Come Here, Kitten (God of War Book 1), стр. 40
My heart hurt. I should’ve told him.
“I can’t wait to meet her.” He handed me some clothes from the dressers that he must’ve put away for me because I surely hadn’t planned on unpacking and staying here with him.
I pulled on the T-shirt and pants that he had given me and jumped off the bed, trying not to make eye contact with him.
It was getting harder and harder to tell him my secret. Every time that it came up, I either chickened out or was interrupted. Maybe it was the Moon Goddess telling me that now wasn’t the right time, that I should wait, that I should run when he tried to find that damn stone. It would be my only chance.
“Come here, Kitten.” Ares opened the door and held out his hand.
I wanted an us … but this secret was too big. And though he’d said he wouldn’t hurt me, I didn’t believe him. Not when the universe was set on me not telling him. Not when I knew he could destroy me in seconds. Not when I didn’t trust myself to stop him from ruining me.
“Ares, that’s not what I—”
“Ares,” Liam said from down the hall, hands stuffed into his pockets. “Marcel wants to know which group he’s commanding.”
Ares took my hand and walked with me to the front door.
Standing outside, Marcel was leaning against a running SUV with his arms crossed over his chest, smirking at a furious Charolette. “That’s not my fault, Princess.”
“It’s always your fault, Marcel.”
“Says the woman who—”
Ares growled, and they stopped bickering. He stepped forward and handed Marcel the keys to the car. “You’ll be escorting Charolette and Aurora.”
My eyes widened. So, now, I was going with them to watch Elijah get tortured to fucking death, ruining my chances of ever escaping? This wasn’t what I had planned. I was meant to—
“Again?” Marcel said with an overexaggerated sigh. “I did it last time.”
“Oh, come on!” Charolette said. “You’re going to make me sit in the car with that asshole again? I can’t stand another second of—”
“Ares, I can’t go with them. I thought you said you wouldn’t let me out of your sight.”
“Enough,” Ares said.
We all fell silent, and I cursed myself for what I had said. All I wanted was to get out of his sight for a few moments, so I could think about all of this logically. Figure out my best course of action when Ares found out about me. Maybe decide who would get Ruffles once I was dead.
“You’re all going. You”—he looked at Charolette—“nor you”—he looked at me—“are staying here alone, where I can’t get to you within a minute. And you’re definitely not running through Hound Territory with us. Marcel will drive you to Elijah’s and then will drive you back once he has given us what we need.”
Liam stepped forward, jaw clenched, and glared at Marcel. “You fucking touch her, and I will kill you.”
“Ooh, boyfriend is mad.” Marcel waved his hands in the air, acting scared. Then, he hopped into the car and slammed the door shut.
He watched through the window with an ugly scowl as Liam hugged Charolette to his chest and placed a kiss on her forehead. Charolette slid into the car.
“You’ll be safe with him,” Ares said to me one last time. “The only reason that you’re going with him is because I don’t leave Charolette—or you—here when I hunt. And”—he brushed his fingers up the side of my neck, making me shiver—“this pretty little neck of yours doesn’t have my mark. I’m not going to risk someone trying to take you while I’m gone.”
Chapter 22
Aurora
About halfway to Elijah’s pack, I had neither convinced them to turn back nor spoken a word. I didn’t want to convince anyone. I didn’t want to run away from Ares. He was so excited to see my wolf, yet I didn’t have the courage to tell him that my wolf didn’t come out that often, that we wouldn’t be able to run free together.
“Can you turn the AC down? It’s freezing.” Charolette reached for the middle console.
Marcel pushed her hand away and clenched his jaw. “Touch the damn thing one more time, Charolette, and see what happens.”
She scoffed, “What’re you going to do? Hit me?”
“I don’t hit women who don’t know how to fight.”
“Well then, you should have no problem hitting me.”
“You don’t know the first thing about—”
“Why does Ares want that stone so bad?” I asked, unable to hold the question in any longer and hoping that this wasn’t all just for power. Maybe there was a good side of Ares.
The two suddenly became quieter than they had been this entire car ride. Marcel glanced at Charolette, and Charolette glanced at him and then at her lap. She parted her lips, briefly looking up at the windshield, and screamed. Marcel hit the brakes, and I flew forward in the car, the seat belt digging into my neck.
Tony stood in the middle of the street, naked and sweaty. I blinked my eyes a few times to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things.
What the hell was he doing here? In Hound Territory? Out in the open? By himself? Was he stupid, or was he fucking stupid? A stupid alpha to lead Mom’s stupid pack when she retired.
Marcel took his foot off the brakes, his hand tight on the steering wheel, immediately shifting into warrior mode. “I’m going to drive past him. Leave him for the hounds.”
I clenched my jaw. “No. Stop the car.” I hated the guy, but I didn’t want him dead. Yet.
Charolette stared at Tony with wide eyes and then at Marcel.
Marcel gazed at me through the rearview mirror with hatred in his eyes. “Ares will not like us stopping, especially in Hound Territory.”
“Now, Marcel.”
“Ares is going to have