4

HOPE’s POV

I fist my fingers and bring them up to Blake’s closed door. Then, taking a deep breath, I rap at the wooden frame.

Knock, knock, knock it goes. Please tell me that he went out or fell asleep. Please don’t let him answer the –

“Come in.”

Crap.

I am tempted to bolt, to run away and hide under the covers of my woolly blue blanket in the maid’s room but I know that if I do that, my life will not only be a living hell in school. It will be a nightmare too, here at the Parker manor.

I tuck some stray locks of wet hair behind my ears, suddenly wishing I had worn something more presentable. Right now, I am in an oversized Mickey Mouse t-shirt that hangs over a pair of tiny red boxers. Both were bought from the thrift store a few blocks away from school. Hastily, I pull the sleeve up, the darn shirt's been slipping over my shoulder, revealing a strap of my nude-colored bra. Alos from the thrift store, though I wish I had not bought it, the darn bra is a size too small. 

Whatever. Here goes nothing. 

My hand goes to the cold brass door knob and ever so gently, I twist it. And as I do, I find myself looking left and right along the dimmed corridor. It is already late at night and most of the Parker family members have retired to bed. I had to help mum with the household chores before I could attend to Blake.

Attend to Blake.

Hah..he’ll probably make me do some stupid antics in school just to laugh at me like what he did last week. And the week before. And the one before that.

The door finally swings open and I frown. It’s so dark in there. Why are the lights in his room off?

“Blake?” I call out, my voice low in case I wake anyone else up. Blake’s parents are not at home, they went to some Alpha conference downtown but Blake’s grandmother sleeps a few rooms down the hall and his younger sister sleeps in the room next to his. I do not want to wake the little girl up, it had taken me an hour just to put her to bed earlier on. Little Belinda had wanted her mother to tuck her in.

“Blake? Where—”

Suddenly, a hand emerges from the darkened room and yanks me in. The door behind me closes and I am pushed up against it with a hand covering my mouth,

Blake.

He pins me to the door and stares at me strange glint in his eyes. My heart starts to pound like crazy, what is he doing?!

I try to push him away but he grabs both of my hands with his and pins them above my head. I am immobilized. Then, without another word, Blake leans in and whispers, “Did anyone see you come?”

What?

As if he hears my internal dialogue, he asks again, “Are you deaf? Did anyone see you come?”

My eyes widen and I shake my head with a muffled, “Mmmph!”

His face registers my answer and his grip loosens, but he does not let me go. Instead, he moves closer, so much so that his body touches mine.

He is so close that I can smell his freshly washed hair, the hint of cologne on his skin, pine and musk. Then there is the sound of his steady heartbeat.

“Why are you closing your eyes?”

My lids snap open and I blink. I did not even realise that I had my eyes closed. Blake chuckles and releases me, letting both hands settle on the sides of my face. He is no longer holding me but I am still caged between his massive arms.

“What do you want?” I manage to spit out. My eyes start to become accustomed to the dark and I can make out a tiny smirk that rests on Blake’s face. Damn, why does he have to look so hot?

“Like I said earlier, you owe me, Hope.”

Memories from this afternoon come back to haunt me again and suddenly, I feel cold. I wrap my hands around myself and chew on my lip, swallowing a lump in my throat before muttering, “I could have handled it myself.”

A snort. “Right.”

Blake sees right through my lie. Truth is, it would have been the end of me if he had not come today. I really do owe him. Big time.

Blake cocks his head to look at my downcast face and for a moment, I see that strange glint in his eyes again. What is it that I see in them? Worry? Anger? Uncertainties? Or everything all stirred into one? This guy is an enigma. It does not matter, his proximity is so unnerving, I can hardly think straight. I wish he could just move away.

“Did they hit you?” he suddenly asks.

His question catches me off guard but before I can answer, Blake reaches out and takes my hand, pulling me along with him to the open window that rests at the far end of the room. The crescent moon shines bright outside the window in the cloudless night sky.

Here. he turns on a table lamp, bathing the darkened room in a soothing warmth of yellows and whites before settling me down on a black gaming chair in front of his study desk. More like a gaming desk. There is not a book in sight, only three flat-screen PC monitors and a whirring CPU humming with a soft blue light.

He props himself on the edge of the desk, grabs my jaw gently and lifts my chin up to look at his standing form. A frown fleets across his face as he turns my face left and right and I hear him suck in a sharp breath.

“No bruises,” he says simply. Then, slowly but surely, his hand leaves my chin, travels down my neck, gently pushing away a lock of my ashen brown hair, and tucking it behind my ears.

My cheeks become red hot. Why is he doing this? Why is he suddenly so concerned about whether I have bruises or not? This is not making any sense.

I reach out to stop him but stop myself short. A part of me says, “Offend him and mom could lose her job.” And yet, another part of me is screaming, “Oh my goddess, Hope! Are you out of your freaking mind? You’re alone with Blake in his room and he’s touching your face! Stop him! Stop him before you…you…you kiss him!”

What?!

My reflexes go into overdrive and I shoot up from the gaming chair, right smack into Blake’s chin, almost knocking him off the desk.

Blake goes, “Ooow!” and cradles his jaw before spitting out a string of profanities fitting of a drunken sailor.

I gasp at what I have done. I blurt out, “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to…”

Quickly, my hands go to his jaw to inspect any bruise that I might have caused when all of a sudden, he catches both my hands with one of his and lets out a low snarl, “Sit down.”

“I…I…”

“I said. Sit. Down.”

He stares at me, red-hot anger flashing in his eyes and I take a gulp and glue my butt back on the seat. Blake is pissed. He is so pissed I think that he might shift right this moment and tear me into pieces. I have heard rumours about him almost killing one of the kids in school last year in a brawl, back before mom and I came to the Parker manor.

“Did they hurt you?”

I blink.

He crosses both arms across his massive chest and stares at me.

“Did they hurt you?” he asks again, this time, a lot more slowly as if I have trouble understanding English. What does he want me to say? Of course they hurt me.

Blake sighs and runs a hand through his hair and for some reason, I like seeing him do that. He asks again, “Did they touch you down there?”

His eyes rake down to my body. That is when I finally understand his question. Ohhh…

Quickly, I pull my knitted sweater tightly around me and blurt out, “Of course not!”

I close my eyes and I suck in a deep breath. “They didn’t….you, you came in time.”

Then, opening my eyes once more, I look up at Blake. His expression is unreadable. Still, I say, “Look, can we just drop this? I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s over. I thank you for being there and not telling mom, but I’d rather we forget about it?”

Blake arches a brow. “I don’t want to forget about it.”

My body vibrates in discomfort and my hand grips the handles of his chair. “What do you want in return?”

Yes, what do you want, Blake? Are you like those jerks who want to have fun with a loser like me?

Anger starts to build up within me. I may be a wolfless omega, but I will not stand being reduced to a step-on mat.

Blake takes a bold step towards me, places both hands on mine and leans down. This time, so close until his nose touches mine.

“I want you…”