Chapter four

Neil shook his head. She was lying, playing him, and denying what she knew to be true simply because she had been caught. She had survived the Alphas, but she couldn’t have done so without help.

“I have never heard of selective amnesia, Avira,” he growled, his fangs showing. “How can you remember your parents, what you are, and yet you do not remember me?”

“I didn’t say I have amnesia!” she cried. “You did. Let’s even turn this around, then. If you are being truthful about me being your wife or Luna, why can’t I feel any bond between the two of us, and why didn’t you come for me sooner?”

“I have been busy hunting the people that I thought had killed you,” he ground out.

Neil and his wolf knew immediately they saw her that she was their mate, but without the bond, she felt like a stranger—a familiar stranger.

She shook her head. “I am not your wife. You are mistaken.”

“Am I?” Neil tucked his hand under her elbow and pulled her out of the chair. He tried to ignore the current of electricity that zapped through him when he touched her bare skin.

She looked up at him, her dark, smoky eyes full of emotion. “I don’t remember.”

He would not be moved. “If that is the case, you are coming back with me.”

She ignored him and reached for her purse, digging through it for her cell phone.

“What are you doing?” Neil asked.

She needed to clear up this misunderstanding, and the only people who could tell her the truth were her foster parents and her aunt.

“I am calling my aunt,” she said as she began to scroll through the phone’s contacts. “They will know the truth.”

Neil stiffened as if she had slapped him. “Do you mean to tell me that your family really does know you are here?”

Avira frowned. “Yes, of course.”

He growled in anger and grabbed the phone out of her hand.

“You will not call her.”

Avira reached for the phone, but he held it just out of her reach. She folded her arms and glared at him.

“Then I guess you are lying to me about being married because my aunt could expose the lie, right?”

“If you wish to think so, by all means, do.” He tucked the phone into his breast pocket. She tried not to let her gaze stray to the hard muscles exposed by his open shirt. He was cold and hard, so she had no business finding him attractive. Not to mention, he was lying.

“If that’s not what you are worried about, then why can’t I call her?” she challenged.

“Because I intend to deal with her myself when we return to LA.”

“I am not going anywhere with you.”

His dark eyes slid down her body, then back up again.

“And just how do you propose to stop me from taking you, Avira?”

“I will scream,” she said, knowing how fruitless that would be. “They won’t let you take me.”

His laughter was not in the least amused.

“They are welcome to try, Avira. But I’m sure you know what I am. They will be dead before they lay a finger on me.”

Ice coated her heart. He was every bit as cold and cruel as he seemed, and she had no doubt he would take pleasure in hurting anyone who attempted to stop him.

“It’s no wonder I can’t remember you,” she said bitterly. “You are a tyrant. Being married to you would have been hell on earth, I’m sure. Any woman would do better running off into the forest to die than staying with you.”

The corners of his mouth tightened.

“You should have died then and saved me the trouble of dealing with you now.”

Her heart constricted in pain. He was cruel, and for some unknown reason, his words hurt her.

“If we are married, then why don’t you just save us both the trouble and divorce me? There is no mate bond, so it will be easier to do,” she said as coldly as she could.

She remembered her childhood and how she was bullied in their pack because her wolf was weak. She had to fight for the attention of her parents even though she was their only child, and after her mum died, her aunt had been the only one taking care of her. She tried to be good and perfect and listen to everything her dad said, but no matter how hard she tried, he was never really pleased with her.

Avira swallowed the angry tears. She was finished trying to please anyone but herself.

“If only it were that easy,” he growled. “But circumstances have changed, and you must return to LA with me.”

“You can’t expect me to leave with you when you have given me no proof that I am your wife, so I am not going anywhere with you.”

His eyes hardened.

“What proof would you have me give you? Shall I tell you we met a few days before the wedding and mating ceremony, and that you were so weak and timid, like a lamb? Or that your father married you off to me, an Alpha, because he needed a powerful heirline?”

Avira’s stomach went into a free fall.

“An Alpha? You are an Alpha?”

He smirked as he transformed only his head, showing her his eyes. They were red in colour, definitely an Alpha’s eye colour.

She wiped her damp palms across her dress. Power was everything to her father, so if her father had been able to arrange her marriage to an Alpha this powerful, her whole family would have been so proud of her, and her aunt wouldn’t have lied about it.

“Tell me something about me,” she said. “Tell me something no one knows about me since we have been married.”

“You were in love with me. You said your only goal was to please me and serve me.”

“That’s a lie,” she answered, her voice shaky, because she knew that all through her childhood she had been raised with the sole purpose of pleasing and serving people, but being in love with him was out of the question.

“Enough,” he growled, baring his fangs before grabbing her. “We are leaving.”

“Wait a damn minute,” Avira yelled, closing the distance between them. She tried to wrestle her hand free from his grip. He should know she wasn’t going anywhere with him. He wasn’t the boss of her. Heat sizzled through her where she touched him—so much heat that her wolf whimpered in excitement. He gazed down at her with glittering dark eyes, and his gaze settled on her mouth.