Rejected, Abused, I Fall for the Forbidden Alpha (by Riley Scott) novel Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Hades POV

The moment we entered the study, I kicked the door shut and angrily pinned Jackson to the wall, my elbow underneath his throat, my eyes filled with rage. All his flirting with Raven had gotten beneath my skin

“What exactly is going on between you and Raven?” I snarled, fighting the urge to strangle him.

His eyes widen, and he appears to be speechless. I push my elbow harder, almost cutting off his windpipe.

“Speak,” I growled, “are you romantically involved with her? Are you sleeping with her?” I hissed.

If he’d so much as touched her, I was going to murder him and dump his body in the forest for the small critters to feast on.

The moment Jackson had offered to take Raven as his plus one, I had struggled to maintain control. My wolf was enraged. Jackson was lucky we hadn’t taken his head off back in the dining room. The mere thought of him touching her, or worse, attempting to kiss her, made me feel violent towards him. Best friend or not, he was overstepping his bounds. I ignored the small voice inside my head pointing out that I was doing the same and that I had no good reason for overreacting this way. I was beyong rationality.

“Raven?” Jackson’s voice is filled with surprise, “There’s nothing between us,” he coughed, shoving my arm away and straightening himself up, his hand rubbing his throat as he shot me an indignant look.

“Oh yeah?” I scoff in disbelief, folding my hands over my chest, “Then why did you offer to take her to the party? Don’t tell me it’s simply you being kind.”

“You’ve got it wrong, Hades,” he snapped, “and why do you care so much anyway? All morning, you haven’t once even looked poor Raven in the eyes, or asked her how she was feeling. You acted as though she was invisible.”

“I was being attentive to my fiancée,” I said hotly.

It was a lie and not a very good one.

He snorted. “Bullshit. Something happened between you and Raven, didn’t it? That’s why you didn’t even have the decency to speak to her.”

“Nothing happened,” I muttered, sitting down in my chair and studying him closely. “But you, you’re so close that anybody would think she’s your girlfriend,” I snarled.

“I treat her like a sister. Gods, Hades, if it weren’t for her, I might not even be standing here right now. Is it so wrong to show her some gratitude and thank her? Every girl deserves to feel special,” he spread his hands out wide, “and maybe Raven might find somebody at the party who will fall for her. That girl deserves somebody who will look beyond the fact she’s an anomaly.”

His voice is tinged with pity.

“Then why don’t you?” Jealousy was beginning to rear its ugly head again.

“Because I already have somebody I care about,” Jackson lost it and shouted at me furiously, “and I’m not about to betray her with somebody else. Do I like Raven, yes,” he admitted, “but not romantically. She’s easy to get along with, she’s kind-hearted, and she cares about people. She’s like the calm before the storm, the light in a sea of darkness. She shines, but nobody notices,” he continued, his chest heaving up and down in frustration.

It was a poetic speech filled with underlying passion. Jackson had a way with words. Still, I can’t help but be suspicious.

“She’s your fiancée. If you’re going to marry her, you need to spend time with her. Woo her. I might not like her, but I’m not the one spending the rest of my life with her; you are. You should get to know each other better before the wedding.”

“It’s a contract marriage,” my voice is dismissive, “nothing more.”

I didn’t need to get to know my future Luna. I was not interested in becoming romantically entangled with her. This was a contract. A transaction between two packs. Love didn’t even enter the equation and that was exactly as I liked it.

“Does she know that?” Jackson said knowingly, “Because the way she talked about marriage, the wedding

ceremony, having heirs with you, she made it seem like she’s already invested and half in love with you already.”

“Love is weakness,” I say with conviction, “all it does is make you vulnerable and prone to making mistakes. It’s better to be practical and find somebody who is incompatible than have somebody who is dependent on you or relying on you to protect them.”

“Hades,” Jackson’s voice turns sympathetic, “you have to let the past go, Hades. All it’s going to do is continue to haunt you.”

“It’s because of my past that I wanted a contract marriage. I can’t afford to be sentimental, Jackson, because in the end all it does is break your heart. You know more than anyone that only one person has room in my heart, and I’ll never make room for anyone else, for as long as I live. Why do you think I’m being so insistent on following through with Marissa despite her failings?”

“Then I pity you, because love is the best feeling in the world and having a partner that feels the same way is like a high you can’t get rid of. You can’t run away from love forever, Hades, because eventually that’s going to backfire and bite you on your ass.”

I just looked at him and silently disagreed.