Wolf Girl (Wolf Girl, #1)(51)
He nodded. “A millennium ago, that was actually pretty old, but no, Demi, you don’t understand. If I pick the wrong girl and she likes me for my money or status or whatever, then the curse … it kills my entire family line.”
I froze, shaking my head. “Say what now?”
He released his hands and stood, starting to pace the floor. “This is so fucking awkward.”
I stood, hobbling across the space and stepping in front of him. “No it’s fine, I’m just … processing. So, everyone dies if you marry the wrong girl?”
He nodded. “Every Hudson. My mom, my dad, me, Sage, my uncle. They all drop dead as the curse is unleashed and takes out our line forever.”
“Holy fuck,” I gasped. “That’s seriously awful. And it just goes on forever and ever?”
He nodded. “The alpha’s wife is cursed with only being able to have two sons. My uncle, not being the alpha because he was the youngest, was able to have Sage, but…”
Dawning came over me. I’d put on the questionnaire that I wanted twin girls. “Wow, that’s quite a complex curse.” This ancient witch really thought of everything. Two sons, but you—” I paused, seeing sadness in his face.
“I was a twin actually. My brother was a stillborn.” His voice cracked and my heart broke.
“I’m so sorry.” I took his hand as my mind processed everything he was saying. “So this entire selection, it’s all just so that you can keep your family alive?”
He winced. “When you put it that way it sounds bad … but yes, it’s so that I can find at least one girl who truly loves me. That’s why I kept Meredith around … she was always a safe bet.”
I growled, suddenly jealous. “Meredith doesn’t love you. She’s obsessed with you. There’s a difference.”
His eyes flashed yellow and he pulled me closer to him. “If I don’t find someone who truly loves me to marry me by the end of next year, then my entire family dies.”
I frowned. “So this is your darkness?”
“What?”
“When we first met, I saw a darkness in your soul, a heaviness you carried. This is it.”
He nodded. “I guess it is.”
“Wait, so you don’t have to love the person back?” The wheels started to turn in my head as I realized why he spoke of Meredith. It was clear he didn’t love her, but if she loved him, then he’d still marry her.
He shook his head. “No. But I don’t just want to be loved, I want to be in love.”
This was why he told Sage he was worried about finding someone to love him. He felt pressure to keep his family alive. Damn, that was quite a weight to carry.
I stepped closer to him. “What if you don’t find someone you love? Will you just choose Meredith to be safe?”
A slow grin pulled across his face. “I thought I just covered that, Demi. I’m in love with you.”
The breath whooshed out of me like a kick in the gut. He said it so casually, so sure. I’d never met a man with so much confidence. He knew what he wanted and he didn’t fuck around going after it. That was why his mom was so worried if I was the one. Her life depended on me loving Sawyer back. Loving her son for the guy he was, not the Hudson heir or the alpha’s son.
Good thing she raised a gentleman, because the next six words were the easiest I’d ever said. “I’m in love with you too.” I laughed. “Holy shit, this is insane. I barely know you but I lov—” He crashed into me and captured my mouth in a kiss. My entire stomach did somersaults as he gripped my ass, hauling me onto him so that I was straddling him. My breath was ragged as he feathered my neck with kisses, trailing his tongue along my collarbone, and passion completely took over me. I grinded into him when he nipped my earlobe and heat exploded between my legs.
Sawyer walked us back to the bedroom and lay me gently on the bed, kissing my forehead. “I went mad when I heard you’d been taken.” He leaned down and pulled up my shirt, kissing my stomach. “I nearly killed Walsh for leaving you.” His hand slipped up my shirt, grasped my breast and all rational thought left me.
I should have stuck up for Walsh, who’d probably saved my life by getting help, but I couldn’t think. All I could think about was how badly I needed to be closer to Sawyer. I sat up and Sawyer backed off, watching me as I slowly pulled my shirt up and over my head. He watched me as I gradually unclipped my bra and his eyes went yellow.
With a grin, he grabbed my hands, laying me back down, and pinned them over my head. Slight panic flooded my system and I didn’t understand why. It was in such direct contrast to how I wanted to feel in this moment. When Sawyer placed his mouth over my nipple and sucked, keeping my hands pinned above me, I understood why.
“Let go!” I half shouted, trying to yank my hands free as a flashback hit me.
Sawyer immediately jumped off of me, looking down at me apologetically as I tried to drown out the vision of Vicon Drake pinning my arms above me and biting my breast, drinking from it.
“Shit, did I go too far? I’m sorry I just—”
Tears lined my eyes as I put on my t-shirt and then covered my face with my hands. I’d slept with one guy, Isaac the fey, after my virginity was stolen by rape, and it was so fucking awkward. I was so eager to prove to myself that I was sexually normal after my attack that I just lay there and prayed it would pass quickly. It did.