Chapter Fifteen

Sullen Sullen couldn’t believe what she’d just agreed to. An entire month living in a pack house with the man who wanted to take her away from everything she’d worked so hard to accomplish. The man responsible for the pack war that killed her father. And her soon-to-be stepbrother. It sounded like an episode of one of those soap operas her grandmother used to watch. Regardless, it was the only way she could think of to get the man off her back. If she stayed, and he realized that they weren’t meant to be with one another, she could leave and go back to her life. Problem solved. She wouldn’t have to worry about Duke for another week. She’d think of something—maybe—that he would believe. With her mother getting married, maybe she could make up something that involved waking her mother up from this daydream of being married again. Someone knocked on the bathroom door, and she glanced over at the lock. She’d slipped into a pair of jeans that were too tight, and a t-shirt with some silly boyband on it. Natalie, his cousin, was younger than her, and definitely smaller. “I’m coming,” she said, swinging the door open. Roan waited on the other side, his gaze sliding down to her jeans. “You said you wouldn't do anything that I didn’t want you to,” she snapped. “I said I wouldn’t kiss or touch you. I said nothing about looking.” She narrowed her eyes to slits. “Can we please go see my mother?” Roan curled his finger, and gestured for her to follow him downstairs. The whispers from the living room made the hair on her neck stand on end. He turned around and glanced at her. Looking down, he offered her his hand. She rolled her eyes, but took it. She hated the warmth settling in her veins, and the calm that overtook her. The nerves disappeared, and she felt … safe. They rounded the corner and the entire living room stopped talking. Sullen noticed Whitney standing in the corner of the room with a few other shewolves, completely pissed off. Sullen smiled at her, because she couldn’t help it. “Everybody. I’m sure you’ve heard, but I found my mate last weekend. This is Sullen.” Most of the wolves waved, and Sullen gave them a half-hearted smile. “Her mother is Samantha, who I’m sure some of you have met. She’s marrying my dad.” Jacob snorted. “You two are going to be step-siblings.” Roan gave him a look, and he pretended to zip his lips. “She’s moving into my room with me, and we won’t have any problems out of anyone about it,” he said. Sullen hadn’t thought about where she would sleep before that moment, but sleeping in the bed with him was a no go. That wasn’t happening, but she’d go along with it for now, while his little pack was looking. “Yes, Alpha.” Roan nodded. “Jacob meet me down in the cells in thirty minutes. I’m taking Sullen over to Dad’s house.” Jacob saluted him jokingly, and gave him a smile Sullen couldn't pinpoint. Sullen loosened her fingers once they made it outside. “I’m not sleeping in the bed with you, by the way. You can take the floor.” Roan chuckled. “Right, because I’m going to sleep on the floor in my room. No way. I’ll stay on my side. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. I won’t travel onto your half unless you want me to.” Sullen let it go, and followed alongside him, down the road that led toward his dad’s house. “I remember how to get there. I don’t need you to take me.” “I need to check in with my dad anyway.” “Aren’t there rogues in your dungeon?” Roan looked over at her. “My luna comes first. Then alpha duties.” Sullen ignored the tingle that gave her. She’d been with Duke for years, and he never seemed to put her as a priority. Work always came first. But he always said it was to make a future for the two of them. Sometimes she wasn’t sure. But that didn’t mean she needed to jump into bed with this man right after she met him. Giving him a month was perfectly acceptable. More than what he deserved for taking her here against her will. They made it to his dad’s house, and Sullen noticed her mother’s car in the garage, and her plants sitting on his front porch. The lady had really moved in with this man. Roan knocked on the door, and her mother answered in a robe. “Mom! It’s the middle of the day,” Sullen said. “Put some pants on.” Her face turned red, but she pulled Sullen in for a hug. “I’m so happy to see you, baby girl. I didn’t think Roan would get you here. I'm pleasantly surprised." Sullen pursed her lips. “It wasn’t willingly. Your new alpha forced me here, and coerced me into an agreement to stay a month. He should get Alpha of The Year for that one.” Sullen felt Roan’s heated stare, but she dared him to deny it. “Sullen, don’t be such a smarty pants,” she said, opening the door for her to come inside. Sullen walked in with Roan on her heels. “We need to talk about this wedding, Mom. Have you lost your mind?” She closed the door, and then her eyes. “Don’t start with me, Sullen. I’m a grown woman.” “That’s not acting like one. You haven’t known him long enough. You just left your house, the one I was raised in, the one dad—it’s too soon.” Roan’s stare heated the side of her face, and she turned to look at him. “Didn’t you want to check in with your dad?” Roan nodded, and walked toward the kitchen, but stopped mid-way. “Don’t run away. We both know I’ll catch you, little fox.” He walked the rest of the way into the kitchen, and she ground her teeth together. When she looked at her mother, she was smiling ear-to-ear. “Don’t get too happy. I’m only here to prove that we aren’t meant to be together, and that I’m not cut out for pack life.” “Sure thing, sweetie,” her mother said, cupping her cheek. “Come on to the kitchen and I’ll heat you up something to eat.”