Chapter 33

***Alpha Ethan***

Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
Sweat drips down my face, stinging my eyes, as I hammer the heavy punching bag with relentless jabs and hooks in front of me. My fists strike the thick, black leather with a dull thud over and over, the sound echoing through the packhouse gym.
The air is thick with the sharp scent of rubber mats and metal weights, mixed with the saltiness of my own sweat. Besides my ragged breaths, the only other sound is Lily talking to a doll that looks just like her nearby. Whenever I train, my niece stays by my side. Even though my sister encourages her to play sports, she doesn’t participate much. That’s why we have set up a special play area for her at the gym while I work out.
It’s after sunset, but the gym is lit up bright as day. Lily usually doesn’t stop talking while I work out, but she’s quiet. I don’t know why, but she seems upset with me for some reason.
The vastness of the place makes my movements feel small, even though each punch carries the weight of my frustration. The mirrored walls around me reflect a figure in constant motion.
I couldn’t sleep last night, just like the past few nights. I haven’t caught even a wink. Not a clue why, or maybe just a sliver of one. Yeah, I know why. It has a name. Better yet, it has a nickname that curls around my mind like smoke every time I think of it. A nickname that sets my pulse racing as fast as my fists fly against the bag.
I’ve been fucking my hand twice a day just thinking about sliding my dick into Little Dove’s perfect, slick cunt. I’ve always prided myself on control, part of it thanks to the curse, but lately, I have none.
I didn’t want to admit to her that I was mad with raging lust when we had that stupid sex.
She rubbed it in my face before she left that I couldn’t even make her cum. The nerve of that girl!
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
I’m aware that I was a two pump chump for the first time in my life.
Fuck. She was like a goddamn glove around me. Goddess! How am I meant to last much when she felt that good? Of course, it ended embarrassingly quickly!
Maybe next time, I’d have her suck me off first, and then I might last more than a few minutes.
Next time?
What the hell am I thinking?
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
I throw faster and harder punches against the bag.
Suddenly, I hear Vi talking to Lily in the corner, and then she approaches me. I didn’t even hear her arrive. I’m too lost in my thoughts. I need to get this woman out of my fucking mind.
My sister sits on a bench nearby and starts taking off her high heels. From the corner of my eye, I see her crossing her arms as she watches me train, but her mind seems as far away as mine.
I stop briefly to breathe. I’m exhausted now, and yet I keep thinking about her.
“Why that face?” I ask Vi after a few seconds of breathing, placing my hands on my hips.
She takes a moment to answer, as if she doesn’t even realize I’m talking to her. “I’m upset,” Vi says.
“Did Jordan do something?” I narrow my eyes.
“What? No,” she says indignantly, uncrossing her arms. “It’s Allie!”
I take a step toward her. “What did she do? Did she come back here?” My eyes dart around, looking for her, but I can’t see or feel her presence.
“No, she’s not here. And that’s the problem!” Vi let out a long sigh. “Allie seemed so desperate to stay here for a few days, and out of nowhere, she decided to leave. She didn’t even say goodbye to me. And now she doesn’t want to accept my help.”
“This is Uncle Ethan’s fault,” Lily says from across the gym. She approaches where we are with a bit of glare in my direction and points to me. “Uncle Ethan must have said something to her that made her go away because she smelled like him when she left!”
Vi’s eyes practically bug out of her head before she snaps them in my direction. “What stupid shit did you do?”
I glare at my niece, and she pouts. If she wasn’t so damn cute!
I turn to Vi. “I didn’t do anything. She left on her own.”
“Allie is fiercely independent and loves her son with her whole fucking chest. She’s strong. Even if she doesn’t realize it. Something happened. She’s not reckless, Ian. I think she’s just used to surviving.”
I say nothing. After a few seconds of waiting, Vi continues. “Ian... I saw the angry way you looked at her when she was here. I know she’s human, but she’s my friend, and she needs help! You had no right to—”
“She doesn’t belong here!” I yell, holding myself back from using my Alpha aura on my sister.
“I can’t believe you kicked her out!” Vi stands up and mimics my stance.
“Alicent shouldn’t have even come here in the first place.” Her name, instead of her pet name, sounds wrong in my mouth. “She was just using you.”
I turn around and start punching the hard bag again.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
But my sister comes closer to me with fury in her eyes. “You shouldn’t have kicked her out, Ian! I have no idea what she’s dealing with, but I know it’s tough. I saw her today...” Vi’s quieter tone momentarily halts my punching, though I don’t turn to acknowledge her. “Her eyes were so sad... Her cheap clothes hung off her in a way that clearly indicated she’d lost weight. And she was already so damn skinny! I’m worried about her.”
