The Exchange

Chapter 7

When Jared finally released me, it was early in the morning. I turned away from the sunlight streaming through the windows, instead focusing on the damage it brought into light.

The room was a complete and utter disaster. Guilt threatened to overwhelm me as I survey the area, knowing it was my actions yesterday that led him to do this.

Jared studies my reaction to the room with, shocker, a completely blank face. It's only when my eyes meet his again that he speaks.

"Thank you." He says gruffly, then promptly turns and leaves the room.

What???

I may be exhausted. I may be completely embarrassed knowing that this whole thing was my fault. I may even be terrified of the Jared I saw last night, when his rage got the best of him.

But I still want to talk to him about it.

"Wait! Jared!" I follow him down the hallway he left through, which eventually led me to a door that goes outside. There, I find Jared looking back towards me, his proximity to the woods making it evident he was about to go for a run.

He raises an eyebrow in question as a I grow closer, but still remains silent.

I stare at him in confusion. "You don't want to talk about what happened?"

He shrugged.  "Not particularly."

With an eye roll, I gesture to come back in the house. "Well, we're talking about it, so let's go."

As I walk back towards the door, I feel rather than see his annoyance with me, the Alpha in him strongly disliking my order. But the obligation to his mate overruled, and a smirk worked its way onto my face as I heard him begin to follow.

We ended up back in the demolished living room, with me brushing aside some pieces of debris before settling on the floor and motioning for him to join me. He eyed the floor dubiously, but nonetheless took a seat across from me.

Now that we were actually here, I felt extremely nervous. I didn't know how to broach the topic of yesterday without angering him, but knew well enough that something had to be said.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about...yesterday afternoon." I start lamely. "I didn't mean to offend you or give off the impression that this place, and you, remind me of my old life." I swallow. "It's difficult for me to break free of the mindset I've had for the past several years; that my job is to do all the chores without question, or else repercussions will follow."

I notice him visibly stiffening and a low growl rumbles from his chest. He opens his mouth to interject but I silence him with a raised hand. "It's fine. It's in the past. But my point is that I have found a sort of familiarity with that mindset, and it's going to take me more than a couple days to get used to all of this."

Jared stares at me wordlessly after I finish, and releases a sigh shortly thereafter. "I'm sorry for my behavior last night, and my attitude towards you yesterday. It's difficult for me to comprehend what you went through, and when I see the lingering effects..." He clenches his jaw and turns his face away. "I lose my control a little bit."