Transparent by Soccerluv4 (: (100 books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📖

grumbled loudly, and I had no choice but to head inside.

“Hi princess,” my dad was first to greet me, sitting on a barstool at the island. He had his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose as he scanned a handful of papers before him. Reece was sitting beside him, sipping some coffee. He kept his eyes glued to his phone, barely glancing at me.

I walked up to both of them and sat on the barstool to my father’s right. He looked away from the documents and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Hungry?” My mom called out from the stove, already piling a plate with bacon and eggs. She poured a cup of coffee into a mug too and put all of it in front of me.

“Thanks mom,” I smiled at her, digging in. I didn’t ignore the fact that Reece was completely avoiding me, but I tried to not let it bother me too much. My parents were in the room after all.

“Honey, your mom and I have some business to attend at another pack. We’ll be gone for a couple weeks. Alex is also coming with us, so we’re leaving the responsibility of the pack to you and Reece,” my dad stood up, gulping down the rest of his coffee, and walked over to the sink to put his dishes in. He kissed my mom tenderly on the temple and turned over to us.

“So, I expect the place to be just how I left it. No wild parties,” he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes, but gave him a smile.

“Dad, I’m 21, I can handle myself. And trust me, there will be no parties of any kind. Why are you leaving anyway?”

“Just some legal stuff we’ve got to sort out with other packs,” my dad replied a little too quickly. I didn’t miss the glance he gave to my mom.

“Okay,” I stated. I didn’t want to press anything further, but for some strange reason, my parents didn’t want me to know why they were leaving. Still, I didn’t push the subject. My parents wouldn’t hide something from me unless it was important.

Besides, I was also mentally freaking out about Reece and I’s impromptu make out session last night. I can only imagine what we might do with nobody around. The thought made me shiver slightly. Reece and I had the whole place to ourselves with nobody to disturb us.

“Cass?”

“Huh?” I replied, as I noticed my dad calling my name.

“I was just trying to say that we’re leaving in half an hour, so make sure to check in with the guards after to secure the area when we’re gone.”

“Okay, I will,” I answered quickly. With a prompt nod, my parents left the kitchen, once again leaving me alone with Reece.

I decided now was as good of a time as ever to broach the subject about last night, so I slid into my dad’s seat and faced him.

“Reece, about last night…”

“What about last night?” He responded mid-sentence, still sipping his coffee and texting on his phone. I stared at him, my mouth agape and my eyebrows furrowed close together. Did he really just say that? Why was he pretending like last night didn’t even happen?

“What do you mean?” I stuttered out, still staring at him with an incredulous look.

He glanced at me quickly and scoffed, shaking his head and glancing back at his phone screen. He typed some sort of response and wrinkled his eyebrows in thought.

“Can you please look at me when I’m speaking to you?” I glared at him. I was irritated at how rude he was being. I was trying to have a decent conversation with him about us and he was treating me like last night didn’t happen and he couldn’t give a shit if it did.

He barely gave me a glance, before looking back down at his phone.

“Nothing happened, so there’s nothing to talk about,” he said stiffly, his jaw clenching.

Before I could respond to him, I smelled by brother’s scent nearing the kitchen, and I turned back around abruptly, facing my untouched food. Not surprisingly, my appetite was gone.

Alex walked into the kitchen a few seconds later and headed towards the fridge, his back to us. It was a good thing too, since my face looked murderous. Next to me, Reece looked indifferent, just looking up once to see my brother before looking back down at his phone.

“Hey Cass, have you seen dad?” Alex asked, opening the fridge and grabbing a water bottle.

“Yeah he was just in here a few minutes ago. Not sure where he went though. You guys are leaving right?” I replied, sipping my coffee. I tried to keep my tone neutral, but it was hard to when I was so furious at Reece.

“Yeah, we’re visiting the Blue Moon pack to discuss some business with them. Just regulation stuff, but dad wants me to come along since I have to learn the ropes, you know,” he shrugged, taking a swig of the bottle.

He was acting too nonchalant, and I knew better than anyone that that’s what he usually did when he was trying to tell a convincing lie. Besides, I didn’t even ask about what it was for, just where they were going. Something was going on and I wanted to know just what it was. The fact that my parents and brother were hiding something from me, and Reece was being a complete jerk about last night wasn’t helping my anger much.

“Okay, and I’m sure dad is packing right now, so I’d try his room,” I suggested, plastering a fake smile on my face. I wasn’t mad at Alex, but I was mad that he felt the need to hide things from me.

He nodded and walked out, leaving Reece and I alone.

I waited a few seconds before turning back over to Reece. Before I could get a word out, he stood up, and walked over to the counter, and dropped his mug into the sink.

