Her eyes narrowed, her jaw clenched ever so slightly at being reminded that but she didn’t respond no matter how much I knew she would have loved to. Her face showing no remorse whatsoever, she kept giving me a hard stare, sole indicator of her not liking the fact I had mentioned that.
What made her think I wouldn’t bring that up? Jeremy might be friends with Andrew –the alpha’s little brother– but that didn’t justify what he did. He had no right to tell him where I would be when he knew the information was going to reach the mate I was refusing to acknowledge. At the end of the day, I was still his little sister, and even if he wasn’t exactly approving my actions, he shouldn’t have taken sides –never mind his.
Speaking of sides, where the hell was my dad? How could he have missed the little scolding-session? I was more than sure he would have enjoyed and added some of his remarks as well.
“Where’s dad?” I voiced out the question, my eyes narrowed in suspicion, not daring to hope for anything.
“He doesn’t want to pressure you into accepting Jonathan even if the idea of you rejecting your mate doesn’t appeal to him.” mom admitted in an emotionless voice, and that meant she was angry with his decision but didn’t want to show it.
Not possible! I inwardly squealed then grinned at the news. Now that’s what you can call a surprise. I had never thought he’d be willing to let me do as I pleased, to let me decide for myself whether I should refuse or accept being Jonathan’s mate; with all that had to entail. That was really unexpected.
“Cool,” I commented joyfully before resuming my ascension of the stairs. Thankfully, mom chose to go to the living-room, probably to give dad a full report and a piece of her mind for probably the third time or so. She was definitely not fond of the idea of his not getting involved. I was sure she had made that crystal clear to him already, but another venting-session wouldn’t hurt her. Dad was one of those unshakable persons who once they’ve taken a decision, there was no changing it. I often described that as him being unnervingly stubborn but for once I viewed it as a quality.
Chapter 18
An Unforgettable Encounter
I entered my room, a smirk adorning my lips, indicator of my good mood, and was soon changing into my pajamas. I looked dismissively at my untidy desk, knowing I would have no problems finding whatever I needed in the morning – despite the almost impossible disorder – since that was just my way of tidying things up. I then longingly looked at my queen-seized bed which was just under the window but forced my legs to take me to the bathroom so that I could brush my teeth.
It was safe to say that all what had happened in the evening had made me tired since as soon as my head hit the pillow, I dozed off.
It was a nice sunny day and Celia and I had been enjoying it together. We had gone to the mall shopping, had fun, eaten some deliciously junky food as lunch and then gone back to my house. We were about to watch a movie when Karl strolled in.
Wanting them to grow closer, I told them it felt too hot for me to stay inside the house and that I’d rather have a little walk in the nearby forest, thinking I’d probably end up bathing in the river in my underwear like I often did when no one was around.
Celia had almost instantly agreed and told me she’d rather watch the movie, giving me a gratitude-filled look, understanding my intention. All the while Karl, being the gentleman he was, decided on staying to keep her company since neither Jeremy nor Jake was home.
Much as I had expected, there was no one susceptible of catching me bathing in my underwear. Ergo I didn’t hold back and dived in, reveling in the sweet sensation of being submerged in some deliciously refreshing water.
I had enjoyed myself for what felt like an eternity but was probably two hours or so and then decided I’d better leave before the sunset since I wasn’t fond of walking in the darkness of the night. Just as I put my clothes on, my wet underwear dampening them in the process, I heard some voices growing near. I rose to my feet, a smile plastered on my face, expecting to see one of the Sunshine’s pack’s members come out of the bushes. Instead, I was soon facing nine unfamiliar faces.
My breath hitched in my throat, my heart squeezed in anxiety before starting a mad race; I was definitely starting to panic. But that was on the inside. Never would I show such things to potential enemies. What kind of witch would that make me?
I narrowed my eyes at them as they remained standing, unmoving, few feet separating me from them. They had what could only be seen as old dirty rugs for clothes, a dangerous aura emanating from them and scary faces.
“What’s a girl like you doing here?” one of them asked. He had a nasty scar on his face; it found its beginning in the top of his right eyebrow and reached his shin, making him look more threatening if that even possible – as if his enormous frame wasn’t enough.
“I don’t think it’s any of your problem,” I was meaning to make the words sound light, confidently sarcastic. They chose, however, to take a defensive tone.
“Maybe we ought to show you your place, darling,” his grin revealed yellow teeth that looked so dirty, I had to hold back a flinch of disgust.
“We
