Chapter 66
Derrick's stomach growled loudly, causing my body to tremble as I jumped to attention to look up at him. The sound appeared to be confusing to him, and I couldn't contain my laughter.
You should take responsibility for your actions by returning my generosity to someone else. I was careful to fill that platter with the tastiest treats since I knew that's what you enjoyed." The way he was beaming at me, in spite of the fact that I had lifted myself up from his lap, stopped me in my tracks. My head had just been there, and I was leaning into him, my hands gripping his calf.
"I love that." Even though I had been berating him for being so petulant earlier.
"What?" I scowled as I looked across at his face.
"I love it when you laugh," he sighed. I could not resist the impulse to kiss him as he slowly blinked and tilted his head to the sky.
"I was laughing at you." He seemed unaffected by my reminder.
"Do it again; laugh at me again." I shook my head; instead of being inebriated on me, his eyes were glowing red, as if he had ingested a bit too much wine.
I collapsed back onto his lap, gazing up at him while his fingers found their way back over my cheekbones.
"I don't want you to leave the pack without telling me again." His fingers stopped moving as he noticed the sincerity in my tone, but he was unaware that there was much more to my request than just rocks scraping my throat.
"Okay." He concurred.
"Okay." I forced a smile on my face to mask the agony I could feel rising within.
We remained in that position for what felt like hours, with the sun setting, the clouds shifting, and the sky growing darker as the day went on. I was comfortable in his presence, and he didn't object when I dozed off on his lap.
With a gentle shake of my shoulders and a kiss on my cheeks, he woke me up. Until my cloudy head cleared from the darkness of my dreams, my heart felt like a brick in my chest. His body became permanently attached to my reality as my hands firmly grasped his forearms, mirroring my easy fixation on him.
"Kylie." With his hands on my shoulders and his kind gaze observing me, he assisted me in standing up. "I have some pack issues I need to attend to, but I'll be back for you in a little while." I put a hand to my head, and he appeared reluctant to depart, but I didn't miss the man's shadow that wasn't too far away.
I couldn't help but scowl at Gabriel as he stood facing away from us—something wasn't right.
I said again, a little dry-spoken, "You'll be back," as Derrick's palm slid to my chin.
"You need to stay here with Erica; she'll watch over you until I can come and get you again." Before moving again, he leaned very close to me, lightly kissing me on the lips. He lifted himself up from the floor, giving me one final longing glance as he started to walk away, back to the pack house, leaving me here with the rest of his pack. I was shocked at how simply his lips had brushed mine.
I let out a sigh as I observed his vanishing form; although his presence had briefly engulfed me, the tranquility I had experienced with him was now fragile and marred.
The lies I carried within my body felt like acid eroding my innermost being.
I gave in to his demands for three days in order to ease my guilt until my mother came to get me and he discovered the truth.
As I surveyed Edmond, I was impatient to stay put because, although most of the pack had scattered and returned to their homes and responsibilities, a sizable portion had remained. Sighing, I got up from the floor and walked back over to Erica as I saw her tidying up the mess that had accumulated.
"I told you so." The arrogant comments spilled out of her mouth without even trying to look up at me.
Derrick appeared to have taken my energy with him, but I could still see the kids playing tag around the tables; they were clearly listening in on our chat from the rest of the pack, who were still relaxing.
"How long were you waiting to tell me that?" I arched an eyebrow, embracing her close to my chest while she fiddled with a tablecloth.
"The moment he pinned you to that tree, I was getting ready to start herding the children away." Had we really been that bad? I moaned. However, even as she was saying it, I knew for a split second that Derrick had trapped me in him and that I should be ready for his wolf to emerge as well. I had expected the craving—the innate desire that I always seemed to arouse in him.
I realized that no matter what happened, there was no way I could have stopped him. However, things may have turned out very differently.
She was holding a tablecloth, and I helped her fold the cloth together by pulling at its edges. As I assisted her in getting everything put away, a sinister sensation began to twist in my gut. By the end of it, I could feel the danger before I saw it because my wolf was roaring and scratching at me, trying to warn me of something horrible.
My eyes darted across the wide swath of country surrounding me, locking onto a moving figure in the tree line not far from where we stood. The paranoia pulled against my limbs.
"Erica—where is Edmond?" My gaze flickered with the movement, my words flat, until the first rogue broke through the forest cover.
As I took in my surroundings, my heart was pounding. I immediately saw why Derrick had left with Gabriel; there were still too many people here, too many opportunities for blood to be spilled—the lady chatting away on their picnic blankets, the handful of kids running around.
He had brought all the warriors since he knew there were rogues in the area, but he had no idea they would be able to approach us this closely.
"He's sleeping in the house; why?" My heart was pounding a mile a minute as I watched another renegade lurch forward, and it felt like she noticed how my body tightened.
"There are two rogues at the tree line, and I need you to get everyone inside your house." My wolf and my powers had returned to full strength, battling each other to see who would be the dominant force.
I realized that I had some responsibility for this. It was retribution for the decision I had made, a reminder from reality that nothing is ever that easy, no matter how much I try to pretend otherwise.
"Shit." She tried to pull me along with her in a hurry, her hand latching onto me. To ensure that the rogues would not depart until they tasted blood, one of us had to remain and serve as the bait.
I retreated from her, my pitiful will clinging to my guilt complex.
I said again, "Get everyone inside," and she opened her eyes wide, realizing what I was going to do.
"Derrick's going to kill me if I let you do this."
"I won't allow you to leave Edmond; you have no choice but to find someone to divert their attention so they don't get to the kids. Since I don't have the pack link, please let them know what I'm going to do. We were running out of time because the rogues had become accustomed to seeing us, but Erica wasn't as composed as I had anticipated when faced with a problem.
Erica remained motionless as they prepared themselves on their hind legs.
"As your Luna, I am commanding you." As I watched her eyes flare with recognition, something inside of me snapped into place and took charge—my wolf. She bent her head without hesitation as my authoritative tone demanded that she comply.
"Go!"