and I could see our future. You wouldn’t pledge to the pack because you would worry for me. Leaving without that goodbye was the only gift I could give you.”

“You didn’t save me from anything, Roman. You were my friend. You and Asher and Gentry. After you all left, Rhett was watching me, always. Hunting me always.”

“Why did Odine bind you to Rangeley?”

Mila’s eyes burned, and she nuzzled her face against his throat to stop herself from crying. “I went to her to fix my wolf.”

“What do you mean fix her?”

“I thought Odine could make me dominant. I hate being at the bottom of the pack, Roman. I hate it. Even the nice members don’t realize how they treat me. It’s like I’m this pathetic little girl who always needs to be taken care of. They talk to me like I’m stupid, or naïve. And Rhett had started the bullying already. I could see he was going to be alpha someday. Why wouldn’t he be? He was brutal, and his wolf was Monster. And you Strikers had left this town unprotected. Your dad couldn’t hold the pack forever. He was getting older, and Rhett was making me kiss him just to prove points. I asked the witch to fix me, and she bound me to Rangeley instead. It hurt, and it took three days. I couldn’t get away from what she was doing, and now when I try to leave these mountains, I feel like I’m dying. I’ve tried every road out of here, every trail through the woods. I’m stuck. Stuck here, stuck in this life, stuck with Rhett always watching me, always hunting me. Roman,” she whispered, easing back to cup his bearded jaw between her palms, “Rhett is going to make me alpha female.”

Roman’s eyes flashed gold. “Mila, you can’t. You shouldn’t. Never mind that Rhett will break you, the submissive wolf inside of you will buckle. There will be nothing left of you in six months.”

“It’s not up to me.”

“Yes it is. You can say no.”

“I did say no, Roman! I got out of his truck and ran from him. Ran into the woods. But how long do you think he will be patient with the hunt before he deems me expendable and ends me? He’s done it before.”

“What do you mean?”

She’d wanted to tell the Strikers the second she’d seen Gentry in town. She’d wanted to, but she’d been chicken, just like Roman always called her. He didn’t know how accurate that nickname really was. “Your dad,” she whispered.

Roman jerked his face out of her hands, but then pulled her palm to his lips and bit her gently as he stared at the wall. He shook his head slightly. With a soft kiss against her wrist, he growled out, “Rhett killed Dad in an alpha challenge.”

“That’s not true, and you know it, Roman. Deep down you always knew. Rhett pushed him out of his own pack, and then he murdered him. And…”

“And what?”

“Roman, we were all there.” Mila closed her eyes against the memory of Noah being killed in the woods right outside of Winter’s Edge. “Rhett made us watch so we wouldn’t ever challenge him as alpha. Drake tried to stop it, but Rhett killed him, too. And that tactic worked. Any potential coup on Rhett’s throne was shredded the second we watched him murder our alpha and then murder the Second. We’re all stuck, Roman. Rhett is quicksand, and none of us can escape.”

Roman rolled her off his lap and stood. He paced to the kitchen, scrubbing his hand in irritation down his bearded jaw. He jammed a finger at her. “You can.”

Mila shook her head. Roman didn’t understand how this town worked anymore. He didn’t understand pack dynamics. “I can’t.”

“You want to break the bond to that asshole, Mila? You want to leave the Bone-Rippers? Leave Rangeley? I can give you that.”

Roman was speaking fast, not making any sense.

“I don’t understand.”

Roman flicked his gaze to her arm, hidden by the thick blanket, then back to her eyes before he murmured, “Yes, you do.”

Realization slammed into her like a tidal wave. Slowly, Mira let the blanket fall away from her arm, which was now tingling with what he’d suggested. Mila didn’t think much about the double layer of bitemark scars on the inside of her elbow. She’d gotten the first when she was eighteen and had pledged to Noah’s pack, and the second, Rhett had given her when she pledged to the Bone-Rippers, moments after Noah had died.

“Pledge to me,” Roman said in that sexy, deep timbre of his. The one that had always been so steady and confident. The one that said he was completely serious right now.

“Rhett will kill you.”

“He’ll try and fail.”

She’d seen what he’d done to Noah and Drake. “Roman, he’ll kill you. He has no honor. No feelings. No remorse. Rhett owns this town—”

“He doesn’t own you! No one does. I can protect you, Mila. I have the means. I have the wolf to do it. My body can protect yours. I’ve trained it to.”

“Roman,” she murmured, already denying him. She cared about him so deeply she couldn’t be the cause of his demise. Couldn’t. It was her job to protect him. Job? Yes, that felt right. Roman had always been special, not only to her, but to her wolf. Mate. Roman was hers to protect. “We can’t. If you take one of his wolves—”

   
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