I just sat there, unable to speak and my mouth hung open, as I watched him walk from the kitchen out to the backyard.

“You coming or what Knight?” He called out behind him. I bristled, disturbed by how indifferent he was. What the hell was going on? A few hours ago, he’d snuggled next to me as we drifted off to sleep together, and now he was acting like this?

I had to figure out what was wrong with him. He hadn’t even told me what yesterday was about when he’d gone back to his pack. I remember how I felt through the mate bond. I was overwhelmed by a sense of worry, fear, and anger. Something had happened, and maybe he was using me to cope with it. The thought angered me slightly, to be used like that, but then again, maybe it was something else? Whatever it was, I had to get to the bottom of this.

I ran outside and caught up to him, just as he was stretching his limbs. It seemed like he was getting ready for another training session, but that would have to wait. I needed answers.

Crossing my arms, I cleared my throat, hoping to get his attention. It worked, seeing as he abruptly raised his head and met his eyes with mine. I felt a jolt when our eyes connected, but I hardened my own, trying to resist the mate pull.

“Something wrong?” he asked, his tone slightly clipped.

My inner wolf snarled slightly, not liking his tone with us.

Relax, I tried to soothe her, but she still bristled, almost on the verge of shifting. She was an alpha female used to being respected by others. She expected even more from her mate, and the fact that the human side of her mate wasn’t respecting her was making her rigid with anger.

I knew she wanted to take over, especially since she was being blatantly ignored by her mate. He was disrespecting us, and my wolf was confused why.

His wolf wants us, but his human is ignoring us, she whimpered quietly.

I’m not sure what’s going on either, but I’ll figure it out. He can’t just treat us this way, I replied, clenching my fists.

“Can we talk?” I bit out, anger laced in each word.

I saw his back muscles tense as he turned away from me and threw down his towel.

“Fine,” he answered shortly, turning back around to face me. He nodded behind me and began walking back into the house.

I followed him silently, partly pissed at his attitude, but also partly confused by it.

“Talk,” he ordered, as we stepped back into the kitchen. He folded his arms in front of his chest and stared me down, his eyes void of any emotion.

“Uh, my parents -” I argued, worried they’d hear something.

“Aren’t here,” he finished my sentence. “They left a few minutes ago. I guess they were in a hurry because they left right after you came outside. You would’ve noticed if you weren’t so busy being mad at me.”

He rolled his eyes obnoxiously, but they betrayed a hint of emotion – anger – and it made my own emotions grow even more furious. I pushed the thought of my parents and brother leaving so abruptly aside and focused on my infuriating mate.

“Excuse me? I have every right to be mad. After that – that little stunt you pulled yesterday?” I argued, throwing my hands up.

He opened his mouth to retort back to me, but instead stopped and closed it, shaking his head.

“It’s funny how the tables have turned, isn’t it Knight?” He chuckled humorlessly, staring at me with void eyes.

I stood there, dumbfounded, as I processed his words. He was right. I did feel like shit now that he was treating me like I had with him. But I was still furious at his behavior. It was one thing to accidentally submit to the mate bond, but it was another to act like everything was fine and then throw it back in my face for revenge.

“Really? Revenge. Is that what all this is about? You know I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I sighed, crossing my arms, “but you intentionally tried to hurt me, and that’s a lot fucking worse.”

I was surprised at my tone, but it was true. He hurt me on purpose. He didn’t accidentally do so, like I had, but actually tried to hurt me. That idea caused a sharp pang in my heart.

“What’s worse,” he laughed angrily, “is that you think I actually tried to do that on purpose. I would never do that to you, don’t you get it? Dancing with that girl was a test! Just a fucking test!”

He ran a hand angrily through his hair, and laughed humorlessly, before glaring back at me.

“I thought you’d pull her away from me, stop me from being with her like a mate would. Instead, you decided to play another fucking game! I’m not like you, I can never do what you did to me. And as for what happened last night, it was the best thing that’s ever happened in my life, but then I woke up this morning and saw you lying next to me, and I knew I’d just be pushed away again. You’re not ready to have a mate, and unfortunately I don’t know why. But I know something happened to you in the past to make you this way, and I can’t do anything to help you. Until you’re ready to confess why you’re so afraid to accept the mate bond, you’ll just keep pushing me away until there’s nothing left of us to fix.”

I gaped at him, trying to come up with some reason to justify my actions but failing miserably. He was right. I was being a real bitch for the way I was handling all this, especially since I’d done the exact same thing to him for the past week. My shoulders slumped down in defeat, as my eyes trailed down to the floor. For once in my life, I was