A Wolf’s Deception (Novella) Read Online Free Page B

devoured both bars in a few minutes. ‘Thanks.’ She accepted the water bottle he handed her and drank deeply. ‘So, where are we?’
    He barely glanced at her. ‘The back-blocks of Nowheres-ville. I didn’t think it’d be a great idea to go the expected route home. Members of your pack would’ve been waiting for us and I need to ditch my car. Any allies of the Harlow pack will have been given our descriptions. If it was just us I’d drive nonstop, maybe go off-road, but we can’t do that with Sawyer. If we carry on as we are, we may as well paint a target on the hood.’
    ‘They’re not my pack. Never have been. And if it was just me, I doubt they’d be chasing us. Lance wants Sawyer, not me. After Dan died…’ She shook her head, slammed on the brakes. She had no intention of going there, especially not with Gabe. ‘Anyway…he thinks his brother’s cub should be raised by his own pack.’
    One of those big hands left the steering wheel and landed on her shoulder, she jumped, surprised by the gesture of comfort. But the rush of having his hand on her again only lasted a second because he shoved his fingers down the neck of her shirt and yanked the fabric to the side, revealing part of the mark on her shoulder. The mark Dan had given her the night of their forced mating. A rough finger grazed it, making her shiver, before he pulled his hand back as if he’d burned it.
    ‘That makes you a member of their pack, Tressa. That kid in the back seat even more so.’
    She bit her lip before she said something she’d regret. ‘I didn’t belong there. I was never accepted. They could sense how much I wanted to leave.’
    ‘Yeah, why is that? Way I remember it, you couldn’t wait to leave.’ There was a sneer in his voice, an acerbic bite she’d never heard before.
    ‘I never wanted to leave Black Hills. Being Dan’s mate, being a part of the Harlow pack was a punishment, my father’s way of keeping me in line.’
    Shit. So much for keeping her mouth shut. But he had her off balance with his questions, his hostility.
    ‘Bullshit.’ Gabe’s jaw tightened and his eyes flashed back to the cold ice of his beast. ‘Save the lies, Tressa. You were eager to move on with your life, to go to the mate your father chose for you.’
    ‘No…Gabe…’
    He turned to her then, pale eyes cold and flat. ‘Do not say another fucking word. Do you hear me?’ He turned back to the road. ‘There is nothing about that time I want to relive. I learned the hard way how easily lies flow from that pretty mouth of yours. I’m not the same weak-minded fool, blinded by a beautiful face and a nice pair of tits. So unless you have something important to say, say nothing.’
    Ouch. If he was trying to punish her, make her feel worthless, he’d succeeded in a way even Dan, with his degrading words and flying fists, hadn’t accomplished. He truly hated her. The realisation was a blow. Memories of the male beside her were all that had kept her going when things had gotten really bad. She knew she deserved his scorn. The way she’d treated him, the things she’d said. If only he’d let her explain, maybe…
    She stopped the thought before it could fully form. There was nothing left. How could there be? He didn’t trust her and he sure as hell didn’t like her. There was no future for the two of them and that hurt more than she thought it could, considering she’d long ago given up hope of them ever being together.
    But this wasn’t about her anymore.
    He deserved to know his son.
    ‘We’re here,’ he said, pulling her from her thoughts.
    They crested a rise in the gravel road and a little farm house came into view, sitting all alone in the middle of a large field. It was dark outside but light blazed from the front windows and there was a veranda that looked like it wrapped all the way around, covered in some kind of climbing plant. It was too dark to see what colour the flowers were. A large shed was a short distance to