Tainted Romance

by Simone Elise

  Chase threw a cushion at me. "Don't even do that, ‘Miss Two Cans Stripper’"

  I gasped. "THAT WAS ONE TIME! And I was fourteen!"

  The pair were too busy chuckling to even listen to my defense - just like every other time they brought that day up.

  "Fine, I'll drive you!" I huffed, getting up.

  "Aww, Winters, stop acting like you had a choice." Blake ruffled my hair as I walked past, before grabbing and pulling me back into a tight bear hug, lifting me off the ground.

  ***

  "Look, Allie, it's your sponsor." Chase just happened to have stumbled across a snail pail box.

  "I wasn't going that slow." I grumbled at him, "Just because I actually do the speed limit."

  "You didn't go over forty, Allie."

  "I'm driving on one point, Chase. Can't afford to lose my license."

  "Speed limit is sixty."

  "Your face is sixty."

  "So, that is how it is now between us, my face is sexy." He wiggled his eyebrows smirking like an idiot.

  Groaning in frustration. "Would you just hurry up and go get your popping candy already, so we can go meet Blake at the car."

  He was like a four-year-old. Who craves popping candy at this time of night? And who throws a tantrum if they don't get it - Chase.

  "Never wanted that to begin with. Just wanted to find something with a picture of a snail on it."

  You had to be kidding me.

  "You just wasted ten minutes of my life, Falcon," I growled.

  I had aimlessly followed him around this stupid supermarket, to what end? Oh, to find something to point fun at me.

  Real mature.

  "Allie." His amused face tightened into a serious expression. "Do you want me to pull the stick out of your ass?"

  I slapped his chest and walked past him. I had just left the aisle when someone whacked me on the butt. Gasping, I spun around just in time to see a blur running off that I knew was Chase.

  Oh, it's on.

  "You better run, Falcon!"

  I bolted after him, running around a lady and her cart. Was it immature to be running in a supermarket yelling at each other? Yes.

  "WATCH OUT EVERYONE! SHE IS KNOWN TO LEAVE A SNAIL TRAIL BEHIND HER!" he hollered over his shoulder at me before running through the express lane, knocking a man’s groceries out of his hands.

  I had just jumped over the groceries when Chase slid through the automatic doors.

  Darn him and his stupid long legs. I was so focused on what I was going to do to Chase when I got my hands on him that I didn't even stop to look before flying out the door.

  "For fuck sake!"

  "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"

  Then I realized who it was. Suddenly wasn't that sorry.

  "Should be watching where you are going, Allie," Chase snickered from the cart bay standing next to Blake.

  "What the fuck took you two so long?" Blake snapped.

  But I was too busy having a glare-off with Zane. You would think that he thought I had run into him on purpose.

  "I said I was sorry," I snapped after he didn't drop the glare. "Please don't let me keep you." I couldn't stop the acidic tone that lingered through my words. I stepped out of his and Ebony's way. Of course, those two would be together.

  When it came to him, he really brought the worst out in me.

  Zane made a point to keep glaring at me until he walked into the liquor store.

  I threw a dirty look at Chase. This was all his fault.

  Ebony was still standing awkwardly in front of us.

  "Have you forgotten how to walk?" I snapped at her. Why was it when my eyes landed on her I had this uncontrollable need to ring her neck?

  "No," She snapped and turned to look at Blake. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

  If it was awkward before, I didn't know how to explain what it was like now. What would she want to talk to him about? More importantly, why hadn't Blake told her to piss off yet?

  "Looks like I'm getting that popping candy after all." Chase pushed himself off the carts, smirking when he walked past me.

  He is a dead man walking.

  I had no intention of staying here and listening to Ebony's whiny voice, so I turned sharply on my heel and headed into the liquor store.

  Maybe it was the fact that the ice had finally been broken between us that I felt like I could approach him now, or maybe it was because it was after midnight and I had officially lost my mind. Either way, I found myself scanning the store looking for him.

  Didn't take long to pick out his tattooed arms and broad shoulders in the fridge.

  Pulling the doors open, I walked in just as he pulled out a case of Jimmy's.

  "Big night?" I asked, using the most generic conversation starter possible. Great move, Allie.

  "I should be the one asking you that. You're the one with two cases of beer and the Falcon brothers."

  Was that judgment I heard?

  "Asking would mean you would have to acknowledge my existence." I pursed my lips.

  He grunted and stepped around me. For someone that used to be the one wanting us to be friends, he had completely gone back on the idea.

  "It was all a lie, wasn't it? You never wanted to be my friend." I spun around, letting the frustration show on my face. How could he, when he could so easily lock me out of his life. "You never cared, did you?!"

  His furious black eyes locked with mine.

  "I should never have cared, but I did care. I cared a lot and I still fucking care."

  Honesty and pain floated across his face before he turned his back to me and left. Leaving me alone in the cold - literally.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  It was all-consuming, driving my every thought and defeating every possibility until I finally snapped. I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed answers.

  That flicker of pain mixed with sorrow that had coated his face for that split second had not only left me staring up at Blake’s ceiling, but caused my mind to swirl with theories which resulted in me leaving the Falcon’s house and walking nine blocks to the pack house. It was official.

