“It’s what I want him to think. If he thinks Haley is in a relationship and sees us together, then he might give up. And then Haley can finally get her life back. Damn, man, she doesn’t even eat in the cafeteria because she’s too scared she’ll run into him. I can’ imagine having to live like that in college.”
“This whole situation is fucked up.” Barrett sighed. “She can stay with you. But stay close and don’t let her out of your sight for a second.”
The line went dead.
Jayden shook his head. His Pack Master wasn’t one for small talk.
“Was that Barrett?”
He knew she was standing behind him before she even spoke. He could still smell her arousal. He gritted his teeth, reminding himself that she was off limits.
“Yeah. There were no prints on the envelope.” Jayden didn’t turn around. He couldn’t face her just yet. If he did, his resolve might falter
“Jayden…”
He flinched when she touched his arm. She quickly pulled away.
He turned. Hurt flickered across her face as she glanced away. His chest tightened. The last thing he ever wanted was to cause her more pain.
“Haley, I…” He took a step toward her.
She shook her head sharply and held up her hand. “I’m too tired to talk tonight. I’m going to bed.”
He watched her disappear back into her bedroom. What the hell was wrong with him? He hadn’t been interested in sex since October, since that night he’d been beaten half to death. But one moment alone with Haley and he was ready to fuck for hours.
Jayden pulled another bottle of beer from the fridge, making a mental note to buy something that wasn’t alcoholic. He went from room to room, checking to make sure the windows and doors were secure before heading out to the deck.
Jayden flung himself in the lounge chair and took a long pull from the bottle. The icy liquid burned.
Though they were in the city, the stars were out tonight, brilliantly lighting up the backdrop of the midnight sky. It would have been perfect for a romantic dinner and a glass of wine.
“Who the hell am I kidding?” Jayden scrubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t do romance.”
For years, he’d been satisfied having sex without getting involved in a committed relationship. Up until last year. When Jayden had seen how Ava’s love had changed Damon, he’d been hit with an unexpected dose of envy. Damon had never known what true love was until he met Ava. They had fallen in love and mated a short time later.
He’d never really thought about finding a mate. But when he saw how Damon seemed more content and happier than ever, Jayden wondered if it being mated wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
Mate.
To willingly choose to forsake all other females and bind yourself to your mate until death was a difficult concept for him to grasp.
After that night of torture, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to share a bed with a woman. Something had been stolen from him that night and he’d been struggling to reclaim the carefree life he’d once had.
Jayden took another drink and let his eyes drift shut.
Images of that night spilled out behind his closed lids. He remembered the stench of the room, stale urine and skunk, the typical telltale scent of red wolves. He’d gone into that filthy room in hopes of finding Haley. He’d been appalled when he found her, gagged and tied down to a filthy mattress that reeked of the rogue red wolf pack that had abducted her. She struggled with her bindings, trying to scream as a rogue wolf jumped on top of her and unzipped his pants.
Anger didn’t begin to describe the emotion vibrating through his body at the scene. Jayden saw red, literally red as he growled and snatched the wolf off Haley. Before the wolf knew what hit him, Jayden was there behind him, his hands placed strategically on the top and bottom of the wolf’s head. He twisted, feeling the snap of the asshole’s neck under his palms.
His rage had been so great that he hadn’t stopped. He twisted until he almost ripped the rogue werewolf’s head from his useless body. He would have pulled the guy’s head clean off if those other three red wolves hadn’t shown up and hit him in the head with a baseball bat.
Lights exploded from behind his eyes until he was blinded by the illumination. The blow had made him dizzy, unable to fight and defend himself. The next thing he knew he was stripped naked and tied up, hanging from the ceiling in a different room.
He grimaced against each slam of the bat against his body as the red wolf use his head as practice for his golf swing. Pain exploded throughout his head as he felt his eye socket shatter and his nose break in a snap. He could still taste the coppery acid as blood dripped into his mouth. He caught a blow against his ear, rattling his brain and making him momentarily lose all hearing on that side.