“Bane is a heartless cold werewolf. There is no way he didn’t ravish you and leave you, unless he had impregnated you first, and you were a willing participant.” She couldn’t believe her ears. Her Wilder so tactless and indifferent to her.
“Not as heartless and cold as you are now. I’m pregnant but it’s for...”
“You’re pregnant for him?” Wilder yelled raking his hand through his dark hair. “I can’t believe you would give into him. You should...” He caught himself before he said that she should have let him kill her first.
“I should have let him kill me before he would touch me? Is that what you want to say? I’m pregnant for Drayton not Bane. Bane appears to be a far better choice than you at this moment, and if Drayton and Lycell feels that way, then maybe you should drop me off and let me go with Bane.”
Wilder had been through hell and he didn’t mean what he had said to her. He couldn’t take it back and Adrienne wouldn’t listen to him anyway. He had cut her deep with his words and after all she had sacrificed for him. She agreed to mate with all of them and have their pups. And this is the way he’s treating her? He had the pack he wanted and it was all because of her. And now Wilder with his insane jealousy is accusing her of sleeping with Bane.
“Drayton said that you weren’t pregnant, and now you’re trying to cover up and pass his pups off as Drayton’s. I can smell him all over you.”
“Believe what you want.” She turned away exhausted. Of all the people to not have faith in her. She thought Wilder would know better. She would believe Lycell would behave like a lunatic, but not Wilder. After all, they were of the same mother and father, and they were triplets, and what was true of one had to be true of all three, her mind thought.
Chapter 17
Wilder watched at Adrienne as she slept leaning against the window of the truck keeping her distance from him. She was more beautiful now than she had ever been. But he had crossed the line with her and there was no turning around. How could he be so insensitive and not believe her. But he couldn’t fathom Bane not touching his beautiful mate who is tempting and alluring.
He didn’t think Drayton had impregnated her because Drayton was so positive that he didn’t have time, or he may have been infertile. Drayton railed at Wilder for cutting their honeymoon short and not allowing him enough time with her.
Adrienne woke and stirred around in the truck before she realized that Wilder was alone. Where is Drayton and Lycell, she wondered. Had they been so certain that Bane had molested her and impregnated her that they didn’t bother to come after her?
She had been too tired and too busy arguing with Wilder to ask about her family until now.
“Where is Lycell and Drayton? Did they think I was a lost cause? Did they think as you, that I should let Bane kill me, before I would give in to him?”
“When we found out that you were kidnapped, we didn’t waste any time tracking you to that pack and to Bane. Only to discover that you were with Bane. I don’t know how to tell you,” he said looking at her.
“Just tell me. You didn’t have a problem telling me that I should let Bane kill me, or I should have killed myself.”
“Will you try to forget that and forgive me? I was upset and out of my mind worried about you.”
Adrienne glance over to Wilder, “I will never forget that, and I will never forgive you.”
“After I have Drayton’s pups, I think I want to leave.”
“And go where? You can’t leave us? You have a husband. If not for me, stay for our children and Drayton. I’ll leave.”
“My children are no longer children. I close my eyes and wake and find they are adults overnight. I’m not used to that. I don’t understand it, and I don’t know if I want that kind of life anymore.”
“You can’t leave. We won’t let you leave. Lycell was mauled by a bear and Drayton had to do battle with one of Bane’s betas. He won of course, but they’re not in great shape. If you leave us we can’t make it.” Adrienne hadn’t expected that. She just stared out into the night.
“I’m sure Lycell will be alright. He has all those women who can’t wait for him to go back to his old ways.”
“Lycell is different now. You should see him with his sons. When you refused to sleep with him, he rode his horse all night not to find a woman as he had threatened, but to find a way to control himself.” Adrienne quietly smiled to herself. “And Drayton, he spent his night tracking a moose. We have the meat to prove it.” Wilder looked over at Adrienne and he flashed a closed smile at her.” She turned her head and tried to cover up her smile. Afterwards she turned back to face him.
