Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
The cuffs were becoming a huge issue for him. The smallest action was no longer private.
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. Stop being so nice.”
She smiled. “I can’t help it.”
He rolled his eyes and nodded at the stairs. “Can we sit?”
“You don’t want to beat the house up a little more?” she asked.
“Nah. I’ve got to figure out a way to fix that. My dad’s going to be pissed.”
“It’s his fault and the whole of the pack’s fault.”
“You’re kidding, right? They won’t see it that way.”
Alexa went silent. “You’re right. It’s our fault.”
“Are you bored with this shit?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Am I bored with dropping stuff? Having people tell me I got it wrong? Not being able to go to the bathroom on my own? Yeah, I hate that.”
“But?”
“No buts.”
“I thought there was a but coming along.”
She placed her head on his shoulder, and he figured that was going to be the end of the conversation.
“But I actually like spending time with you,” she said.
It was spoken so softly. At first, he thought he might have only just imagined it, but he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, she’d said those words.
“You do?”
She tilted her head back and winked. “Yeah. You haven’t been half bad company, Landon. Who would have thought it?”
“You’re not too bad either.” He placed a hand on her knee, stroking her inner thigh.
“I don’t know how long we can go on like this,” she said.
“Me either.”
He liked being bound to her side, but with all the mess being caused, it was irksome.
Neither of them moved for the longest time. The sun started to set, and when the usual knock came, Landon just wanted to tell them to fuck off.
Instead, they got to their feet. It was his dad.
“What happened to the door?” Marcel asked.
“I kicked it.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to!”
“It was an accident,” Alexa said. “We’ve … the door wouldn’t shut, and then I kicked the door out of anger. Landon had nothing to do with it. He tried to stop me.”
“Enough,” Marcel said. “Neither of you lie well.”
Holding Alexa’s hand, he presented the cuffs to his father. “Sorry.” He wasn’t sorry at all. The cuffs were a pain in the ass. The pack wasn’t helping, and everything was turning into a mess.
Marcel released the cuffs, and they started up the stairs once again. Twice a day they did this.
“You know we’re only doing this for your own good,” Marcel said.
“How is this for our own good? Are you trying to make us so damn miserable that we feel happier being together than apart?” Landon asked.
“Finding your mate is a gift. Neither of you are cherishing it.”
“Maybe if we were just allowed to find our own way, it wouldn’t be such a big fucking deal.” Landon was done talking.
He knew turning his back on his alpha was a sign of disrespect, but he just couldn’t handle it anymore. Landon wasn’t turning away from his alpha, but from his father. He needed space and to be alone from his dad. To open his mind.
After slamming the bathroom door, he was shocked when Alexa wrapped her arms around him and held him close.
“Why don’t we make a run for it?” Alexa asked.
He pulled her into his arms and breathed in the scent of her neck. “What?”
“We can sneak out the bedroom window. We can make a run for it. No cuffs. No pack. Just us and the forest, or wherever the hell we go.” Alexa pulled away. “I’m not promising you that it’s going to be easy. In fact, I imagine it’s going to be hard, but at least we won’t have to be subjected to this. We’re mates, Landon. We both accept that, but this, this way, it fucking sucks, and I for one don’t want to live like this anymore. We’ve got to do something, and it’s going to have to be our way.”
She took his hand, locking their fingers together.
Alexa was right.
Doing this day to day, bound together by a fucking pair of handcuffs, was too much. They needed to be free. To be able to make this choice for themselves and not to have someone else making it for them.
Staring into her brown eyes, he knew he’d follow her anywhere.
Was this what it meant to be mates? To want to follow her anywhere, no questions asked? He didn’t have a true answer to that, but he knew he was willing to do whatever it took to keep Alexa close to him.
The past month had taught him that he never wanted to be without her. Not ever.
“Let’s go.”
****
“Alexa and Landon have taken off,” Marcel said an hour later as he arrived at his home, where Gertie, Dan, and Penelope were gathered. Over the course of the past month, they had felt this punishment had gone on long enough, and that it was time to bring an end to it. He didn’t agree.