HEEEEEY, GUYS ! NEW CHAPTEER ! HOPE YOU ENJOY ♥
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“Fine,” I said, talking around the lump that had settled in my throat. “Fuck you, Cade.” I spat the words out before turning on my heel and rushing out of the door. As I approached her, Kat reached her hand out to grab my arm. Declan caught it mid-air and shook his head at her, letting me pass. I whispered a soft thank you as I ran out the door.
I could hear Cade charging after me. Clearly he hadn’t expected Declan to let me pass. “Ainsley, wait! Declan, what the hell, man?!” Cade yelled. I glanced back and saw that Declan was barring Cade’s exit. I stopped, watching the scene play out for a minute.
“Let her go, Cade.” He said calmly, quietly.
“Don’t tell me what to do with my mate!” He yelled. The word mate caused the lump in my throat to grow until it was almost unbearable. He looked up and saw me standing there. “Ainsley!”
At the call of my name, I shook my head and him and set my feet in motion again. I bypassed the elevator, not wanting to get stuck in it with him. I flew down the stairs two at a time. A sob choked past my lips and my eyes blurred with unshed tears. I clamped my hand over my mouth and kept running, down, down, down, until I reached the bottom. I came out into the lobby. Cade stood there with Reese, his face twisted in agony. They stood in front of the doors, blocking my exit.
“Ainsley, please,” He said, his voice thick. It was the first time I’d ever heard him say please to anyone.
I shook my head at him. “No, Cade.” It hurt to just say his name. I stepped forward to pass him. I brushed Reese aside and grabbed the door handle. A hand clamped down on my arm. I followed the hand to its arm and finally to its owner. Cade. Obviously.
I looked away and closed my eyes. “Let go,” I said quietly but firmly.
“Ainsley. Don’t leave. Please.” I could tell he was just barely restraining from begging, pleading.
I closed my eyes tighter. “Let me go,”
“You can’t go out there by yourself, Ainsley. Not after what just happened.”
“Fine,” I conceded, not looking him in the eyes. It hurt too much to see what I’d thought was concern and care in his eyes. Now I knew it was all pretend.
“Good,” he visibly relaxed. “We’ll go back to my cabin and-”
“I’m going with Reese.” I said, cutting him off.
His body tensed again. “Excuse me?” he nearly growled.
I repeated my words slowly, this time making eye contact. He needed to know I was serious. “I am going with Reese.”
This time he did growl a low and dangerous sound. It raised the fine hair on my neck and I knew I’d be terrified to face him in a dark alley. But I wasn’t going anywhere with him. I could still feel my tears drying on my cheeks. After the way he’d hurt me... I couldn’t be with him.
Cade briefly locked eyes with Reese and from the tension that shot up drastically I knew there were going to be some problems later on.
“Fine.” I almost didn’t understand him, the way he snarled the word. I jerked my arm out of his grip, brushed past him and went outside. I didn’t look back to see whether or not Reese was following. I knew Cade would have his hide if he wasn’t.
“Your cabin or mine?” Reese called from behind me, once we were a distance away from Headquarters.
“Yours, definitely. I’m not tryna face him when he leaves that meeting.”
“Nothing would stop him from coming to my cabin, you know,” Reese pointed out.
“His pride might.” I countered. I knew Cade’s pride was a huge part of who he was.
Reese paused a moment. “Good point.”
Once we reached the roads that led to the cabins I stopped walking and turned to face him. “Okay, you’re going to have to start leading here. I can’t remember where your cabin is.” I said. I waited for him to catch up with his long, confident strides. He stopped once he reached me and looked down at me with his true blue sparkling eyes. He was too cute.
“C’mon,” he said. Together we walked towards his cabin. “So what do you plan on doing for the day?” Reese asked.
“Gosh, I actually don’t know... Usually I’d be studying or working, but right now I have nothing to study for and I doubt you guys would let me go to work.”
Reese nodded. “You’re right there. Until you’re mated and safe, we can’t let you off this reserve. You’re already in danger here and being outside the reserve you’d be much more vulnerable.”
I sighed. “Why, why does this have to be my life? I mean, what’s so great about me? I’m nothing special. I can’t cook, I’m a lowly waitress, and I kick and talk in my sleep.”
Reese wrinkled his nose, looking every bit a spoiled brat. “You kick and talk in your sleep? Am I going to have to gag you and tie you down?” Reese teased.
“Only if that’s how you like it,” I flirted back, winking at him. He grinned mischievously and shook his head at me.
Apparently nobody locked their doors around here because when we arrived at Reese’s cabin he simply pushed open the door and let me in first. Such a gentleman. And did I mention amazingly cute? Oh why couldn’t Reese be my mate?!
“Welcome to my humble abode,” Reese said, although I’d been here before. “How long are you planning on staying?” He asked quietly.
I sighed. I really didn’t want to intrude, but I was not ready to go back to the cabin Cade and I shared. “Do you think I could stay the night? Pretty, pretty please?”
Reese nodded. “Of course you can. I’ll just let Cade know so he’s not waiting up for you.” Reese went in search of the phone, leaving me standing in the living room. The last time I’d been in here I’d only been in the living room and Reese’s bedroom, so I decided to take a look around.
I wandered through the kitchen, opening a few cupboards and the fridge. From the looks of it, Reese was a pretty neat guy. The bathroom held all the basic things Cade’s cabin had – nothing too interesting. I pushed open the only door left. The room was blue and very messy. It couldn’t be Reese’s room. I stepped in lightly and peered around. The walls were covered with pictures of forests, wolves and lakes. Who was Reese’s roommate again? Idly, I touched the fabric of the bed sheets and an image flashed across my face, temporarily blocking out my surroundings. The face was that of a grinning Ashton. I gasped loudly and yanked my hand away. What the hell?
“Ainsley? You okay?” Reese poked his head through the door way. He must have been passing on his way back to the living room when he heard me gasp. He furrowed his brow. “What are you doing in here?”
“Ohmigosh,” I said softly, still stunned by what had happened.
“What?” He took the smallest of steps into the room. His face looked as if he were uneasy being in Ashton’s territory. “Come into the living room and we can talk,”
I followed him out of Ashton’s bedroom, shooting one last backward glance at Ashton’s bed. I settled onto a couch in the living room while Reese went into the kitchen.
“Coffee? Tea? Water?” He asked.
“Do you have any pop?” I asked. I loved the tingles it set on my tongue.
“Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper?”
“Mountain Dew, please.”
Reese set the can on the counter and stuck his head back into the fridge. “So what was that whole gasp for back there?” He asked, his voice slightly muffled by the refrigerator.
“It was the weirdest thing, Reese. I was in his room, and I couldn’t remember who your roommate was. I felt like it was right there, floating in the air. The answer, I mean.” Reese’s head emerged from the fridge, his right arm holding a bottle of beer. “So I touched the comforter, just randomly, and then, for a split second, everything around me disappeared and Ashton’s face appeared in my mind. Weird, huh?”
Reese, on his way to the living room from the kitchen dropped his bottle of beer. It smashed onto the floor, the beer spilling a dark brown against the lighter wood floors, glass strewn everywhere.
“A bit dramatic, don’t you think?” I joked lightly.
“Impossible,” he breathed.
I frowned. “That you’re being dramatic? I hardly think so.”
“No, you have it. You’re a Seer, Ainsley. You have the Wise Sight.”