Forced To Love You

Nice To See You Again, Pt. 2

I felt like I was going through deja vu. The first time I met Everett was against my will. It came out of nowhere. Meeting him for the second time was no different.

But at least I saw it coming.

He was sneaky. Conniving. It was scary. We never had any idea where he was. No wonder Christian spent so much time looking for him and tracking him down. He could never actually find him.

And that scared me more than anything. If I couldn't trust the Alpha of the pack, my mate, to sense and eliminate the danger, then what chance did any of us have?

The basement of the cabin was dark and musty. I shivered as the cold ran across my body. I felt naked and exposed.

I forced my eyes to open though there wasn't much to see. The room was so dark that my eyes had a hard time adjusting. I could see shapes on the wall and different objects in the room but not enough to tell what they were. Or who.

I was lying on the cold floor. My head hurt. I pushed on the concrete and tried to sit up but a pain radiated through my neck. It stung, almost like a sunburn. I reached up to see what it was and the pain arose around my wrists.

I whimpered and dropped my hands. What could be causing the pain I was feeling?

"Try not to move. It hurts when it rubs against your skin." I looked in the direction I heard Christian's voice. It was quiet and sounded further away than I would have liked. But at least he was there with me.

"What... what is it?"

"Wolfsbane."

I didn't know what that was. Clearly, it wasn't a good thing.

I heard the shuffling of feet coming from my left and turned my head. I winced at the pain. I couldn't tell who had made the noise or what it was from.

"Stay away from her." Christian's voice was low and dark. Intimidating.

I could hear someone breathing just in front of me and saw a dark silhouette kneel down to get at eye level with me.

"Blair, you're awake." Everett.

Instinctively, I scooted away from him.

"Don't be afraid. I only want to talk with you." He reached a hand close to my face and brushed his fingers against my cheek. I could feel his sharp nails as his skin made contact with mine.

I reached up and pushed his hand away, trying my best to ignore the searing pain in my wrists from the wolfsbane on the shackles.

"Don't touch her." Christian's voice came out in a snarl. I would have been afraid had it been directed at me.

Everett ignored his brother and kept his focus solely on me. "He's a bit hot-tempered, isn't he?"

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to come see you. We didn't get nearly enough time to talk the last time we ran into each other."

We would have had more time had he not bit me. Though talking with a psychopath wasn't something I cared to have time for.

"I would rather do this without him here but maybe it would be better if he were forced to watch. I can tell how protective he is over you."

"Why can't you just let him be happy?"

"He took everything from me. Everything I could have had, he had to have instead. Like you, for instance."

"Do you really think the Goddess would have made us mates if you were the Alpha?"

He shrugged. "That's a good question. I don't know if she would have. But my chances certainly would have been better."

"That sounds like something to take up with Her rather than us, don't you think?"

He narrowed his eyes and I suddenly wished there was more space between us. "I don't think that's necessary. I'd much rather just take what I want."

I kept my eyes on him so I could figure out what his next plan was. I needed to know if or when he was going to get closer. I felt like I was a target and I didn't like that.

"There's just something about you... that I like."

"Because of Christian."

His eyes narrowed just slightly. I wouldn't have caught it had I not been so close to him. It seemed that Christian was a big trigger for him, which made total sense. He was always in competition with Christian to see who was the better sibling, who deserved to be the Alpha of the pack, and who deserved more of their parents' love. It was probably hard on him growing up, even though he was the older brother. I felt bad for him but that didn't excuse his current behavior.

"Stop talking about him. You need to learn to be happy without him. I can help you with that."

Everett knelt down in front of me and grabbed the chain to the metal lock around my neck. It must not have had the wolfsbane on it because he never reacted when his skin touched the metal. He pulled on it to move me toward him. Wanting to avoid any pain, I gave in and moved in unison with him. He pressed his lips against mine and kissed me.

It took me a second to register what was happening. I wasn't expecting him to kiss me. The shock took me by surprise. But once it passed, I was angry.

I pushed him away and distanced myself from him. He still had a grip on the chain and lock around my neck so I didn't get far.

"You don't know what you're missing, Blair."

"I'm perfectly fine without you in my life. Things were better before you came along."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You don't mean that."

"I do. I wish I had never met you."

His lips moved as he tried to think of something to say. Clearly, he wasn't expecting me to say that to him. Did he think I would fall in love with him at first sight? We weren't mates and I had no intention of trying to force myself to feel something I didn't toward him.

The words seemed to register him as his eyes narrowed. I could feel an anger building in him and I didn't like it. It scared me.

He let go of the chain and moved away from me. He slapped me across the face, hard enough to break my tooth and send blood flying.

I pressed my hand against my cheek, already feeling my face swelling. It was hot to the touch and no doubt had a visible mark already. He was stronger than I was expecting him to be.

"If you have a problem with me, take it out on me. Not her." Christian's voice was dark but calm.

Everett looked back in Christian's direction. "If you insist."

My eyes widened. No, no, no.

Everett stood and walked right toward Christian with a look that could kill. A look that said he wanted to kill.