“Three days ago, alpha,” Arnold said. “They were a lot worse. They’ve faded a little.”
Turning around he saw Arnold, Mandy, and David standing in the doorway. In Arnold’s hands was a silver chain.
“She was so worried about you. I invited her to get some supplies,” Mandy said, crying. “She went to the bathroom. When I noticed she’d been gone a long time I went looking for her. I found this wrapped around her neck. I think she passed out.”
David was rubbing her shoulders trying to ease her.
“It was Chain,” Victoria said. Her lip wobbled, and Scorch lost it.
“Get out!” He shouted the words out to the rest of his back. Scorch wanted to be alone with his woman, and they were only going to ruin his time with her. The door closed behind them leaving them alone. What the hell was he going to do?
Chapter Nine
Victoria stared into Scorch’s concerned blue eyes. She had missed him over the last few days. Ever since Mandy found her passed out in the bathroom all she’d wanted was his arms around her telling her it would be all right. She felt like a pu**y, but it was what she needed from him.
“You’re not leaving again, are you?” she asked.
“Not yet. There’s stuff you need to know, but it can wait. All of it can wait. Can I hold you, Tori? It has been too f**king long since I had you in my arms.” He didn’t give her a chance to speak before he tugged her into his lap, sitting by the window. The sun was going down for the day highlighting the entire sky in different shades of red, gold, and yellow. Sinking his nose against her neck he inhaled her fragrance. She missed him so damn much in the last few days. What happened with Chain only made her miss him all the more.
“I missed you,” she said.
“You’re reading my mind, baby. I f**king missed you so much.”
She chuckled, but she knew it was forced. Chain finding her had terrified her.
“I don’t know how he knew where I was going. I mean, he shouldn’t have known where I was going, should he?” she asked.
“I don’t know. He’ll never get the chance to hurt you again.” He kissed her head. She wished she could believe his words. No one could protect her from Chain until he was dead.
“You’ll need to kill him,” she said.
“I can’t kill him, baby. I promise you we’ve got a plan in place. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
He kissed her head.
Victoria didn’t want pacifying. She needed to know the plan. Chain scared her, and if she was scared then the rest of her pack were scared. She couldn’t just walk away like she always wanted to.
“Tell me now.”
“You’re tired.” He kissed the fading marks around her neck. His touch made her shiver. Heat spilled between her thighs into her panties. Closing her eyes, she let out a moan, wishing with all of her might she could stop her reaction to his touch.
“No, I’m not tired. I’m fed up with having to live in fear. My family tried, and they lost their lives trying to get the right pack for me. I don’t want to risk another’s life because I didn’t do the right thing.” She held his hand where he caressed her cheek. “Please, Scorch, I love you. Tell me what’s going to happen.”
“You love me?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s all you can think about?”
“Do you love me?”
“Yes, I love you, Scorch. I love you so much I wonder how I can even think with the love I feel for you.” She smiled up at him, drawing his hand down to her beating heart. “You’re in here with me all the time. I promise you, it’ll never change.”
“Baby, I love you so f**king much.” He slammed his lips down on hers. Victoria gave in to him feeling his tongue plunder her mouth. She moaned, opening up to his searching tongue.
Victoria turned in his arms, straddling his lap.
“No, I can’t do this,” she said, pulling away. “Tell me what you’ve got planned first.” She pressed her fingers to his lips stopping him from kissing her.
“You’re going to be difficult?”
“You bet your ass I am.” She folded her hands under her br**sts, staring at him.
“Fine, in a couple of days I’m going to be heading out.” His fingers played with the button of her shirt. “You’re going to lure me out to where Chain wants me. The alphas are going to be close by when it happens. They’ll follow us, and when Chain is about to attack they’re going to surround him.”
She dropped her arms seeing through their plan. “That’s it? That’s the fabulous plan? Chain will see through it. He will never risk his life like that.”
He covered her mouth with his palm. “No. The alphas know what they’re doing. They will not risk my or your life, I promise.”
“Scorch, you’re making a lot of promises you can’t keep.”
“No, I’m not. I trust this plan, and I trust them. They’ve handled something like this before.”
Victoria froze. “Something like this has happened before? When?”
“A long time ago. They’ve studied it, and they’re more prepared now than they’ve ever been before.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
She smiled, wishing there was something else she could say to him. Leaning down she pressed her lips to his, moaning as he stroked along the line of her lips.
“This plan needs you, Tori. I hate getting you involved after everything you’ve been through.”
“I’ll do everything you want me to. I’m not letting him get away with hurting any more people.” She looked down at his stomach thinking about her parents. “He’s taken too much from me. I won’t let him win.”
“That’s my girl.” His fingers sank into her hair, pulling her down to his lips. He stroked along her lips with his tongue then plundered her mouth. Whimpering, she cupped his face as the pleasure crashed through her. “I’m going to make love to you tonight.”
“When will you mate me?” she asked, wanting more than anything to be his mate.
“We’ll mate after all this crap is finished. I’ll not be taking you before then. I don’t want to risk being vulnerable.” He lifted her chin up. “Make no mistake, Tori, you’ll be my mate, and I’ll never let you go again.”
“You’re not scaring me. Are you going to make love to me or not?” she asked, wanting his loving touch more than anything else.