His Last Choice

Chapter 26

"I'll be damned!" He roars. I hold back the sheets over my face afraid to watch—nervous to look into Soren's eyes as he sees me for the first time in a long time. "I allowed you into my home. With all the authority and power I had, I tried to keep you away from her. Then you take her away from me and claim to be her 'precious' freaking mate!"

I think dad just exploded.

"NO YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE HER!!"

Soren grunts. I drop the sheets and gape at my dad choking Soren on the wall.

"DAD" I screamed, though my voice sounded more like a squeal. I tied to move but, I was still sore.

Soren's eyes did not even look at me. His face began to turn blue, but he kept a straight face as if he knew what was heading for him, like he had expected for the worst.

"Stay in bed!" Dad ordered me.

I didn't listen. "Let him go first!" I crawled to the edge of the bed and let my legs dangle off.

"PEYTON, get back this instant!" Dad let him go and strode back to me grasping under my arms and hauling me back to bed. "You are so stubborn!" He yelled at me, practically tying the blanket around my neck to keep me still.

"She's not the only one" Alpha Jeremy muttered from the door, watching the whole fiasco, a hint of amusement in his face.

"Shut your hole!" Dad growled and Alpha Jeremy shrugged. "You stupid excuse for a mate, come here!" He gestured for Soren to stand in front of him.

Soren didn't move. He continued to look at the ground as if there was an interesting looking piece of lint he wanted to pick. Anger boiled through my veins, besides the hurt and sadness that was already there.

"FACE ME PUP!" Soren finally looked up and stared blankly into dad's gaze. I studied his face.

He seemed to have lost a lot of weight; his muscles looked lacking their usual bulk, his eyes looked greyish and dull. Under his chin were days old stubble and his posture spelled defeat. This was not Soren—well, not the Soren I remembered.

The Soren I knew was prideful and quick on his feet; this man was nothing more than a cloud of despair.

"Look at her, she is okay now" Dad's tone softened. "She's recovering and within days she will be her usual self again." I don't understand. Why was dad suddenly consoling Soren? "Get over it, she's safe now and you need to stop hovering by her door and do something. You really need a bath and a good night's rest."

"He's right son" Alpha Jeremy joined in, this time he wasn't teasing. "You haven't slept in five days. You need to get back in tip-top shape"

FIVE DAYS!!

"Soren" I reached out my hand to him. His eyes sought mine and for the first time since I was kidnapped, he bent down and nuzzled his face into my head, softly wrapping his large arms around my small body.

"I'm so sorry," he stammers. "So-so damn sorry..."

Not knowing what to say, the tears in my eyes leak and I hear myself weeping into his clean white shirt. "No, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have run from you"

We stay that way for another couple minutes.

"When we found you, you stayed asleep for another two days. I thought I was too late!" I felt something wet and warm damping my hair. He was crying...

"It was her wolf recovering son." Alpha Jeremy informed him, but he wasn't listening.

"Let's leave them be." Dad walked out the door and Alpha Jeremy followed, closing the door behind him.