Chapter 7

She got off the bench, making a dash from the room, but his agility surpassed her own and he pinned her to the wall just outside the door. She gasped, staring up at him as one of his hands opened her hoodie again and his eyes took in all of the scars across her chest that her tank top couldn't cover. His nose flared, the muscles in his biceps and shoulders tensing up. "Did that fucker do this to you?" He asked angrily. She tried to look away, but his hand gripped her chin, forcing her face back toward his. "Did Jasper do this to you?" He asked again. "Yes!" She nearly screamed, tears running down her face. Her knees wobbled, giving way as she dropped to the floor. Geoff knelt down in front of her, pulling her into his arms. She tried to push off of him, but he restrained her. "Adelaide , no man should ever have to touch you that way." He started to talk. She was shaking so hard in his arms, she could feel him shaking with her. He tightened his hold on her, "I will do everything in my power to help you get over that monster. I promise." He finalized. She can feel it in her heart that he meant it. "Do you remember when you asked me what it was like to be the Werewolf King?" "Yes." She replied weakly. "It's lonely." He told her. She finally looked up at him, seeing the sadness in her eyes. His fingers brushed away her tears. She leaned into his hand, gasping at the electrifying experience. "But you have everything you could ever want." She said to him, but he only grunted. "I have the money. The house. The rule." He started listing with his fingers. "I've bed more women than I can count." His eyes settled on hers, his fingers tipping her chin upward. "Is that what happiness is?" He asked her. She looked into his eyes, searching them. "You're asking me what happiness is?" She asked him. Somewhere deep within her, a fire was lit. It started to burn. She wiped her eyes. "I spent the last six months being abused by someone I thought loved me. I changed the way I dressed, how I ate. I lost communication with my family, my friends. They warned me of his behavior and I ignored it." The fire in her chest grew brighter and stronger. She got to her feet, shoving away from him. "Adelaide , calm down." "He blinded me with the illusion that I was happy while he abused me. Every fucking day until he broke me." She pulled off her hoodie, tossing it to the ground. She exposed all of the lacerations that she hid from him. Most were small and thin on her forearms and neck, while there were darker and thicker scars on her chest. She watched Geoff's lips curl back in a snarl as he eyed her body. She reached down and started pulling down her jeans in front of him. "Adelaide , what the fuck are you doing?" She kicked off her pants, showing him even more variety of scars that decorated her body. His eyes widened now. "When he was done cutting me, he raped me." His head snapped up to her, a deep growl emanating from his chest. She can see him struggling not to shift, but his hands were already sharpened into claws. "Every day until he was satisfied." The tears of sadness that once soaked her face were replaced with tears of rage. The fire in her chest was roaring wildly. She never felt this way before. It felt good. "To answer your question, my happiness resulted in this." She gestured her body again to him. He stepped toward her, her back pressed up against the wall as both of his claws came down on the wall beside her head and slashed it. She glared up at him, watching one of his eyes partially shift over. His fangs protruded past his lips. To other humans he looked like a horrifying monster. To Adelaide , this man was enraged by the mere sight of her body. She slowly smothered the fire in her chest, placing her hands over where her heart was racing. She hadn't even gotten this far in her therapy session yet, but he triggered the fury in her with that simple question. She let out a breath, holding his bestial gaze and slowly reached out to his face. He flinched, but he didn't move away as her hands caressed his face. "Happiness has a different meaning to everyone." She said. Geoff's face very slowly started to shift back to normal, his hands still on the wall beside her half naked body. "Your happiness may not come from what the benefits of being a King is. It could be small. It could be silly." She brushed his hair from his face. He turned his face toward her hand, his lips brushing against her skin. She felt heat settle between her thighs. "Happiness should be the most important thing to you." She let out a breath, reaching down and picked up her pants and hoodie. She dipped from his enclosure and went to her room, leaving him to his thoughts. Geoff Since her episode, she refrained from any type of communication with him. Every time he thought of her scarred body, his wolf nearly took over and would wreck the room he was in. He's had construction done three times in the last two weeks because he couldn't control his wolf. Damion had stopped by several times, but he just dismissed him. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the festival, or the council. Even when he shifted to go on his runs, he was breaking trees left and right. Who was he truly angry at though? Jasper for hurting his Mate for months, or himself for asking a pointless question. He'd give anything to hear her voice. To feel her lips again. To hold her, even if she was just crying. Anything to soothe the beast in him. But the scar showed some special symbols that he had seen before. In the past weeks, he was looking for the information about the symbol, which only vampires used as a mark on their mate. Was Jasper not a human, but a vampire?