Page 80 of Daughter of Garnet

"It was so new. I was going to tell you about Cliff and me, Warren, I swear it."

He shakes his head. "Not you and Cliff. Why didn't you tell me about your…" He gestures at his face and chomps his teeth together. "Why don't you trust me?" The hurt in his voice has my heart in a vice.

This feels like a pivotal moment.

I can tell him the truth and hope that he is still the man I have known my whole life and that he will protect my secret, or I can continue to gaslight him and keep him in the dark.

I feel like I am spending most of my brainpower on evaluating who is trustworthy when I should be figuring out what Ilota wants me to fix and why.

"I trust you, Warren. You're my best friend."

The words feel hollow. Is he still my best friend? Can we ever go back to what we were?

"Then why won't you tell me the truth? Why won't you tell me what you are?"

My mouth falls open, and I don't know if I am about to speak a denial or fold and tell him everything, but I don't get the chance to do either.

"Ansell." My surname is growled across the room in a tone I wish I'd never hear again. "Come with me."

I angle my body toward Dominic. "No, thank you. I'm busy."

"Not a request." Today, the Alpha is wearing ripped jeans that give me a glimpse of the dark, geometric tattoos covering his legs. His dark eyes are narrowed and heavy as he crosses the hall and leers over me. "Let's go."

"What do you want with her, anyway?" Warren's voice has less of a slur than it had a few moments ago, but it's still obvious that he's not sober. "You hate her."

Dominic ignores Warren and turns back to me. "Let's go, bunny." He grips my upper arm not hard enough to hurt, but enough that I know he's not letting this, or me, go.

"I'll find you later, okay, Warren? We'll finish our talk." The Alpha doesn't let me go as I clamor to my feet, and he hauls me out of the dining hall. "Where are you taking me?"

He doesn't answer, doesn't even look at me, as we leave the building and head towards the gymnasium.

"This doesn't feel like an official Institute errand you're on."

The glare on that man's face would turn a weaker person to dust, but I am quite used to his chilly expressions.

Neither of us speaks until we're deep in the forest, at the clearing he found me at when I was in my dragon form. He shoves me, and I stumble away.

"Shift."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Excuse me?"

"Shift. My beast is antsy and needs to see yours."

For a moment, I feel a twinge of pity for his poor beast, trapped inside a dick like Dominic, but it's gone pretty quickly. "I don't think so. Thanks for the walk, though. I needed the exercise."

Every step I take, he mirrors, trying to trap me here. "This isn't a suggestion."

"That's fucking rich, Dominic. You treat me like shit every time you see me, but now you expect me to put myself at risk of being discovered because you ask?" I shake my head. "You're not worth it."

He reaches out and grabs my forearm. "Please," he says through gritted teeth. "He's driving me crazy. I wouldn't ask unless I had to, you know that."

The raw need in his voice almost has me stripping down and shifting right away. I can feel my dragon beneath the surface, interested in what he's asking and excited about the possibility of her scent match, but there is a lump in my throat I can't speak around.

It takes me a moment to realize that it's fear holding my words hostage.

I worry that if I take off this necklace and let my dragon loose and he rejects me again, I won't recover from it. I can tell myself all I want that I don't need him, don't want him, but the fact is, he is supposedly a gift from the Gods.

Wait a second.