Chapter 11
1556words
"Hey, are you threatening me?" Kate asked, she was already turning red and I merely tilted my head to the side, regarding her before shrugging,
"I'm merely advising you. But you're free to take it however you want." and with that, I walk away.
It seems like she took my 'advice' to heart because she did not try to follow me immediately.
I didn't return to the party immediately. I needed a moment from what just happened to cool my head before going back to the party. So Instead, I got a bottle of wine and a glass and went to the pool.
I sucked in a breath before hiking up my gown to my knees, then sat at the edge so that my legs fell over the edge, then I poured myself a glass.
"Here's to successfully standing up to your enemies and maybe not running back to the man who hurt you. Good one, Ember." I said and gulped down some wine.
I wanted to cry. Not because of Kate. No Kate, could never have such an effect on me. It was Paris. It would always be Paris. The man's audacity, after years of hurting me, could actually think that I would go home with him when I was finally free of him.
"Damned Alpha. " I sighed, and poured some more wine in my glass, downing that one too.
I was halfway drunk when I heard some footsteps coming toward me and looked up to see a fine young man with brown ringlets walking toward me. He felt powerful and something told me he was an Alpha.
"Hello." I heard myself say when the man stopped in front of me.
"lame party?"
I giggled and shook my head, "Lame guest. Wine?" I asked, lifting up the bottle.
He took the bottle, and then took my hand, "I'm Keith Lancelot. And you look anything but lame."
I could not quite pin it down, but there was something about him that felt familiar. But although I wasn't in the right frame of mind at that moment, I knew I had never actually met him before.
"I'm Ember," I said and withdrew my hand. He was handsome, but I was in no mood to entertain the sensations I felt when our hands touched.
He blew out a breath and then squatted down to my level,
"Well, Ember, you say the party isn't lame, so what brings you out here alone?" I shrugged and turned to look at him, and he had the most enchanting brown eyes I had ever seen.
"Let's just say, I needed a moment."
He nodded, "Fair enough." he sat on the ground beside me, "I hear misery needs company."
"how do you know I'm miserable?" I asked, and he shook his head, "Not you."
I'm not sure if it was because I was half drunk, or if it was because I was feeling overly sensitive, but when he brought his head closer to mine, I didn't move mine away, and when our lips made that first touch, I didn't try to stop it.
He kissed me, and I let it play out, wondering if kissing a stranger would help ease the ache I felt because of Paris. But as he deepened the kiss, I found that the ache didn't go away. It merely festered.
And then, unable to take the pain anymore, I brought my hand to his chest and tried to pull away, but he only held onto me, tightening his grip when I pushed even more.
"the hell?" I cursed when our lips came apart and my lips felt sore, and panic bubbled up my throat when I felt him reaching for the zip behind my dress.
"Get off me!" I spat and slapped him and that did the trick. I was free of him for some seconds and In those seconds, I got my legs out of the pool and tried to make a run for it, but the man was holding on to me before I was even able to properly stand,
"I've watched you all night, Ember. You can't tell me you got all dolled up without any interest in being touched," he said in a hoarse voice and I felt immediate disgust.
This was the problem with some men. A woman decides to dress and feel good about herself and they decide that it is about them.
I looked him in the eye, even as he pulled him closer to him, and wondered how I ever found those eyes enchanting. It must have been the wine,
"you're pathetic." I spat, and I was going to land one on his nose, but he was suddenly grabbed from behind, rendering me free of his appalling hold.
I watched with an open mouth as Paris punched him in the face and then tossed the guy on the ground as though he was a sack of rice. Well, he wasn’t known as one of the strongest Alphas for nothing.
“Don't get me wrong, but I believe the woman didn't exactly wish to be touched that way," Paris said, and I could tell by the way his chest rose and fell that he was barely controlling himself from rendering more harm,
"Who the hell are you?" Keith asked as he struggled to stand on his feet,
"the one you'll answer to if you so much as lay a finger on her ever again." Keith looked from Paris to me, then back to Paris, his face scrunched up in agony,
"Just get lost," he said, and held his side, before turning away, limping as he went.
Then we were alone.
"You didn't have to do that. I had it." I said, reaching for my half-empty bottle. I suppose my isolated party was over.
"That's the thanks I get?" Paris asked, bewildered.
"gee, thanks Paris. But I had it." I said and turned to leave.
"wait," he said and rushed toward me, taking me by my hand,
"If you won't at least be grateful that I saved you from that creep, let me at least take you home?" I tugged my hand free of his hold and turned to look at him,
"I’ve had enough of me trying to tell me what they want from me.
“Ember-“
Where is home?"
He looked at me as though surprised by my question and I asked again,
"Where is home, Paris? That place I lived in where I never felt even the littlest bit of love? Is that the home you speak of?" I asked, unable to keep the sorrow out of my voice. It had been a long night, and all of its events were taking its toll on me.
"Ember, can't you see that I just want you to be okay?"
"And don't you think that it's a little bit too late for that?"
He looked at me wordlessly, "So no, Paris. Don't take me home. I'm not willing to go anywhere with you. Do you want gratitude for the little act of heroism you just displayed? Thank you. Thank you so much. But that is where it ends. I'm not going anywhere with you."
I said and bit my lower lip to keep from crying. That was the one thing I would not do before this man. Never again.
"How did we get here?" he asked quietly, "we used to be so happy."
"That's right. As you have said. Used to. We were young and happy and I thought there never could come a day when you could make me anything but happy. Then you met your damned fated mate, and all of that changed. You changed, Paris!"
"I don't know how to explain this. It's hard for me to fight my bond with Kate. That bond makes me do things. I’ve told you already.”
"Shame on you, Paris. That you would stand there and blame the bond for how you treated me." I shook my head as tears pricked my eyes.
Unable to take being so close to him, I turned to leave and he grabbed my hand again, turning me so I was facing him.
Could he not see just how unhappy I was, being so close to him, or was that what he wanted?
"I'm no match for fate, Ember," he whispered.
"I'm not asking you to be. All I want from you right now is to leave me alone. Leave me be."
"So what? So you can run off to your dearly beloved Lycan prince?"
I smiled a sad smile and shook my head, "now you see me."
"What?" he asked,
"Until I rejected you, you never for once cared for me. Now you see the attention I'm getting, it burns you so, and who knew that was the only way I could make you see me? You're just as pathetic as the loser who just tried to take advantage of me."
"Hey, don't compare to that bloke," he said, tightening his hold on me, but I simply reached for his hand that held me and pulled it away.
"stop hurting me." I quietly said. I wasn't merely talking about the intensity of his grab.
"You only want me now that I let go. Which serves to mean, that you never deserved me in the first place.
