chapter five

Phoenix’ POV

Last night, she called out my name in between heartbreaking sobs. I managed to crawl from what had become my spot on the floor at the foot of her bed, right up onto the mattress next to her. My heart was pounding in my ears the whole time, just in case she woke and found me there, like some kind of creepy stalker.

Tonight is bound to be no different, I don’t want it to be different. Now that I have laid next to her once, I want to do it again and again.

‘Claim her. Yes. Claim little Rose, then she will be all ours every night. Nobody can take her, and she can never leave. She will be safe, she will be ours’ My wolf grins devilishly inside me as he pulls every string he can think of to entice me into action.

He is a sly fucker, more like a fox than a wolf, or maybe the wolf that ate granny in that kids story. He has been pushing me to claim her ever since that day I saw her when she was only sixteen, but she was too young then. Not legally perhaps, but to me.

‘She isn’t now though is she? She is perfectly ripe and grown and ready for us.’ The other half of me is like a constant devil on my shoulder.

My feet land silently on the peeling, painted wooden planks of the balcony just as my mind link is opened.

“Four of Antonellia’s goons are headed your way Nix, and they are armed to the teeth.”  Braydon’s voice comes to life in my head. He is the only one of my brothers who calls me Nix.

“My way?” I reply, knowing for a fact I never told them where I was or what I was doing. I wouldn’t hear the end of it if they knew what I creep I have become. They all talk like they get it, the pull I feel, but they can't. None of them have found their mate. They can't even begin to imagine the way every part of me yearns for her.

“Yes. You are still at Rose’s aren’t you?”  His response isn’t a question, even if it sounds like one. My brothers know me as well as I know myself.

Where else would I be?

 

Rose's POV

I can’t even escape him in my sleep.

I’m pretty sure I’m awake now, even though my eyes are still closed. I can smell him, just like every night. But tonight I’m not sure if the warmth at my back is real or imagined by my emotionally wrung out brain.

Every single one of my muscles tenses as I try to stay perfectly still whilst I figure this out. I could pinch myself. That’s what people do in books and on TV, to see if they are dreaming.

“Don’t freak out, little one.” Are the first words he says to me in two years. His breath warms the shell of my ear, and pure shock is all that saves him from the scathing words on the tip of my tongue. How dare he ignore me, then break into my house in the middle of the night like some kind of perverted weirdo stalker man.

“I can sense you are pissed at me, and you have every right to be, but...” he sits up and then pushes off the bed to stand in one fluid motion. His intimidating frame blocks the light from the hallway, and he looms over me, all tense jaw and rippling muscles.

A couple of weeks ago, I would have given anything for him to be here, in my room. Now I’m just hurt that he didn’t care enough to be here when it really mattered.

“Hurt.” I whisper and pull my blanket tightly around myself, conscious of how little I’m wearing. I miss his heat already, but I won't let my heart ask for what it needs. He will only bruise the broken pieces that are left.

“What was that?” he asks with a hint of admonishment, like he is talking to a teenager who cussed him out under their breath.

“I said, HURT. I’m not pissed, I’m hurt. You abandoned me. Just like everyone else I ever loved. Only, they died, you chose to leave. So do me a favour and leave again. This time, stay away.” I scream and burst into tears. I regretted the last bit as soon as it left my mouth. Please don’t go, don’t leave me alone again. I’m sorry.

“Sorry baby, I can't do that. We need to get out of here.” He rips the blanket back and pulls me from my bed by my wrist. Somehow, I end up flung over his shoulder with my bare legs clamped firmly against his chest with one of his arms. His other hand comes up and smacks my backside as he tells me to “stop your fucking squirming before you force my hand.”

When Phoenix flings the front door open and steps outside I’m so confused I think I’m going crazy.

“You stay next to me, and if I tell you to run, don’t question me, just do it. Run down the beach  towards the boardwalk as fast as you can. Don’t stop, don’t look back. I will come and find you, and if I can’t, my brothers will.” He puts me down in the sand next to him as he lays down the law yet again.

I’m just about to tell him where he can shove his commands when the thunderous roar of a group of motorbikes drowns out what I’m sure would have been an exceptional speech.