Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Who was Izzy? Ashley found herself wondering for the hundredth time since Kale left, only to tell herself that she was being an idiot because it didn’t matter.

They’d made a mistake, one that wouldn’t happen again, Ashley told herself with a firm nod as she finished frosting the cake that she’d made to get her mind off Kale and-

God, she was pathetic, Ashley thought with a sigh as she dropped the spoon back in the bowl of frosting and found herself watching a very large bear press his face against the window and felt her lips twitch when she realized that he was pouting. At least, she wasn’t the only one that was pathetic, Ashley thought as she glanced from the bear that was definitely pouting to the large bowl of frosting and…

“It’s just that,” Ashley said, sighing heavily a few minutes later as she scooped up more frosting and held it out to Cuddles, which she’d named the pouting bear since he didn’t seem to appreciate her calling him Fluffy, so that he could lick the spoon clean, “everything I do seems to piss him off.”

When Cuddles finished licking the spoon clean and nudged her hand for more, Ashley took that as his agreement that it would be best for everyone involved if she forgot about everything that happened between her and Kale and pretend that the thought of never kissing him again didn’t break her heart. She just…

Wanted to know why he hated her so much, Ashley thought, only to realize that she was most likely about to find out as she watched the man in question drive up the long driveway and parked his black SUV off to the side and climbed out. When he saw her, his eyes flashed silver in warning as she realized something important.

She couldn’t keep playing this game with him.

“What’s going on?” Ashley asked, getting to her feet only to sigh when Cuddles grabbed the bowl of frosting from her hand and dropped down on the porch next to her to devour it.

Other than muttering, “Asshole,” when he saw Cuddles, Kale didn’t say anything as he headed inside, leaving her with no other choice but to follow him.

“Could you please talk to me?” Ashley asked as she followed Kale as he made his way to the basement door.

When he ignored her and kept going, she considered letting it go and waiting for him to calm down, but…

She was an idiot, Ashley told herself as she headed downstairs only to immediately wish that she hadn’t when she spotted the long row of cells lining the right side of the room. Everything was metal from the ceilings to the floors, and she didn’t have to ask to know why. She remembered the cells that her stepfather had built in the basement for the nights of the full moon when the Pack couldn’t leave the property to shift, but it was the cell that had been tucked away in the corner that she remembered most.

While the rest of the cells had metal bars reinforced with steel secured to the stone walls with drains in the cement floor, the cell on the end had been completely encased in metal with several grates built into the floor to make it easier to hose off the blood after the bodies were removed. If there was any doubt in her mind what this room was used for, it was quickly destroyed when she saw all the weapons lining the rest of the walls.

There were knives, guns, religious tools, chains, and things that she had no idea what they were, secured to walls and laying on top of the tables lining the walls, but they all looked painful. Swallowing hard, Ashley forced herself to shift her attention to Kale, who was standing at the back table, loading weapons into a duffle bag and-

“Jacob’s going to keep looking in on you. If you have any problems, call him,” Kale said as he grabbed a gun off the table and added it to the bag.

“When will you be back?” Ashley forced herself to ask when all she wanted to do was beg him to stay.

Every time he left, it felt like a part of her was missing and she hated it. She hated that she reacted to him like this, knowing just how much it was going to hurt when this was over. She never should have-

“I’m not coming back,” Kale said, not bothering to look at her as he continued packing his bag as she stood there, trying to remember how to breathe as a hollow feeling formed in the pit of her stomach and she found herself finally asking the one question that she’d been wondering about since this whole thing started.

“Why do you hate me so much?” Ashley asked, forcing the words out of her mouth as she watched him go still.

“Go upstairs,” Kale said softly after a brief pause.

Shaking her head firmly, Ashley said, “Not until you tell me what I did to make you hate me this much.”

“Go upstairs,” he said more firmly as she watched him grab onto the edge of the table, the muscles in his arms straining with the move, letting her know that he was pissed.

Good.

“No,” she bit out, furious with herself for letting it come to this, for letting herself believe that anyone actually cared about her and for letting herself start to…

It didn’t matter.

“You don’t want to do this with me right now, Ashley,” Kale bit out.

“Really? Because I think this is the best time to do this, especially since you’re never coming back again,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him nod slowly and then-

She never saw him move.

One minute, he was standing across the room, and the next, he had her pinned against the wall, his silver eyes boring into hers as he said, “I hate every fucking thing about you and do you want to know why?”

“Yes,” Ashley whispered, feeling her heart break for him when she saw the pain in his eyes.

“Because you make me want to forget,” Kale said, his expression softening as he reached up and traced her jaw with his fingertips.

“Forget what?” she asked, reaching up to touch him when he stepped away from her.

“Everything,” Kale bit out as his eyes flashed silver in warning, letting her know that it was time to let this go.

But…

He was lying.

She knew it by the way that he looked at her, the way that he touched her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him, and she knew that if she walked away right now that she would never see him again.

“Tell me that you hate me, Kale,” Ashley said, pushing away from the wall and moved closer to him, watching the way that his jaw clenched tightly and his eyes flashed brighter as he glared down at her.

“I hate you,” he said evenly, not quite meeting her gaze as he forced the words out.

“Liar,” Ashley said, shaking her head slowly as she moved closer, watching as he took a step back, putting space between them as though that was going to make this easier. “You want to know what I think?”

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you think,” he snapped, taking another step back when she moved closer.

“No? Then tell me that you hate me again,” Ashley said, following him as he retreated.

“I hate you,” Kale bit out angrily.

Nodding, she said, “Better. Much more believable this time, but I’m still not buying it. You know what would probably help? If you could look me in the eye when you said it.”

“Is that what you need?” Kale asked in a deceptively calm voice as he met her gaze.

“Yes,” Ashley said, telling herself that he couldn’t do it.

Nodding, Kale leaned down and said, “Why don’t I show you instead?”