A few seconds later, Cain is still avoiding our eyes and the conversation. “Who decorated this place? It lacks personality,” he mutters, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I did," Ash answers, looking at Cain with a smile, as if he finds him amusing, "So, getting back to the topic...""I don't hate you either," he says, returning to the topic all by himself, thankfully, "You're okay.""Cain," I growl, but Ash squeezes my hand to stop me, "No, I don’t want to leave this hanging. Cain, I know it's hard for you to talk about feelings, but it's necessary. We have to be...""A ball, I got it," Cain says and laughs, "I'll be a ball with you guys, don't worry.""Do you understand that I love you the same way I love Asheron? Do you understand he’s saying he cares about you?” I push. Cain nods, but I can see he doesn't fully believe it. I close my eyes and sigh, "No, this is never going to work. Forget it.”"Georgie," Cain says when I try to get up from the table, looking at me
“Oh, no,” I let out, dropping my phone to the floor as soon as the call ends and bringing my hands to my hair just like Cain. Asheron immediately wraps his arms around me, “He’s angry.”“He’s angry with me. He hates me,” Cain says, now with his hands on his hips, still pacing back and forth, “He’s going to force you guys to throw me away, I’m sure. He’s going to start a war with my pack or something extreme like that, just to show how little he wants me with you…”“Come here,” Asheron orders, extending a hand towards Cain. Cain looks at him as if he doesn’t understand what he means, but Asheron waves his again, so Cain comes closer… very slowly, like a scared animal, until he’s lightly touching Ash’s hand, “I said come here, damn it. Why do you have to be so difficult?”Ash pulls Cain’s hand until his body collides with ours, and I guess he hugs him too.“When we’re there, you both have to let me talk to him. Eugene appreciates direct but respectful approach,” he starts, I nod and wra
I take a second to prepare myself before walking to my chair. My father doesn’t look up.Cain turns to me with a look of pure terror but Ash looks relaxed. He gives me a smile to calm me down, which works. That’s why I can’t imagine life without Ash… who else is going to fix everything for me? Definitely not Cain, he’s more likely to mess everything up even more. And I think Ash knows that too, because he raises a finger and puts it to his lips while looking directly at Cain, telling him not to speak.“Aren’t you guys going to eat?” My father asks, without looking up from the menu. We had brunch just forty minutes ago, but I think we’re all on the same page because we all grab the menu in front of us to order something. When the waiter arrives, Asheron and I order just a small appetizer… Cain orders a main course.“Seriously?” I ask in a whisper.“What? I’m a stress-eater,” he whispers back. My father’s eyes immediately focus on him and I can almost see Cain starting to sweat right t
“I love both of them, dad,” I start. My dad is just looking at me as if he doesn’t know who I am, “I can’t choose and I can’t be without them. This has been so hard… but we decided just an hour ago, we’re going to try it this way. All together.”“What does that even mean?” He asks, looking at both of them with a look of complete disgust, “Are you going to let them share you like you’re nothing but a doll they both get to play with? Are you going to marry both of them, live a month in one’s house and another month in the other’s? What the hell are you thinking, girl?!”“No, no,” I blurt out, crying even more. I’ve never gotten into trouble with him before and I don’t like how it feels, “It’s not like that. Dad… please, stop attacking us and listen.”“I’m listening,” he barks, definitely making his voice echo throughout the restaurant, “I’m listening to a bunch of shit!”“No! You’re not even letting me speak,” I blurt out, letting out a sob that manages to break his anger a little. My f
"Cain? Are you okay?" Justin asks when he answers my call."I'm good. But... some things have happened. Like, a lot of things," I murmur. "I'll tell you later, but I need to know something first.""Shoot,” he says, his voice sounds ready for anything. "Can I trust Asheron? In a political sense," I ask, starting to feel a desperation that makes my body tremble, "As an Alpha, is he a good one? Like, one of the good guys?""Why the hell are you asking that? Yes, Asheron is a good guy and a good alpha. He's one of my best friends," he responds as if it were obvious, which reassures me a bit. I guess that’s true, my brother wouldn’t befriend someone evil or untrustworthy. Unless Asheron has him fooled, too."Can we really trust him politically, though? That's what I want to ask, like..." I try to explain without spilling all the beans, but I can't, "If he were my husband and had access to our manp...""Cain, what the hell are you talking about?!" Justin roars over the phone. God, he’s so
"Give me your army, Cain," Asheron whispers in my ear after slowly licking my lobe. At first, I don't understand what he means and I even nod like a dumbass, but then I frown, "Give me your army, let me ruin you completely. Let me ruin your brother and your parents. Give me everything." "What the hell?!" I exclaim, pushing his chest forcefully to look him in the face and see if he's having a psychotic breakdown or something, "What the hell are you talking about?" "I'm manipulating you, Cain," he spits out, his eyes filled with anger despite his lips being red and swollen from my kisses, "How did I do? Was I as machiavellian as you expected or was it too obvious? I've never manipulated anyone before, you know? This is my first time." My mouth falls open in shock as I understand what's happening. "You kissed me to prove a point?" I let out, offended. Beyond offended, "You... fucking asshole.” "You're an idiot if you seriously think I would do something like that," he spits back,
"I'm sorry. I wasn’t expecting Eugene to say all of that. It caught me off guard," I admit, raising a hand to bite the skin next to my nails. A nervous habit."It's okay, I get it," Ash says, grabbing my hand to lower it and prevent me from biting further, "I'm proud of you, by the way.""Proud? Of me?" I repeat, thinking I didn't understand correctly, but he nods, "Why?""For standing up for us. You were subtle as a bulland you made the situation much worse than it had to be, but... you defended us for a moment, when you said Georgie would choose us over him," he reminds me. Right. I don't know if I believe it or not, I just wanted to win the argument. I wanted to piss him off as much as he was pissing me off, "She would, just so you know.”"Nah, Georgie's the biggest Daddy's girl.""Still, she would choose us if necessary. But we know how much she loves her dad, so we'll make sure it's never necessary. We have to get him on our side... and it'll have to be your job.""My job? No, m
"You were right, J. I like Ash. I might even be falling for him," I blurt out. It's not true... not entirely, but I think this is the route I need to take to make sure my brother will be on our side. Justin closes his eyes as soon as he hears my confession, with stress, "And I think he..." "No. Asheron is NOT in love with you," he interrupts me. My eyes narrow, "I maintain that maybe he feels something for you, but it's definitely not love. Ash is straight. He loves Georgie, that's it." "Can you let me talk? You don't know everything, okay?" I say, fists clenched, "I know Ash better than you." "That's not true," he replies quickly, without even considering it, "Asheron has been my friend all my life. You've been here for two months... and not entirely." "It has nothing to do with time. I know him... intimately," I start. Justin's face falls in disgust, "So, can you listen to me without interrupting? I want to have an adult conversation with you. From adult to adult." "Okay, adult