  I was crazy.

  And perhaps borderline stalking.

  The pack house was treated more like a hotel than a home, although, in sharing that, it always felt like home; inviting and safe.

  The Harris’s had a wing blocked off on the top floor which was solely their area which was fair enough because I wouldn’t take lightly to people storming in around my bedroom either.

  Still, that hadn’t stopped me from walking up the four extra staircases.

  I wanted answers.

  I didn’t want just clipped double-edged comments from him. I wanted answers; admitting that still made my skin crawl.

  If only I could just block him out.

  But no, I had to want to sort things out with him. Now, as I stood in front of his bedroom door, there was only one thing on my mind - what the hell was I thinking!

  Just because I wanted to melt the ice between us didn’t mean he would want to.

  This was Zane Harris after all. The notorious jerk who treated women like a new pair of socks - use once then throw them away.

  I chewed my bottom lip debating on what to do. While I knew that side of Zane extremely well, I had also seen the softer side. The side that took me out for dinner, the side that was the supporter kind and wanted to protect me when he thought I was in danger.

  Taking a sharp breath, I was either going to regret this in a few moments or be thankful I did it.

  With a closed fist, I quickly knocked three times on his bedroom door.

  How could one second passing feel like ten?

  I was about to turn and sprint when the door swung open. Now I was suddenly speechless for a whole other reason.

  His beautiful topless upper body put the detailed masterpieces of tattoos on display. His hair was ruffled, but his eyes were sharp. At least I kn
ew I hadn’t woken him.

  “Um, hi.” I stood awkwardly in front of him, diverting my eyes from his half-naked body.

  Stupid boys.

  Stupid hormones.

  Stupid Zane.

  “Allie, what are you doing here?”

  I was taken back by the hardness in his tone. “I came to see you.” I felt like I needed to be defensive, but my tone failed me, and like normal, it was soft and non-threatening.

  “At three in the morning?”

  I crossed my arms. “Didn’t realize you had a time limit on visits.”

  “It’s common sense to not go knocking on people’s doors at this time in the morning!” he hissed, but it wasn’t what he was saying that grabbed my attention, it was the ruffle of noise in his room.

  “Do you have someone in there?” I attempted to pry around him.

  “Did you forget, Winters, that we aren’t talking?” He pulled the door closer to him, blocking any chance I had to see in his room.

  “That’s why I came here. I wanted to, um, you know…” Why weren’t the words coming to me? I wanted to smooth the waters between us, why couldn’t I just say that?

  “Well you can, umm, you know whatever somewhere else,” he said firmly, trying to brush me off.

  “You’re being extremely cold, Harris.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  Sure, he wasn’t known for being overly welcoming, but this was ice compared to his normal cold heart.

  “Zane, what happened earlier this evening. I wanted to hopefully well…I didn’t think that my moving back home meant that I was cutting our friendship in half.”

  He scoffed, “You mean in fucking pieces then burnt them.”

  “I wasn’t the one to cut our friendship into pieces and burn them.” I pointed a finger at his warm chest. “You were the one that did that.”

  “Go home, Allie.” He slapped my finger away. “Before I lose my temper.”

  Lose his temper! Who the hell did he think he was? He had NO reason to be angry with ME!

  “You’re a stubborn cold-hearted jerk, Zane Harris!”

  “Like I haven’t heard that before.”

  “I hate you.”

  “Heard that before too.”

  I stomped my foot, feeling and most likely acting like a toddler. “Why couldn’t I have got a man that cared about me? That cared about my feelings! That didn’t want to treat me like an invisible blob!”

  His face was flushed with rage now. “And why couldn’t I have got a mate that stood for everything I stood for! That wanted to lead by my side! That would protect our pack and lead our generation. No, instead I get YOU! A brat of a freedom fighter. A pack leech that is just waiting for her twenty-first birthday to come so she can leave!”

  The pain that I had seen in his eyes earlier wasn’t pain at all now - it was betrayal. He thought I had betrayed him.

  I opened my mouth, but he was quicker than I was.

  “You’ve got that bracelet back on to block my contact with you, and I know why; because you’re planning with your mutt of a father and brother.” He towered to his full height in front of me. “I won’t ever accept you, Allie. I won’t ever let you near my family, my pack, my friends. I won’t rest until you and your mother are iced out of our pack, and then you will be free to be the scum you are.”

  I was stunned to the point I couldn’t form words. I couldn’t say anything but just blink aimlessly, staring up into his furious eyes.

  I hadn’t come here to fight.

  I hadn’t come here to deal with all that family rubbish.

  I had come here to sort things out.

  But clearly what I had come here for, didn’t matter anymore.

  I took a staggering step back from him.

  “I didn’t come here for that,” I muttered, my vision blurring from tears.

  “Because you didn’t think I knew about your dirty secret, or should I say plan,” he hissed at me, as if I was planning on destroying his family or something!

  He wasn’t going to listen to me. He wasn’t going to believe anything I said so I did the only thing I could do to help him and me in the end. I turned and slowly began to walk away while a few stupid tears slid down my cheeks.

