Angel Blackwood(47)

I can tell by the way his breathing has changed that he’s angry, his anger only fuels my own though.

“I didn’t have a choice!” I yell back, raising my hands in the air.

“You always had a choice, Alexia… Always! You could have come to me. Hell, you could’ve gone to Ronny and she would have sorted Drake out. We would have kept you safe!” He yells in his loud authoritative tone.

“I had to protect you guys and my family from him. He threatened all of you and after what he did to me, my head was so fucked up… all I knew was that the only way for me to keep everyone safe was to stay with him,” I say, close to tears. I refuse to let them fall in front of him.

“You know he’d never lay a finger on me or Ron. If you’d told us about your family, instead of keeping it from us, we would have made sure he’d never have had a chance to hurt them either.” His words make me livid.

“God! You such an idiot, Jax!” I yell out in frustration. He doesn’t give me chance to continue my angry rant. With a growl and the baring of teeth he pulls me close to him, his left hand resting around my throat loosely. This isn’t about hurting me, it’s about him showing the power he holds as Alpha on his land. It’s a pity I don’t know all the rules in the Werewolf handbook, otherwise I may just submit to him fully. Unfortunately I don’t know shit regarding Werewolf etiquette.

“Don’t you dare speak to me like that, Alexia! You’re the idiot for staying with him while he was hurting you, especially as you had family in another pack that you could’ve so easily run too. I will not tolerate such disrespect from you on my land.”

His eyes pulse from his beautiful emerald green to a dark brown - almost black. He looks at me dead in the eye, but when his eyes move to stare at my lips it breaks the spell. I push against his chest and his eyes immediately dart up to mine, his hold on my neck tightening.

“You seem to forget, Jax. You’re not my Alpha.”

I place one hand onto his wrist and attempt to pull it away from my neck, but he stands his ground.

“Get your hands off of me.”

I watch him work his jaw as he stares down at me.

“Now, Jax,” I deadpan.

When he removes his hands from my neck, I use both my hands to shove him hard. He takes a step back and folds his arms over his chest.

“You don’t know what he did to me or the things he drummed into my head. Don’t you dare stand there and judge me when you didn’t have to go through what I had to, day after day.”

I push past him, and when he reaches for my hand I pull away and head for the territory line I know is pretty close.

“Don’t walk away from me, Alexia,” he says in a flat tone.

I start running, knowing I’m closing in on the perimeter of his land. I hear his fast footsteps behind me.

As soon as I pass the territory line I know it in my soul. I can feel the sense of relief in my wolf within me, as if this land is her safe zone.

“Come back here, Lexi! Now!” Jax bellows, a few feet away from me making sure not to overstep.

“Not gonna happen, sorry. I’m not gonna stand there one more minute and talk when you continuously overlook Drake’s behaviour. I know I shouldn’t have kept shit from you, I get it okay? I kept a lot of shit from a lot of people… don’t think you’re special. At the time, I thought it would be best if I kept it to myself, so much was going on and I didn’t understand most of it myself. I didn’t know who to trust with my secrets, so I didn’t tell anyone, but that does not excuse the way Drake treated me.”

I try to calm my voice just in case my father has men on night patrol who might be close by.

“You knew he wasn’t stable! We all told you to look out for him! How many times did we warn you?” He says irritably.

I let out a frustrated laugh. “Unstable? He’s crazy, Jax! Fucking lost-his-marbles crazy!” I use my index finger and twirl it around next to my right ear expressively, emphasising crazy. “And you have that as your Beta! You’re an even bigger fool than I am, Jax.”

I turn around and he lets out a low growl.

I’m pushing my luck… I know it, but I don’t care. I’m questioning his ability as Alpha with regards to picking leaders of his pack. I know he’s trying his hardest not to run into my territory to put me in my place. Secretly, I’m loving pushing his buttons. The frustration as he tries to restrain himself against the words I throw at him rolls of him in waves. I’m testing the restraint he has and he knows it.

“Get back here, Alexia! Now!” He roars, but I ignore him as I continue my way through the bushes.