“And you?”
“I’d rather not tell you what I did.” Adrienne turned away from him with a huff.
“I applaud them for displaying self-control, but I don’t want you and them to tell me what I can’t do. I will decide that. This is not real life. This is a nightmare for me now. I will stay long enough to see that Lycell and Drayton are ok, but after that, it will be my decision.”
“I thought you enjoyed living with us and loving me.”
“That was before I realized that you would rather me dead than to have Bane touch me. I can’t live with someone like you. You have become too possessive.” Adrienne words were painful to Wilder, but much more painful to her and he deserved much more.
Where would she go? Back to her parents? Back to Paul? First she has to navigate around Lycell and Drayton and not to mention her grown sons Devin and Hunter. She was a captive and she felt like one.
Being with Bane was less restrictive than the Samsa brothers and that’s saying a lot.
“Lycell and Drayton are hurt and need you. Why would you leave them now after they almost lost their lives for you? It was you who decided to go out on your own and you who took Mena with you.”
“Again you’re blaming me for this. Where’s Mena? Poor Mena.” Then she remembered Robert. Her hands went to her mouth. “Robert. I forgot about Robert.”
“I was just saying that if you had just listened instead of being stubborn...” Adrienne’s look of disbelief stopped Wilder from going further.
“Don’t say anymore to me. Stop at a hotel and let me sleep. I’m not going to drive another two thousand miles with you without proper rest and food.”
Ten miles moving south, lights flashed on a hotel sign. “I have to drive as far as possible to keep Bane from catching up with us. I can’t stop now. I don’t want to have to fight him with you pregnant.”
“Why do you care? Think you might lose and he will take me and fuck me.”
“Don’t say that Adrienne. You know I care and I didn’t mean anything I said. I would want you if there wasn’t anything left of you as long as you could be with me and I could hold you in my arms.” Adrienne’s heart warmed for Wilder. He sounds like the werewolf she first met in his cave. But she couldn’t remove his harsh words from her mind.
Wilder moved his hands over to touch Adrienne’s hand, and she pulled away. He knew that he had his job cut out for him. Loneliness gripped him once more, and he needed her to love him the way she once had. But after what he said to her, he felt it would never be the same, but he had to try to bring her back to him. His life and the life of his family depended on whether he could change her thinking about him and his brothers.
“I will never care for you again,” she said turning away from Wilder and staring out into the cold gray night. She wondered about Bane and what he was thinking when he discovered that she was gone. She wondered did he find solace in the blond girl at the front desk. And she wondered if he missed her like she’s missing him now.
Then Adrienne heard what she thought was a chilling outcry and howl of a loss of control. It was more of a whimper than a howl; a lovesick cry. Bane had discovered that she was gone. Wilder knew that it wasn’t over between him and Bane. Bane was out there among the mountains, snow and forest, and he missed Adrienne like Wilder had missed her. There was a hole inside of Bane and it had to b
e filled. He wanted her, and he was a threat to his family, and he would try to take her from him one day.
Wilder knew the sound of that howl. It was the pain of a werewolf without a mate. It was a wolf who has lost everything that mattered in life, and he was a danger to all animals.
“I know who that is. What did Bane say?” Wilder glanced over at Adrienne for a minute and didn’t reply to her or Bane. He couldn’t risk Bane locating him before he brought her home. Home to his children and his brothers.
Wilder knew that out in the wilderness, in the winter snow, he and Bane would have to meet and settle their differences. And resolve once and for all who would control all the werewolf clans and there is the question of Adrienne. Who would finally claim her?
Bane’s howl died out as they moved further and further south. There was a faint sound coming as Bane tried to keep up with the truck traveling down the highway at breakneck speed. From the echo all Wilder heard was a whimper as they faded out of sight and out of hearing range.
