In Reach?

Liam’s POV

I’ve been trying to get that asshole, Marcus to talk for the past couple of days, but he’s so tight lipped. And I’ve done it all, I even tried being as heartless as Alex suggested. But he just took it. It’s like he’s waiting for death.

I’m practically covered in his blood when I leave to go check on Mira again. I’ve assigned Theo and Rachel to make sure that no one is allowed in the west wing of the house. I’m happy they both seemed eager to do that. But I still want to check on her. I need to make sure. My wolf and I have become extra protective of her, and I’m sure it has to do with everything going on.

When I open the door, I see her standing by the window looking out.

I rush to her. “Be careful.”

I don’t know if I’m worried that she’ll fall out or that someone might grab her from outside. I just jump at the thought.

She turns around and looks at me all shocked. Just as I try to hold her, she holds out her hand out as she looks at my chest.

“Is that,…..”

I look down and see just how soaked my shirt is in his blood. I probably should have changed shirts before coming here.

Just as I look up at her, I see the horrified look on her face. But before I can explain, she pulls from my arms and rushes to the bathroom. I scrunch my nose as I hear her throwing up. I must probably look way worse than I thought I did.

I quickly pull my shirt off and walk to the bathroom, as she rinses her mouth.

“I’ll change shirts next time.”

“Next time? Are you going to make your torturing a daily thing?”

“Until I get answers, yes.” I try to walk closer to her again, but she just holds her hand out, stopping me.

She looks at me with concern. “So he hasn’t said anything yet?”

I just shake my head.

She sighs as she sits on the edge of the tub.

“He just keeps talking about you.” I softly say.

“What?”

“Marcus. Anything that does come out of his mouth is about you.”

She furrows her brows. “Why?”

I lean against the doorway. “He’s clearly obsessed with you.” I look down, not knowing if I should continue.

“What did he say?”

I don’t even know if I should mention it. He may just be lying.

“Liam?”

I sigh. “He said that you too have actually slept together before.”

“What. Why would he say that?”

I was kind of hoping she would straight up say that he’s lying. Especially because of the vile and disgusting things that asshole said when he talked about her body and about fucking her. He even dared to say that she told him that he’s the best she ever had. The nerve of that man to play with my ego.

“Has anything else ever happened between you two?” I just have to know.

“Liam. Why are you even asking that?”

Why won’t she just answer the damn question?

“Just answer the question.”

“I won’t.” She stands up challenging my stare.

“Why the hell not.” This is really pissing me off right now.

“Because I don’t need to.” She walks out the bathroom pushing past me.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Whatever you want it to mean.”

What? This is why men can never win arguments with women. They mind-fuck you with their words. Why won’t she just answer the question? It’s like she’s protecting him or something. I’m so fucking pissed I can’t even stop the words coming from my mouth before I can even think them over.

“Just how many men have you fucked?”

She turns her head to me so quickly, she probably got whiplash. “Excuse me.” She walks towards me and starts poking me on my chest. “How dare you ask me that. Just how many women have you screwed?”

Fuck! This is the conversation I didn’t want to have.

“Huh?” She pokes at me again.

I take a deep breath knowing I should probably apologize because I’m still not winning this. But her next words have me and my wolf on edge.

“What would it matter if I slept with him anyway?” She says with a cheeky tone.

Both my wolf and I are so pissed, I bet my eyes are glowing as my growl fills the room. She tries to step back, but I’m quick to grab her arm and hold her in place.

“He’s going to lose his dick for that.”

I can see her eyes widen as she realizes I’m telling the truth.

“Liam. I didn’t mean -“

“I don’t give a fuck now whether you slept with him or not. You were never his to begin with. You were always mine.” The hoarseness in my voice lets me know that my wolf is completely on board with me on this. At this point, I don’t even know if it’s more him or me.

She tries to loosen my hold on her arm, but I grab her into a rough kiss and turn around as I walk to the door. Right before I close it I repeat the words, so that she gets it through her head, “Mine.”

The next day

Third POV

Things are very hostile in the house. People are barely speaking, probably paranoid about who the traitor might be if it’s not Mira.

It’s mid-day and Noah and Liz are sitting in the living room going over some documents.

Aubrey walks into the house all sweaty in her gym-clothes. She walks to the kitchen to get her bottle of water. Lately, she’s been working very hard at joining Mason and Theo with their daily training sessions with the pack. She knows there’s a war coming up, and the fright she got with the attack the other day has made her realize she really needs to be able to toughen up if she wants to take care of herself. She’s been getting pretty good at her fighting, even Mason says she has a lot of potential. It makes her feel alive, like her younger self again. She was always a stubborn and fiery kid before her insecurities got a shock. Mira was right, -It’s time she finds her old self again.

As she tries to cool off, she hears Liz. “Things really aren’t looking good for Mira.”

Aubrey makes her way to the living room to see what’s going on.

“She always finds a way to wind up in trouble.” Noah sighs.

“Is Mira still a suspect?” Aubrey asks.

As much as Aubrey doesn’t want to admit it, she’s been avoiding Mira. But because she feels embarrassed of the way she lashed out at her the last time they spoke. She didn’t mean to accuse Mira as well, she just got angry at the fact that everyone has no problem keeping things from her. From all the time they have spent together, Aubrey knows that Mira is innocent. She has seen just how much Mira loves Liam, and how much he loves her. Things just got confirmed when they said that they were actually fated mates. She doesn’t want Mira to suffer any longer, not when she has helped Aubrey so much along the way.

“Well, there isn’t really much going for her, so, yeah.” Noah says casually as he continues to look at the documents.

“She’s innocent.” Aubrey says straight forward, making Noah finally look up.

“We first need to prove that.” Noah furrows his brow.

“It seems more like you need to.”

“I’m just doing my job.”

“You seem to like giving yourself a lot of extra work.”

“What is going on with you?” He throws the document on the table. “I knew you became close with Mira, but since when do you take her side, especially over me?”

Aubrey sighs. “As much as I love you, you should know that even though you’re doing your job, you’re not always doing the right thing.” She turns and walks out, ready to get back to training.

“What the hell was that?” Noah throws in the air as he picks up the document.

“It seems like baby sis is finally standing up for herself again. She was always such a feisty one as a kid. I like seeing this side of her. It just means one more person to make you realize your wrongs when you’re too stubborn to listen.” Liz says before she chuckles at Noah’s annoyed look.

“Why is everyone making me look like the bad guy? I’m just doing my job.”

“Exactly.” Liz gets up and walks out. “I have to go anyways, my lunch break is over.”

Leaving a confused Noah alone with his thoughts.