Rush moaned and rubbed his hand over his chin, scratching the small scruff of facial hair he allowed to grow. “At least we would know who we’re fighting.”
“Either way, we’re killing more of our kind, and the humans get stronger.”
“I bet that bastard Harrison is behind it,” Rush growled through clenched teeth.
“Either him or his nephews.”
“He has nephews?” Rush pulled my shoulder back, so I was forced to look at him. “How much do you know about his family?”
“Not much,” I faltered. Rush’s gaze grew angrier. “I just know that he has his nephew’s working for him and that they have guns, but we already knew that. Hazel didn’t say anything else and when I drove her home-”
“Sloane,” Rush’s voice was steely and soft. “You need to tell me where he lives. We never talked about it because of the attack right after, but its time.”
“What were you going to do? Go to his house and kill him in his sleep?”
“Maybe!” he shouted, stepping away from me. “You can’t keep this from me.”
“It won’t change anything.” I shook my head.
“You don’t know that. You can’t know that. You took a vow to protect this pack, Sloane, and I know that you have some sort of connection with his daughter, but that man is evil. He killed four of our Warriors, he hurt you, and he’s threatening the lives of every single one of our pack members.”
“I can’t tell you where he lives,” I said softly.
Rush’s body tensed. “Why not?”
“Because you’re going to march over to his house and kill him, and what is that going to do? That’s only going to start the war right now, is that what you want? To fight humans and other wolves at the same time?”
“You blame me for not treating you like a Luna when you are making all of these decisions for our pack without me even knowing there were decisions to be made. You can’t preach to me that I’m not treating you with respect when you aren’t doing the same.”
“Rush.” I ducked my head.
“No, Sloane.” He started walking towards the house. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll figure it out for myself.”
I walked after him, following on his heels into the house and into our bedroom, where he began overturning chair cushions and tables.
“What are you doing?” I fumed, trying to catch his hands as they wildly overturned every surface in our bedroom.
“I see you writing in that journal all the time before we go to bed. Some sort of diary? You can’t keep things from me when you put our pack in danger. You lose the right to have secrets when they could mean our pack suffers!” His voice rose with every word.
“Rush!” I yelled, trying to stop him. His eyes found the pile of books I kept by the side of my bed, and he stalked towards them. I tried to move faster than him, but his long legs took him much farther than I could get.
He began flipping through them, tossing the books onto the bed once he checked I hadn’t written in them. He finally got to the black, leather-bound journal I kept.
“It’s in here, isn’t it?” He peered down at me, holding the journal higher in his hand. I looked down, guilty, and cornered. He shook his head in disappointment and began looking through it.
My breath became shallower, and I fought back the urge to cry, suddenly emotional and wanting to apologize, but the other half of me felt proud that I stood my ground. My breathing became louder and more like pants, so much so that Rush looked up from the journal. He stepped forward in concern and set the journal on the bed.
“Sloane?” he nearly whined, glancing over my body. “Come here.” I took a step forward and nearly collapsed under the weight. Rush’s arms were around my waist, and I practically broke with satisfaction when his hand reached up and pressed itself against my cheeks and neck.
He tilted my head back, leaning towards his mark on my neck and inhaled. My wobbling head rested on his shoulder, eagerly waiting for him to look at me again.
“Sloane,” he whispered in fright. “You’re in heat.”
Suppressed
“I feel like I can’t breathe,” I panted, my hand covering my chest. Rush moved and sat me on the chest at the end of our bed, hands on my shoulders, propping me up.
“It’s because we’re fighting. Sometimes that brings it on early, every emotion is amplified when you’re in heat.” He bent down and took my shoes off. “Just try to relax, take a deep breath.”
“What do you think I’m trying to do?” I moaned loudly as his hand drifted over my collarbone, brushing the hair from around my face.
The door opened as Rush opened the window near our bed. Jonah looked frantically around the room, eyes wide and alert. Beckett appeared behind him, nearly bumping into him as he ran down the hallway.
“Why did you mind-link us?” Jonah asked exasperatedly, stepping into the room.
“She’s in heat.” Rush pointed to me like the cookie he wasn’t allowed to eat. Jonah and Beckett inhaled deeply, trying to catch my scent.
“No, she’s not,” Beckett denied.
“You can’t smell it because you aren’t her mate, dumbass.” Rush glared. He opened the balcony doors, allowing the cool air to circulate our room.
“Why are we here?” Jonah stepped back awkwardly.
“Because we aren’t ready to have a baby right now, and I don’t trust myself to be alone in this room with her,” Rush explained.
“You wouldn’t do anything,” I assured Rush, leaning over on the bed, out of control in my own body.
“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” Rush said crazily, loudly, eyes bulging out.
“You wouldn’t hurt her like that,” Beckett said calmly.
“I know.”
