For Fox's Sake (#3, Completed)

7. Don't do anything stupid

JAMES

Fuck.

Anger burned inside me as I flipped the coffee table, sending everything on top of it flying in all directions. I was furious at the world. At Natalia for uttering those words. At Kerrin for trapping me with that deal. But most of all, I was fucking furious at myself, and no amount of throwing stuff around or destroying my things was going to fix it.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I knew that going to that party was going to be a colossal mistake and, yet, I still attended it, allowing for the worst possible outcome to happen.

Now the little wolf and I were tied by our mate bond more than ever in the past three years. I could feel it rebelling inside me for waking away from my mate, for leaving her distraught there right after her memories had come back.

That was a fucking cruel twist of fate. I was a bastard for everything I had done up to now and for everything I was meant to do, but her facing my seeming rejection twice in the space of minutes, even if not intentionally, was something that even I wouldn't have done.

As if to torture me about it all, I couldn't get the images of her out of my head. The way her eyes went wide when she found out I was her mate, how she struggled to breathe as she remembered things. The dejection written across her face as I told her to forget all about it. About us.

All that while my fucking cock twitched as I watched her react to my command, to my words. I thought that being my usual arsehole self would put her off; yet, it had the opposite fucking effect, her budding arousal messing with my head.

Fucking fuck.

I bloody tried to get out of there while I still could, but between my traitorous fox that was fighting against my wish to walk away and Natalia's sheer determination to get answers from me, it seemed like I stood little chance, and now I had to deal with the consequences.

You blocked me from mindlinking my mate, Aron growled in my head, his anger matching mine.

At least we were on the same page about who was to blame for this clusterfuck.

What exactly did you want me to do? Let you spill the whole truth to her wolf. Because I saw how crazy her presence made you–there wasn't a single reason for me to trust that you were going to handle things like you needed to.

Fuck you, James.

Right back at you, Aron. But he had already shut me out.

This was all a giant fucking mess. And if that wasn't enough, my phone was flashing with an incoming call, Riley Moreau's name popping on the screen.

"Alpha Moreau," I cleared my voice to hide the thunderstorm that reigned inside me, "did I forget something at the party?"

"No need for formalities, James." Her tone was friendly, but serious, so this was certainly not a courtesy call. "We've known each for long enough by now."

"What can I do for you, Riley?"

"Is Natalia with you, by any chance?" I wasn't sure if I was more shocked by the fact she was calling me to ask about Natalia's whereabouts or what her tone was subtly implying.

Had Natalia told her what had gone down between us? Did her brother know?

I had no clue, so I needed to be careful. "I'm not sure why you would think that Rafe's sister would be here at a fox skulk."

"Call it intuition–pregnancy makes women quite perceptive to things around them. Things we see."

Relief washed over me that my little wolf hadn't told her anything. It would have been a complication that I didn't need at the moment. And, to be honest, if Riley knew about what had happened between us, she wouldn't have been as civil to me as she was right now.