The laws of nature were calling Bane. They were deeper and stronger in werewolves than in men.
Chapter 18
Wilder slowed the truck and pulled off the main road where he drove into pitch dark woods. When he arrived at his destination, surrounding a magnificent cabin were LED lamps, which provided lighting for the large home setting in the middle of a clearing surrounded by falling snow. Driving up the graveled road, he hit a bump, and the truck bounced waking Adrienne.
“Where are we?” She asked, wiping sleep from her eyes as she leaned forward, narrowing her gaze to get a better look. There were faint lights in the dark forest and she saw a beautiful cabin surrounded by trees. Beyond the perimeters of the cabin lay pine trees sprinkled with snow, tall and impressive.
It was quiet this time of year. Many of the animals living in the near forest were still asleep, or out searching for food. But after her run in with a bear, she wouldn’t question the lack of animal sounds. She knew enough about wild animals and werewolves, that if there was a scent of a werewolf nearby, smaller animals would be repelled by a werewolf making his home in the woods. They would less likely come near the cabin.
“We’re home,” Wilder said with a large smile.
She glanced around. “What do you mean? This is not my home,” Adrienne’s voice is dry and lacks emotion. She’s tired and unhappy with Wilder. Why couldn’t he have been pleased that she had survived Bane and brought her home to see their family? Instead he’s angry, jealous, and vindictive as if she was a willing accomplice to her own kidnapping.
“I built it for us,” his voice shy like a young man trying to impress his bride.
“Am I missing something here?” Wilder thought Adrienne had a funny way of expressing herself. To him it was charming, but to another werewolf it could have been irritating? “For us?” She questioned, turning to face Wilder. “Who told you to build this? You didn’t consult me. I doubt that you consulted Drayton or Lycell. And where are we anyway?” She had so many questions for him that he wasn’t prepared or didn’t want to answer.
“Just climb out and see it. Listen to me for once.” Wilder shut the motor off and stepped outside and strode around to the passenger side to open the door for her. Adrienne sat with her hands crossed in her lap, glancing at him, not wanting to leave the truck, but then she decided it was in her interest to cooperate. How long could she hold out in this cold, and she was hungry?
“Just so you know I’m hungry. I’ll take a look around, but I’m not staying,” she emphasized. “I’ve been away from my children for over a week, and I haven’t eaten any decent food, and the man or werewolf I believed I loved, he’s not who I think he is.” Her eyes bore into Wilder.
She glances up at the handsome man standing before her with his clear ice blue eyes and thick dark hair and she paused, “I’m having second thoughts about the man...werewolf I once loved,” she said with a raised eyebrow and her brown eyes locking with his warm blues. She jumped from the truck looking around and gave out a loud sigh of disapproval.
Wilder held out his hand. “I can manage without your help.” He dropped his hand but placed it behind her waist to steady her when she stepped deep into the new snow. The house set against the woods and the cabin made out of red wood timber was huge as she neared it. A balcony on the second floor overlooked the wooded area, and large glass panoramic windows jutted out in the front of it. It is impressive, she thought.
Adrienne stepped cautiously to the front door. Wilder opened the door, stood back, and held out his hands. Adrienne looked down at his hands as If they were poison. He glanced at her with a large smile. “I want to carry you over the threshold.”
“Is that what you want to do?” She stepped inside the house and Wilder moved behind her. Adrienne looked up at him with a smirk. “That’s for married couples. We aren’t married. I’m married to Drayton, or have you forgotten. And that ceremony is for a man and a woman,” she said in a spiteful glance. Her mouth twisting in an unnatural position. One that Wilder had never seen before with her. “You’re not exactly a man or a husband.”
She hurt him as never before. He thought he couldn’t be hurt by a female. But Adrienne managed to do things to him he believed were impossible. “I’m your true mate.” His voice is hoarse, low, and calm. “I have a right to you. More rights than Drayton or Lycell,” Wilder said with conviction and intensity.
