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I shoved his arm. “My parents trust me to make the right decisions,” I corrected.
I settled back down next to him, resting my head against his chest. “And you’re just lucky that wasn’t my dad. That would have been an entirely different conversation.”
Ace wrapped his arms around me and leaned down to kiss my forehead. “If you say so.”
He readjusted our bodies so we were both lying on our sides, chest to chest, one of his legs tangled between mine.
I probably should have gotten up to brush my teeth and use the bathroom—I think I read somewhere that you’re supposed to pee after sex to avoid getting a UTI—but my eyes were already closing.
I nuzzled into Ace’s chest, letting the vibration of his soothing purrs start to lull me to sleep.
“I love you, Doe,” Ace whispered into my hair. “I would do anything for you…to make you happy. You know that, right?”
Was that worry in his tone? ?I was too close to sleep to respond.
I dreamed I was in a room I didn’t recognize, in a house I had never been in before.
The bedroom was well furnished, with a king-size bed, a couch facing a beautiful wooden dresser with a large TV on top, two plush armchairs, and an expensive-looking Persian rug atop hardwood floors.
“Are my parents going to be here soon? Have you texted them yet?” I asked Ace.
He was lying on the bed next to me, his warm body surrounding mine completely as if he were trying to protect me from the world.
My head was pounding. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull and cracked it open. I hid my face in Ace’s chest to avoid being exposed to any sort of light.
The room was pitch black thanks to the blackout curtains, but I had already spent far too many hours throwing up in the bathroom to chance being exposed to light and upsetting my concussion again.
Ace shifted against me as he massaged the back of my neck. “Yes. They’re on their way,” he replied. His voice was so tense.
I wasn’t surprised. He hated it when I was in pain.
“Will you turn the TV down a little bit?” I requested.
To avoid making my head worse, Ace was blocking me from watching the TV but had put it on at a low volume. The cast of Friends was doing its best to distract me from the hellish pain I was in.
The world was spinning too much. Even the sound of my own voice was hard for me to bear.
Instead of turning down the volume, Ace just switched the TV off. I was extremely grateful for the silence.
“I’m so sorry, Doe,” Ace said for the millionth time.
I sighed and glanced up at him, just barely able to see him in the darkness. He met my gaze with exhausted, agonized eyes. He looked so young. He was probably only fifteen or sixteen years old.
“Please stop apologizing,” I begged. I tucked my head back into his chest with a wince. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know Mitchell was going to react that way.”
“Doesn’t matter. I should have protected you. I’m never going to let anything bad happen to you again. I promise.”
He was being too hard on himself. It made my heart clench. All the guilt he was carrying had to be crushing.
“You can’t promise that,” I said. “Sometimes things happen that are out of your control. It’s not fair that you’re blaming yourself for what happened.”
“No.” His tone was final. Decided. “I’m going to protect you. You have my word. No matter what it takes. You will never have to go through anything like that ever again.”
Someone knocked gently on the door. Whoever it was didn’t wait for a reply before swinging it open. My hand flew up to protect my eyes from the unwelcome light coming in from the hallway.
I let out a breath of relief, thinking it was my parents finally coming to take me home.
But instead of seeing my mom and dad, I met the eyes of a tall, skinny, white-haired, old man. His disturbing appearance immediately made me alert.
He was dressed all in black, his long, hooded coat reaching his ankles, and his feet covered by dark leather.
His cheekbones protruded morbidly from his face, and his skin was so pale and translucent, I was sure you would be able to see his veins in the right lighting.
He would have made a great extra in The Walking Dead.
“Alpha,” the man greeted with a low nod of his head.
“Just Ace is fine,” Ace replied in a stiff tone. “Thank you for coming.”
“Who…?” I looked between them, trying to decipher what was going on. I wasn’t in the mood for visitors, especially when those visitors were complete strangers.
And someone who looked like they could take a job at a haunted house.
I just wanted to go home. I missed my own bed. I missed my parents and brothers.
“My name is Gulius Mallor,” the white-haired man said to me.
I’d never seen a man look so stoic while introducing himself. I briefly wondered if he had ever smiled before.
“And you must be Dorothy. Your mate asked me to be here.”
Ace helped me sit up with a gentle hand on my back. I moaned, my gut clenching in protest at the sudden movement.
I made sure to keep my eyes covered. I could barely look at the man, this Gulius.
His form was still backlit by the bright light coming from the hall behind him.
“Close the door,” Ace snapped, noticing my reaction. He looked down at me in worry and gently wiped my hair from my face. “She has a concussion.”
“Pity,” Gulius lamented. He swung the door shut behind him, shrouding us in darkness once again.
I deflated as some of the tension left my skull. “Ace? What’s going on?”
“The concussion might complicate things,” Gulius cut in. He leaned down to inspect me, then frowned as he took in the deep cut on the left side of my forehead, sewn up with stitches.
I automatically moved closer to Ace. Gulius was so near that I could feel his breath against my face. It smelled of rotting leaves and burned matches.
A low growl came from Ace. “Complicate things how?”
Gulius shook his head. “There’s no way to be sure.”
“Will it cause her pain?” Ace demanded.
Cause me pain? What the hell?
“What are you talking about?” I asked once again. “What’s going to cause me pain?”
“Everything is okay, Doe,” Ace said. He ran one of his hands up and down my bicep.
“Gulius is going to help. He’s going to make sure no one can ever take you from me again.”
Alarm bells went off in my head. “How is he going to do that? There’s no way—”
“I have very little time here. We must make haste,” Gulius interrupted. He seemed very unconcerned by my questions. It was almost as if my worry greatly inconvenienced him.
His dark gaze traveled down my body. “The concussion may cause her pain. I’ve also never treated anyone so young before. How old is she?”
“She just turned fifteen,” Ace muttered.