“I always loved this chair.” His voice was deep and dominating. She submitted. What choice did she have? They may have fought before when they were true mates but now she had no rights, she was a pack member and expected to bow to the alpha. It didn’t matter that she’d nursed him back to health after fights or that he’d taken her virginity. He was the alpha now and she was the omega. Omegas submit to alphas.
“Take it.” Lettie turned and left the bedroom shifting as she went to the back door. She ran as fast and far as she could before she collapsed under a tree far into the woods. The ground was soft and cold. It was covered in pine needles but she should be safe enough here. She lay panting until she shifted and then cried until she fell asleep there. Lettie was beginning to understand why some women swallowed a bottle of pills.
Jordan sat in the antique green velvet wingchair waiting for her to come back but she didn’t. He wondered where she went after a few hours when he woke with a stiff neck from his nap in the chair. He’d screwed the pooch again. He needed to tie her down and make her listen to him until he could say the right words. He needed to make her understand that he wanted her back and that he didn’t want her to leave. That he was a stupid jackass and that he loved her. She’d said that she would be gone by the weekend but it seemed to him that she was already gone. She didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He swallowed hard missing his mate. Why couldn’t they have a civil conversation? Jordan snarled at the empty room. She wasn’t going to return until he left her house and it was cold outside tonight. For the safety of his mate Jordan headed home.
Lettie woke up freezing. Her teeth chattered and goose bumps covered her chilled skin. She’d cried herself to sleep last night and had spent the night in the woods. Damn Jordan anyway. She thought as she shifted into her wolf and trotted to the house. Her nose twitched and scented the air for him as she crept closer to the house. He’d gone a few hours before. Good. Lucas loped by and glanced at her. She turned toward him and shifted. He stopped then started away from her. “Lucas?” He turned and shifted. “Can I ask a favor?”
“Sure, I guess.” He was watching her suspiciously. Lucas had a look in his eyes that she’d never seen there before. Even though she wasn’t sure what it was, she didn’t like it.
“Um…never mind, I’ll take care of it. Thanks anyway.” Lettie nibbled her lip.
“Whatever.” He shifted back into his wolf and hurried off like he wanted nothing to do with her.
“Jordan.” She spat, tears welled in her eyes. He was poisoning the other pack members against her. “Gah!” Lettie went inside the house and boxed the dishes that her Grandmother left her then packed her clothes. She would take her clothes today and hopefully Mister Thompson would let her either let her borrow his car or would give her dishes a ride. Lettie showered and got ready for work. Her stomach grumbled but the thought of a peanut butter sandwich was not appetizing. It was all that she had left in the pantry. Since she didn’t have a vehicle anymore and she couldn’t carry grocery sacks in her wolf form, she would go hungry. He always knew how to hurt her. He’d taken the truck on shopping day. She decided that Jordan probably planned it all along. He was devious when he wanted to be. She put the duffle across her back and left for work. It was about three miles and she needed to get an early start.
Jordan watched her from the office window. He saw her glance his way and watched her speed her pace. He punched a hole into the drywall with his fist. That was his mate and she hated his guts. It would’ve been less painful if she’d just put a bullet in his heart. He would be waiting when she came home tonight and they were going to have a very long and very honest conversation. She was going to listen to him. She was going to bring that duffle bag up here and she was going to hang her clothes in his closet. This bullshit was going to end, tonight.
Jordan sat on her back porch waiting. Lettie would be home soon and he was ready for her. They were going out to dinner because there was no damned food in her house. They would talk and then they were going to bed. He’d be damned if he spent another night without his mate. Yes he’d rejected her, he’d said it, but he didn’t mean it and she knew he didn’t. Didn’t she? Couldn’t she feel him anymore? She didn’t act like it. Lately she just acted like a cowering omega. Lettie was not the omega of this pack. Was she? Did he make her feel like she was? Where the hell was she anyway? It was after ten. He looked at his watch. Why the hell hadn’t she come home?