  I stopped at the top of the flight of stairs; I turned back to look at him, not caring that he saw my tears.

  “I would never have put you or your family in danger. All I would have ever done was love you. I hope that the woman you have in your bed right now can say the same.”

  Turning, I fled down the stairs. I had come across death once when I thought I lost my father so I knew whatever it was between Zane and I had just died.

  And so, death had finally touched me again.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  It wasn't what he said; it was how he said it that caused the tears to just keep flowing down my cheeks. Did he really think I would hurt him? That I would stand against him?

  Sure, I wasn't that kind to him but for him to think that I would hurt him, his family, or the pack!

  How could he even think of that!

  I stumbled down a few stairs and landed hard into a pair of arms.

  "Gee, Allie, watch your feet would you." Ryder held my weight, stopping me from tumbling down the rest of the stairs.

  I managed to take a step back up, getting my balance and quickly wiping tears away.

  "Can you move please?" I snuffled, staring down at the ground.

  I was not ready for another run in with a Harris brother. I was still crying from the last one I faced.

  "Allie. What happened?" He planted his hands on my shoulders, dipping his head turning to make eye contact with me.

  "Nothing." I pushed one of his hands off. "Just let me go." I ducked under his arm and quickened my pace down the stairs.

  I thought I had made it until Ryder's arm flung across the door blocking my way out.

  "Allie Winters. Tell me what the hell happened?"

  I locked my sorrow filled eyes with his curious ones.

  "Your brother happened."

  If there was a secret password to get through Ryder's blocking arm, that was it. His arm dropped to his side, and I pulled the wooden door open wildly fleeing from that house.

  "Sometimes talking about it helps, especially when you're talking to me, who also thinks Zane is a jerk."

  I paused on the last porch step.

  "You would just agree with him." I kept my eyes forward on the gate.

  "Come on." Ryder stood beside me now. "You're talking to the guy that makes the poison to kill the bond between mates. No one is hated more than me."

  I tilted my head to the side to stare up at him. "Zane hates me."

  "He hates the gardener as well if that makes you feel better."

  Ryder's light-heartedness caused the tears to slow. He sat on the porch step and patted the ground next to him.

  "I think he hates me more than the gardener."

  "Maybe, but no-one, and I mean no-one, can take the top place of Zane's hate list than the June Cleaner."

  "June Cleaner?"

  "Mom hired a new cleaner; of course, it was in the month of…"

  "June," I guessed.

  He smirked. "Good looking and brains, don't get that often."

  "Thought you were telling a story."

  "I was, but then you had to inject."

  "I promise I won't interrupt again."

  This light-hearted banter was actually helping; taking my mind off the devil upstairs.

  "Anyway, the cleaner was doing the washing. A common everyday thing you know. No one thought much of it. Anyway, Zane had this top…"

  "I think I have an idea where this is going."

  Ryder shook his head with a wide smirk. "Nope. No-one could have seen this happening. The cleaner wanted to speed things up, so she started ironing two things at once, and it just so happened that Zane's white t-shirt got ironed with one of mom’s."
r />   I frowned at him. "And?"

  "And Zane got the logo 'teacup club' on the back of his top. The funniest part was he knew nothing about it until he got home, even though students at school had been teasing him all day."

  Ryder couldn't hold back the chuckle now. "Aw," he sighed, pulling himself together, "It was a classic one."

  He planted a hand on my cold knee. "Now, tell me, what happened that has scored you on Zane's hate list."

  "More like kill list." I muttered, "He won't ever speak to me again."

  "Not so long ago you would have seen that as a good thing."

  I stared at him blankly. "That was before I knew he loathed me to the point he wished I never existed."

  "Come on, even I see the way he looks at you. Zane doesn't loathe you, and I reckon he would kill anyone for even thinking about hurting you."

  "Maybe." Tears began to well. "That was before he knew."

  "Knew what?"

  "That my dad and brother are part of the freedom fighters. That they stand against everything that Zane stands for, what the pack stands for."

  "So, others have connections to the group. Not as strong as yours though." Ryder attempted to soothe the situation.

  Bringing my sorrow filled eyes to look him in the eye. "I'm his mate."

  Three simple words, but telling them out loud to Ryder…just felt wrong.

  "But that doesn't matter now because he wants nothing to do with me. He is icing my mom and me out of the pack. He wants me gone. He's ashamed of me, and I get it." That was the worst part of it all as I understood why he wanted nothing to do with me.

  "Allie, I'm sure…

  "Don't, Ryder." I turned to look at him sharply while standing up. "Zane wants me gone, and the saddest part about it all is I didn't even know I wanted a future with him until there was no chance of one happening."

  "He'll come around."

  "He thinks I am blocking him out of my mind with a bracelet my brother gave me, but I'm not even wearing it." I looked at my bare wrists. "I haven't worn it in weeks. Still, he thinks I am planning something, blocking him out, and on a mission to destroy everything he loves."

  I mentally scoffed. Who would think a tough man like Zane would ever fear a girl like me?