Filed To Story: Goddess's Design His Fated Mate (Willow & Reuben)
Walter turned to me abruptly. “Willow, is tomorrow your welcome party? Why haven’t you invited me yet?”
I forced a smile and replied, “I was just about to invite you.”
I could feel my head on the verge of exploding under Reuben’s burning gaze. He detested having his personal space invaded, and that’s exactly how he viewed Walter joining the party. It was one of the reasons I had insisted on having Walter stay at the hotel.
I swiftly guided Walter through the hallway before anything else could happen. Once we were alone, I finally inquired, “Did you have a death wish? How could you enter werewolf territory so boldly?”
I demanded.
“To come visit you, I would find a way to climb up to the heavens, you know, right?”
He smirked playfully.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Don’t you dare talk to me like this in front of Reuben,”
I warned him. “He is not the slightest bit welcoming of jokes.”
Walter’s feet slowed at my remark. “My feelings for you are not a joke,”
his voice was low and held hidden emotions, ones that I always pretended not to understand.
I slowed my pace, choosing not to respond. Instead I stated, “All these rooms are empty. You can choose whichever you like.”
He smiled, understanding that I didn’t want to delve into that forbidden conversation, as always. “Life doesn’t usually offer so many choices, so I’ll take my time in choosing a room if you don’t mind,”
he remarked, slowly passing by each room as we walked together. “I never expected your husband to be an Alpha,”
he murmured, peering into a room through an open door.
The moment he mentioned Reuben, my husband, a different feeling stirred in my heart. I should have corrected him, stating that we were not married and were soon to reject each other. However, no words escaped my lips. It was as if I didn’t want to refute his claim.
My eyes slowly drifted to my hand, which held the heat-prevention pills that I had pilfered from Reuben’s pocket in the front yard during our earlier conversation. I had rarely experienced my heat cycle during the past six years, so now it was completely disrupted. Reuben’s proximity was fueling my irregular heat, but I believed I only had to endure it for another four to five days until my heat would be avoided for this month.
Ceri let out a frustrated groan in my mind. She was vehemently against taking heat-prevention pills, but I had no other choice.
When I didn’t reply, Walter continued, “The more surprising fact is that he just so happens to be the strongest werewolf in America. He really has made the hunters in this country pussies. I swear that when I looked into your location in this pack earlier I honestly wondered if he had kidnapped you or something but that push he just gave me was very personal. It’s what clued me in earlier that he was into you. I always thought that you were a single mother but you turned out to be a woman with such a strong man behind her. You really have hidden a lot of stuff behind that beautiful face of yours. At this point, I feel as if I know nothing about you even though I’ve known you for six years,”
he commented lazily.
“I have always told you that you know nothing about my life,”
I murmured, pushing the door open to the room opposite to where we stood. I chose a room for him on my own.
“I agree,”
he chuckled, following me inside, “yet, I have figured out another thing, do you know what?”
“What?”
I murmured, failing to discern Walter’s expression at that moment and taking it as another one of his peculiar talks.
“Your husband does not trust you,”
he whispered into my ear, his words freezing me in place.
A moment later, I glanced at him to find a handsome smile plastered on his lips. However, it did not reach his eyes. It was the smile of someone who had just discovered something precious.
“Am I wrong?”
He pulled away from me only to sit on his luggage, like a king on his throne. “He let a hunter stay at his home just because he didn’t want you to go to my hotel room. A place where he couldn’t keep an eye on you. He gave me a guest room that is on another floor from your room. Is he afraid that something will happen between us if I am next door to you?”
He questioned.
I couldn’t deny that I was already somewhat aware of all of this. Reuben’s obsession kicked in whenever other men were around me with different intentions and I was damn sure Reuben could smell Walter’s interest in me.
“This is not new for me. I’ve been dealing with this side of him for 11 years .”
I brushed Walter’s comment off, wanting to leave when he spoke.
“Don’t tell me you’re taking his attitude as jealousy because from where I’m standing it was suspicion.”
My feet immediately paused in the door frame upon hearing the most sensitive word of my life. The memory of Reuben tossing the pregnancy report at my feet, refusing to recognize our baby as his, stifling my breathing.
Sitting in the dark room, Walter’s sea-blue eyes remained fixed on my expression as he added, “Why does it look like this is not the first time this has happened?”
As he spoke, the room fell into a dead silence. A couple of seconds later, I walked out of his room without looking back or answering to him.
Unknown to me, Walter closed his eyes, throwing his head back and murmured, “Just like I thought, they are not together. Two days should be more than enough time to break something that is already broken, right?”
Walking out of Walter’s room, I could only manage to cross the hallway before my legs refused to support me any longer. I curled up in a corner, breathing hard, and clutching my chest.
That day Reuben had never directly accused me of cheating on him. I still did not know on that day whether he had doubted my character or my love.
That day did he believe me even in the slightest?
Reuben
I found her, curled up in a corner of the hallway, eyes closed looking completely innocent and lonely. My hand slowly slid across the warm soft skin of her cheek as I rubbed my thumb under the corner of her eye where a tear was stuck. Earlier she had been fine when suddenly I had felt her emotions fluctuating through our mate bond. I knew she was crying, but I did not know why. I felt her pain and knew she was fighting with it alone.
Scooping her up into my arms, I headed upstairs, only to place her sleeping figure down on my bed as I settled beside her under the covers. Our bodies were in contact along the entire length of our bodies as I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her forehead.
“Willow, why were you crying? Am I the reason for your tears again?”
I murmured, closing my eyes and leaning my forehead against hers. “I am sorry,”
I whispered, wanting to steal away all of her pain and suffering. I did not know how long I watched her before I fell asleep listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing and heartbeat.
Unbeknownst to me, Willow opened her eyes as soon as my breathing steadied into the rhythm of sleep. She had only had her eyes closed the entire time.
The next morning my internal alarm clock woke me up at five, but I found myself alone in bed. Willow was gone though her scent lingered on the blanket as if she had been there only moments ago. How had I not woken up when she left? At this point, I realized that whenever I slept with Willow I would sleep peacefully. Getting out of the packhouse, I checked on her through her window to find her working on her design, which the dummy was wearing.
She was exceptionally beautiful when she was engrossed in her work. Without disturbing her, I went for my morning run, attended the pack’s morning meeting, and went through a couple of files that required my signature. Upon my return hours later, I found Lori playing in the front yard with her toys.
“Daddy, daddy!!”
Lori raced happily toward me, as if she hadn’t seen me in months. I immediately pulled my little girl into my arms, relishing the attention from my child.
“You didn’t go to kindergarten today?”
I questioned, wiping the smudge of dirt from her little cheek.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.