I turn to her with a frown, my breathing still labored.
“Allie lives in the slummiest part of Summerville that even I wouldn’t walk around that neighborhood unarmed!” She snaps. “I just dropped her off and left her. Goddess, I’m so mad at her for not accepting my help. And now I know why!”
I turn back to face the punching bag once more. “Not my problem.” I throw punch after punch. Then a really fucking hard one.
Not my problem. Not my problem. Not my problem. I keep repeating to myself.
Vi touches my arm, forcing me to stop. “Ian, if someone lives there, it’s because they’re either broke or sketchy,” she suggests. “She might be living there because she’s broke, but it seemed like she was fleeing from someone when she got here.”
I tilt my head. “Again. Not. My. Fucking. Problem!”
Is she in danger?
She kept saying she wouldn’t have come if she knew I was here, but I thought she was just being dramatic.
‘She lives in the same neighborhood where we went to check out the last track to the witch’s hideout,’ Vi mindlinks me.
I hesitate with my punches for a moment. I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I know that area of the city. I know it all too well, and I wouldn’t walk around those streets on full alert.
Fuck! “What the hell can I do?” I snap, throwing punches again.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
“Not a goddamn thing, that’s what!” I answer myself through clenched teeth.
“Well, that isn’t totally true,” Vi says before shifting to her daughter. “Lily, go shower. I’ll cook dinner soon.”
Lily pouts again, wanting to object but obeys her mother. Once she’s out of earshot, Vi looks at me with eyes that tell me she already formulated a plan in her mind.
“You need to help her, too. It’s your fault she left. She lost her job—”
“You sound like a stalker,” I accuse, glancing fast in her direction with a smirk.
Then I ground my teeth together to stop myself from demanding more information about her.
She rolls her eyes. “I’m serious, Ian!” She crosses her arms over her brown dress again. “At least it will help me sleep at night. If you don’t want to do it for Allie, do it for little Az, who is literally your niece’s fated mate! For Goddess’ sake!” Vi yells.
Fuck. I totally forgot about that. It makes that little brat now important.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
When I ignore her, my sister speaks with more fury than ever. “You know better than anyone how important the mate bond is.”
I drop my smirk and stop my punches midair before abruptly turning to her with a low growl. Warning.
“Please, Ian, help me help her! Maybe if she comes here—”
“It can not happen,” I interrupt her. “It’s a hard task. A human here in the pack who’s clueless about our world will just make everything chaotic.”
“I know, but I just want her to quickly get the hell out of that dangerous neighborhood. She can stay here until I help her find a job in Summerville. Or you can offer her a job at the Moonlight. Shawn told me he’s been needing help lately.”
I growl loudly, this time at the mention of his name, remembering how the fucker looked at Little Dove that night.
Vi’s phone rings, and she picks up, so I focus on finishing my workout.
I hear Kral growl in my mind, the way he always does when he’s not happy with something.
‘What?’ I snarl at him in my head. ‘What do you fucking want? You’re the one who told me to stay away from her. Don’t you tell me you’ve changed your mind now?’
His growl gets louder at my tone. ‘Careful, human.’
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
Vi continues talking on the phone, but she pulls away as the noise of my punches gets louder as I hit harder.
After a moment of growling in my mind, my wolf finally reveals, ‘Something about her screams at me that she needs our protection. Maybe it’s because of her aura. Alphas are attracted to bright auras. Even more so, one as damn bright as hers. Or maybe it’s because her son is Lily’s fated mate. That’s probably the reason.’
‘So? What do you want me to do?’ I retort.
‘You’ve done something. Fix it.’ That’s all he says before he disappears from my mind. At the same time, Vi hangs up the phone.
Fucking wolf. We need to focus on breaking the fucking curse and not being good samaritans.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
She can’t come here to the packhouse.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
She has a way of heating every part of me to a boil. I have to keep my distance from her.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
“Ian, stop!” my sister yells.
Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
“Please, let’s help Allie—”
“Fuck her!” I turn to my sister, screaming like a madman. “I don’t care about her or what happens to her! That’s not my fucking business!” I yell, looking directly into her eyes. “Drop it!”
My sister’s utterly shocked face is one I’ve never seen before. She stares at me for a few moments, paralyzed, before composing herself and saying firmly, “Okay, Ethan.”