I could feel the anger radiating off James’s body in great waves and feared that tonight may end with a dangerous fight between the two of them.
“Because if you don’t I’ll f*****g kill yo-,”
“James!” Austin called behind of us. “We can settle this nicely, there is no need to bring attention to ourselves.”
James wasn’t hearing it, however. His eyes were growing darker by the second and if looks could kill, Archer would be dead by now. I knew deep down that I wanted to make James jealous but I never expected this kind of reaction from him. He looked extremely pissed and dangerous. But for some reason, Archer still looked extremely relaxed.
I slowly stepped back from him, not wanting to cause any trouble. James’s hand on my shoulder tightened as he pulled my body back against his. I gasped at the surprise of being pressed up so tightly against him. I didn’t think it was possible to fit so perfectly into someone’s arms until now. Sparks were shooting off all over my body and I had to press my lips together to keep from moaning out loud.
My own body embarrassed me to the point that my cheeks grew extremely hot.
Archer looked at us with new hidden interest in his eyes. “I didn’t realize Eden was already called for … You should do a better job at showing it or someone might take her from right under your nose.”
I was confused by his words, was he implying that James and I were in a relationship? Clearly, he didn’t see him with that Clara girl earlier tonight. She was always leaning up against him or holding onto his arms like he would slip away if she didn’t stay close. I was surprised Archer here completely ignored her, instead he felt as though James and I had something.
That would mean that I wasn’t the only one who saw something between us. This left me to believe that James and his family as well as mine were clearly keeping the truth about us from me.
“Eden!” Lucy called out to me as she approached us. She gently took me from James who looked reluctant to let me go. “Let’s take you back to the limo, the guys will have a little talk and then they will come join us.”
I narrowed my eyes, it surely sounded like they didn’t want me to hear the conversation between Archer and James.
Once more, I was left completely lost in this situation.
When would someone finally decide to tell me the truth?
I couldn’t stay in the dark like this, I had to do something to get it out from them.
……
***JAMES***
“Who are you?” I demanded. “I’ve never seen your face around here before.”
He lifted a brow and his lips curled. “Archer Blackner.”
His words surprised me just as much as it irritated the hell out of me.
A Blackner?
Austin and Lucas looked just as confused as I did. He wasn’t there earlier today.
Was he really one of them? He didn’t share a close resemblance to the brothers we’d seen. If he was indeed one of them however, I was in serious trouble. I didn’t think Gideon would be happy to find out that I’d threatened to murder his son. This could ruin everything we’d worked so hard to plan!
“Judging by your expressions, I’m guessing you’ve already made some sort of deal with my father… And it’s recent.”
My jaw clenched and judging by the grin on his face, I was positive that he could already tell by our reactions that he was right.
“no worries men.” He said suddenly. “I’m not my father’s favorite since my mother is not the woman he was in love with. Therefore, whether I tell him about this incident or not, you’re pretty much safe. not that I’ll waste my time running my mouth over something this petty.”
His words surprised me. I didn’t know Gideon had a son from another woman other than his dead mate. not that I knew that much about the Blackners.
As if reading my mind, Archer started to speak again. “He doesn’t talk about me often. In fact, he often says that I’m an embarrassment to him. You see, I never once agreed with his silly rule of being with someone that wasn’t your mate. We’re werewolves, it’s in our b***d. That’s not something you could stop even if you wanted to. Obviously, no one saw it my way. Therefore, he’s banished me from home. I am to stay out until I bring home a woman that isn’t my mate and show him that I’m willing to be with her. That’s the only time he’ll let me return.”
I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t expected him to be so open about something like this. now that he’d said it, I realized how miserable the young man actually looked.
If he hadn’t just been dancing with my mate, I would have felt sorry for him. But the memories were still fresh in my mind and my wolf still wanted to rip him into a million pieces.
He raised his beer in his hand. “You’re lucky that it was me tonight. If it was any of my other brothers, things would’ve been a lot crazier around here.”
I believed every word. We met them; they did seem like the type to take things to the extreme if they were ever disrespected.
“Let’s just go.” Austin said as Lucas nodded in agreement. “We have more important things to study.”
I knew that he was right. Even though Archer had said that his father wouldn’t care about any of this, I wasn’t willing to take that chance knowing that I needed them in order to get Eden away from the council.
Without another word, I stormed out the club with only one person in mind. I found her standing outside the limo with worried eyes.
“Eden is coming with me.” I told my brothers as I gripped her arm and guided her straight to my Jeep.
“Get in.”
She folded her arms stubbornly. “Why should I?”
The bitterness in her voice bothered me and I seriously wanted it to go away.
“Eden.” I growled impatiently. “Get inside the Jeep.”
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