Bad Love: An Alpha's Regret

Chapter 2

It’s raining.

I’d taken an Uber into the city to see Dr.

Henley and I walked all the way back to

the city limits.

“Miss, do you need a ride?” It’s an elderly couple. They pulled to the side of the

road in their Chevy Malibu. They look

concerned.

I’m concerned.

But what difference does a bit of rain

make?

A second car pulls up. It’s a big SUV. I

recognize the license plate.

“You’re both very kind,” I tell them. “It’s

okay. My friend is here.”

“Friend” is a word I’d use lightly.

James is Aaron’s beta.

He’s a big, brooding wolf who doesn’t particularly like me.

That’s probably because Aaron was supposed to marry his sister, Jessica.

I’m pretty sure Aaron is still in love with

her. That he would already be mated to

her if he wasn’t stuck with me. They’re

together all the time. She dotes on him

it’s not because he’s respecting my position as luna, or because he’s respecting my privacy…it’s

because he doesn’t give a sh*t.

In the past, when we were stuck together,

I’d prattle on and ask questions, forcing

him to converse with me because I knew

he didn’t want to. Today, I stare out the

window and don’t say a word.

Not even when he keeps glancing at me.

“Dr. Henley, is it curable…if I’m hospitalized?”

“There are treatments that might buy

you a few extra months…”

A few extra months.

Tears stream down my face. In my

reflection in the window, they just blend

with the raindrops splattering the glass.

I’m going to die. There is no hope for me.

Upon returning to the packlands, we veer off the main highway onto a long

stretch of private road that’s maintained

and patrolled by Aaron’s guards. They

pause the SUV at the gate only to wave James through.

The security is intended to keep humans

out.

And to keep me in.

disappointment because I know he

doesn’t care about me, but this man’s

indifference… when I’ve known him for

nearly half my life…

It hurts.

I get out of the car and stare up at the

massive house. It’s four stories of stone

with a tiled roof. A massive, glamorous

estate that I’d thought so beautiful the

first time I saw it.

“What the he ll is wrong with your phone,

Leah?”

It’s Aaron.

He storms outside and down the stairs.

He stalks toward me and my feet back

up instinctively. This Alpha is too big. Too

strong. Too merciless when he wants to

be.

“Where the f**k did you go?”

A day ago, I would’ve cowered beneath

his rage. But now…

“What does it matter?” I ask quietly.

He straightens like I’ve slapped him.

Aaron has come to know my many moods-stubborn, argumentative, quiet-but this defeated tone isn’t

typical for me. I’ve had to fight. For everything

here. Few people here have shown me

kindness.

from here. Sitting in a chair beside the

window or the fireplace, depending on

the time of year.

I spend most of my time here too. I eye

up all the many rows and rows of books

on the floor to ceiling shelves.

Books I’ll never get the time to read.

I sniffle.

Again, Aaron looks shocked.

I refuse to cry for this man. For any of

them.

As a terrified, broken, thirteen-year-old girl taken into this enemy land, I did not

cry. I am Leah Arboreaux, and I honor

Yelling and fighting.

Being ignored-or ravished.

He crowds me until my back is against

the wall. His hands slam on either side of

my head, caging me in. I crane my head back to hold his gaze.

His scent wraps around me-rich and

subtle and all but beckoning me near

because for whatever reason this man

smells irresistible to me.

He growls and comes closer.

His chest against mine.

His hips rolling into me.

To go up on my toes, seek out his sexy

mo uth, and let him take me under as he’s

done a thousand times before.

Because this man might hate me… but

he still wants me.