stay with you tonight

Ethan took Abigail's hand.

“I really want to show you in every way that you're my choice,” he said. “So, I'll stay with you tonight.”

“And tomorrow?” She asked, teasingly. 

“Every other night…till forever.”

It felt good hearing that. Ethan figured he would deal with Bianca's problem by morning of the next day. He was so sure that she wasn't pregnant and after the test result had confirmed that, his would send her away, a mistake he wouldn't make again. 

He pulled her to himself, just to taste the sweetness of her lips. 

“I've missed doing this,” he confessed. “I've missed your laughs. You have no idea.”

Abigail slapped his chest with mock annoyance. “You left me all alone.”

He wrapped her with his arms. “I'm sorry, my pigeon.”

“Pigeon.”

“‘cause you're cute and smallish.”

Abigail smiled. “It was you, wasn't it? The person who did my job.”

“Stayed all night for you.”

Her smile widened. Then she raised her head. “Oh my gosh! It was you. You sent me that money.”

Ethan didn't affirm but his silence was all she needed.

“I was bothered for nothing.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “You got bothered?”

Abigail chuckled slightly. “A hybrid with that amount of money? It raises eyebrows.”

Ethan squeezed her knuckles. “All I see is a pretty girl who deserves the world.”

Abigail returned her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeats. Everything about him spoke of his love for her.

“Everyone ought to think like you,” she said. “Then this place would make a lot of sense.”

Ethan could understand her pain. He had never been socially outcasted but there was something about their connection that made him feel her.

“I can't protect everyone, Abby. The rules are as old as time. But my duty lies with you —protecting you and making you happy.”

When it was evening, Abigail sat at the back seat with Ethan while the driver drove off to her place. She leaned against his shoulder.

“Is this an automatic car?” She asked. 

“Yes,” Ethan answered.

Turns out she's been in one for a long time.

Her mind raced with the boldness of her decision. It wasn't about forgiving Ethan all along. It was the challenges ahead from pa Frey and the entire community. No one would look at them and support them. It was worse because she was a hybrid. 

But their hearts had chosen each other and the things of the heart could not be explained or controlled. 

“They're going to hate me,” she said, staring at the back of the driver's seat.

Ethan who had been slowly massaging her hand, stopped. “who?”

“If we continue this —we can't be hidden forever. They'll find out, the hybrids and pure wolves and they'll hate me.”

“Us,” Ethan corrected. “You're never alone.”

Abigail nodded. 

Later that night, Ethan made an apology dinner, a hurried pasta, because he couldn't endure the sight of Abigail in a lingerie. Dinner was rushed but a slow, satisfying sex followed after, with Abigail's poor bed creaking under their weight while they were lost in ecstasy. 

Abigail didn't want to think too much about the challenges ahead. She didn't want to dampen her happiness if she was only going to feel sad later on. If Ethan kept choosing her, it would still hurt her when Mia didn't understand and when Liam called her a whore, Daven called her a social climber, and when pa Frey didn't treat her worthily.

She listened to Ethan's rhythmic heartbeat while he slept. She was still lost in thought when she heard the sound of a car. Her house wasn't that large, so from the room, in a quiet night, she could even hear a footstep outside. She saw the headlight reflecting on her window before it died.

Drifting to sleep, she wondered which of her neighbours had bought a car. 

But it wasn't long before she heard the knock in her door. She threw her eyes open, wondering if she had imagined it.  Then she knock came again. 

She sat up. Ethan was still asleep and she didn't want to disturb him. She grabbed her phone, switching on the flashlight. She stepped into the living room stealthily. It could be anyone by the door. 

Ariana had sent people to abduct her from her house in the past. This time, she had to be careful, knowing Ariana was a mad bitch. 

She reached for a mop. The handle ought to be strong enough to defend her, she thought as she killed the flashlight, groping through the dark of the room she knew so well. Because it was dark, she could make out the form of the person standing right in front of her door. She saw his silhouette and her heart started racing. 

Another knock came.

She reached the door and checked the peephole. “Who's there?”

“Abigail? Open the door.”

She froze. Liam?

What was he doing in her house?

She couldn't let him in. No way. Not when his father was in her bed. 

She held the door knob. “Why are you here?” She asked.

“Just open the damn door, will you?”

She pursed her lips. “Go home, Liam.”

“I have something to tell you,” he urged.

“I don't want to hear it. Please, let me sleep. I've got work tomorrow.”

“I promise,” he insisted, despite her plea. “It's not going to take more than ten minutes. I really need to speak with you…otherwise I'll run insane.”

She left the door locked. “Say what you have to say. I can hear you.”

She wanted him gone as quickly as possible. Ethan didn't have to go through another altercation with his son..

“Why can't you let me in? I can't stand out here and talk.”

“You can't come into my house,” Abigail insisted. “We're not together anymore.”

She heard Liam hiss in frustration. “I can kick the damned door open and you know that…but I don't want to beause I don't want you sleeping without a door.”

Abigail knew if she let him break the door, it would wake Ethan and the neighbours. And when he saw his father? In the end, the whole damned world would know she was seeing Alpha Ethan.

“Okay…okay,” she declared with surrender. “I'll open the door but we'll talk outside. Okay?”

“I don't care,” he responded. “I just want to speak with you.”

Abigail unlocked the door. She had to make things really clear with Liam. She was really done with him and he had a mate now. She didn't want him coming to her house.