When he mated with her it would be everlasting. He had never wanted this from any female, and that’s why he roamed from pack to pack never making a choice of the werefemales or humans. But when he first made love to Adrienne, and she returned her love to him by giving him sons and mating with his brothers for the good of their family, he knew he had found his one true love, and mate for life.
“That’s not what you said when I first met you. You said that they will share me equally and that you wouldn’t be jealous. I didn’t want this, but now that it has come to fruition, I’m taking my position as their mate seriously.” She proceeded to stalk off, but Wilder took her elbow.
“I said I wouldn’t be jealous because I didn’t love you the way I love you now.” Maybe that didn’t come out quite the way Wilder intended. He was new at trying to convince a human that he loved her. He never had to before.
Adrienne continued walking as if she wasn’t affected by Wilder’s words. But she is, and she’s angry. Sucking in a hard breath she walks through the house searching for the kitchen. Hunger had taken its toll on her because of the pregnancy.
Adrienne looks around and she discovers the kitchen. The room is painted a warm yellow and it’s delightful, but a bit compact unlike the one at the ranch. She never cooked at the ranch, but clearly this kitchen was built for her to prepare food. She knew how to cook eggs and maybe pancakes from a box, or prepare fruit and yogurt, but Wilder is a meat eater. She could learn. It was built for all the things she thought a woman would do for her husband.
She could rise early in the morning, and one of them would prepare breakfast, and they would sit at the kitchen island and have a cup of coffee, as they watched the news on the television, or read the morning papers and chatted about the local and national news. Then they would make love maybe before or afterwards, and have lunch, and more lovemaking, and more eating, and a bottle of wine at night from the small wine fridge. The larger fridge would hold the fresh meat that Wilder could enjoy.
It was something she could have seen herself doing on vacation in this beautiful home. But that was a life for a man and not a werewolf. She knew Drayton would play house with her, or Lycell would pretend he liked that kind of thing, and maybe Wilder would for a few mornings, but she was no longer just for Wilder, she belonged to two others, or maybe one more werewolf, she imagined.
She trotted over and opened the disguised fridge built into the wall looking like a cabinet. Before her set food of all varieties and bottled water. Cold roasted chicken, lamb, ham, steaks, and greens for making salads. Fruit in a basket and bread on the kitc
hen island. She reached and took a bite out of everything she could put her hands on.
“You didn’t love me the way you love me now?” She questioned his statement with her mouth full with a lamb chop. “Well I don’t love you the way I love you now, which is not that much. How do you like that?” She turned quickly. “I need a shower and a change of clothes.” Adrienne scurried to the nearest bedroom and sees a large king bed. “I guess you built this too?” She said observing Wilder. He nodded watching at her with a knowing smile as his eyes brightened.
“I had help.”
Stripping down the soiled clothes, she dropped them standing naked in front of Wilder. “What are you looking at?” She asked.
“It’s been weeks since I’ve seen you. Your body is like before, small but your hips are rounder, the way we first met, and you’re so beautiful.” His eyes wavered across her full breasts; her nipples extending firm from the coolness of the room.
“I’ve been pregnant forever since I met you.” Her tone is filled with frustration. Wilder ignores her. He strode over to her and stopped pressing his body next to hers. At first she felt weak for him and she wanted to fall into his arms, but she couldn’t forget what he had said to her.
She couldn’t forget how Wilder looked at her when he thought Bane had taken her. It was the same look Paul had given her that day she disclosed to him that his frat brothers had raped her.
She pulled away from Wilder, “I have to shower.” Her voice is cold and unresponsive.
“Yes. Do take off that smell of Bane’s. Did you stand naked in front of him the way you are with me now?” Wilder’s voice is heavy, sarcasm fills the room, and his tone is hard and ruthless. “Did you let him fondle you and suck your breasts, or did you suck his cock?”
Insatiable Box Set: Books 1-4 Page 36
