Page 21 of Naughty

Her smile falters for a moment, and a flash of anger sparks from inside her.

"Mates, huh? And who gets to decide that?"

She slinks closer to me, her lips flared back in a silent growl. Unease fills me, and I take a step back. Maybe Asmon is wrong. Maybe she isn't my mate. But even as the thought crosses my brain, part of me bellows against it.

"You stick your dick into any hole that lets you. You used them up, then toss them out. Thank the Fathers I got out when I did. Who knows what else would have happened to me.”

I shake my head and hold out my palms.

"It's not like that. You were -."

"Different? Was I really? I bet you tell all your whores that."

"Back away. Something's not right here." Asmon murmurs behind me.

But I can't. I can't tear myself away. She's right to a point. I never denied my lusts, but things really were different with her. I just have to show her that somehow.

"I never told anyone that. Everyone in my bed knew they were there for a reason. They knew it wasn't forever. I never led them on like that."

With a hiss of fury, Noel launches herself at me, her nails aiming for my eyes. I grab her wrists and wrestle around with her, trying to pin her. She's slippery as she moves about. I can't get a full purchase on her. Asmon and Red come around from the other side, but I snarl at both of them. No one else will touch her but me.

"Was Angelica different? When you violated her and left her to rot? Was she so different?"

All three of us still. Noel takes that moment to wrest her arms free and dance out of reach.

"How do you know that name?"

Venom drips from her voice as she raises up to her full height.

"You're that stupid, aren't you? You don't think I would know about her? About your illicit affair that left her a shell of a person, caught between this world and the next?"

I glance over at Red; his face is pale and drawn.

"But she's dead," he whispers, anguish lining her face.

"Ha," Noel spits out, hunching down to be at eye level with him. "Not dead. She just wishes she were, every damned day."

Red turns on me, fury in his eyes. Grabbing the front of my shirt, he hauls me over to him.

"You told me she was dead!" He screams, fury and despair pouring out of him.

Noel laughs and sidles away. I attempt to pry his fingers off, but he's too strong. Asmon comes over and wedges himself in between us, and holds Red at bay.

"You fucking asshole. You told me she was dead! I stopped looking for her because she was dead!"

"She is Red. She is dead. That's what everyone said to us. Think man, what do you think drove that wedge between Kris and I?"

"You hated him because he stole Angelica from you, but she was never yours. She was mine. She was always mine. All this time."

He turns back to Noel, his face contorted in anguish.

"All this time? She's been alive?"

She hesitates for a moment. "Her body is alive, but her mind is fractured. She might as well be dead."

Red lunges towards me again, but Asmon plants his feet and holds him in his grasp. His horns burst out of his head, and fur ripples along his body. Dread settles deep into my gut. Fathers, but what have we gotten ourselves into.

"Go outside and cool off. We need you here with us."