Evince Me

Chapter 20: The Truth

Tristan's POV

What in the hell, did she seriously just bitch slap me? In a way it knocked some sense into me, but it also pissed me off even more than I already was. One thing...one damn thing I asked of her, to stay away from that scum and what does she do? She disobeyed my request. Does my word not mean anything to her, do I not mean anything to her?

As I watched the back of her blond hair rush out of the restaurant something inside of me snapped back to reality. Taking a step forward, I decided to chase Lise down and demand she explain herself. A hand on my shoulder held me in place as Luke leaned in close and said. "Trist, let her go. You need to give her some space man."

Space? That's all I've been giving her as of lately since becoming Alpha, I feel like we hardly get to see one another. We don't get to spend as much time with each other as I'd like. Maybe that's why I've been so overprotective of her. The guilt I'm feeling from not being around Lise as much as I should was beginning to get to me. It was eating away at me slowly.

At that exact moment, Anya and Nicole shoved past me in a rush to catch up with Lise. Each of them threw me a dirty glare over their shoulders. What, did I do something wrong? Would the way I handled the situation be categorized as an overreaction? Just seeing that bastard holding her hand sent my blood to a dangerous boiling point again as I focused my narrowed eyes on the root of the problem.

Nodding my head to reassure Luke I wouldn't chase after Lise and that I was calm. I straightened up my posture and calmly walked over to where Axel and Max had a hold of him. "Bring him back to the pack house." I ordered, my fists clenched tightly at my sides. I was using every ounce of control to keep myself from ripping his head off. He better thank his lucky stars we're out in a public place, there's no way I'd jeopardize exposing us over a piece of trash like Danny.

When I arrived back to the pack house, things seemed quiet...too quiet. "Where do you want him Trist?" Max asked still holding onto Danny's arm to make sure he didn't try and run away. "Just keep him in my study with you for a bit. I have a few things to handle before I deal with him." I responded, already halfway up the first flight of steps headed to my room.

Lise's car was parked outside in the driveway, so she must have come straight from Rustica. The entire ride home I tried to mindlink her to apologize, but she blocked me out. I admit I shouldn't have embarrassed her in front of all those people, pack members included. I felt like a real jackass after having a chance to calm down and reach my moment of clarity. I was hoping she'd at least give me the opportunity to ask her if we could talk things out, but no such luck.
Running up the second flight that led to our room, I just wanted to pull Lise into my arms and hold her. To tell her I love her so damn much, and that I don't know what the hell I was thinking. That I was sorry for being so rough with her and that I'll never forgive myself for putting my hands on her. I'd promise her it would never happen again for as long as we live.

Swinging open the bedroom door I came face to face with an empty room. Where is she? Did I miss her on the first floor, maybe she's in the kitchen. Running back downstairs I went room to room until I came to a stop in the dining room. What I saw there made my heart stop cold.

"Where's Lise?" My voice came out in barely a whisper as I stared at a teary eyed Anya being comforted by Luke. Standing off to the side next to the fireplace was Axel hugging an emotional Nicole who stood there with tear streaked cheeks. The four of them looked at each other and it was Luke who stood up from the sofa.

"Anya...Nicole...where is Lise?" I managed to get my tone of voice to sound as calm as possible. Deep down inside I was falling apart. As Alpha I couldn't show them the pain I was feeling, the lump in the back of my throat, the aching feeling in my chest. Showing weakness in front of your pack is not an option, though it is allowed in front of your Luna.