Tasting 118

118–Forced To Date Brody.

Nora:

“Are you serious?” I inquired, my eyes glued to his back as he stood tall, lacking the courage to face

me again.

“Look! Just go along with what I’m saying, and we can be together,” he uttered as I hurried to

confront him from the other side, blocking his view of the woods.

“Do as you say? What if I don’t?” I asked, attempting to rise on my tiptoes to meet his gaze and

prompt him to repeat himself.

“Why wouldn’t you? Don’t you want to be with me?” he questioned, his eyes narrowing as he

lowered his face to my level.

“Ryker! What are these conditions? So, you’ll only accept me if I follow your orders and sever ties

with everyone else. But what guarantee do I have that you won’t change your mind later?” I wasn’t

trying to keep my options open, but it would be foolish of me to abandon my world for him when I’m

not even sure of his plans for me.

“Nora! You have to do as I say. Just comply, and then–” he paused as I shook my head vigorously.

“Take me back home. We’re done with this conversation,” he noticed the tension in my jaw as I

spoke to him.

“Fine. I’ll drop you home, but that doesn’t mean you get to linger on that Brody thing. If you don’t

answer him by morning, I’ll handle it my own way, and I’m sure you won’t like it,” he finished,

threatening me as he stepped away to sit on his bike and put on his helmet.

118 Forced To Date Brody

“You won’t do anything. Ryker, and you don’t get to make rules for me. when you can’t even accept

me in front of everyone,” I yammered through gritted teeth, although he had stopped responding to

me. He had started his bike, and I had no option but to wear my helmet and hop on. I was extremely

pissed and upset. This is what I feared: abandonment. What if I reject my other mate and then

Ryker changes his mind? Why couldn’t he accept me first, and then I will reject Cain? Because as

much as it was true that I was enjoying Ryker’s attention, it was also true that I enjoyed Cain’s

teasing. My wolf was feeling them both.

Once I got off the bike, I only turned to him to tell him one last thing that had been on my mind

throughout the ride, “I am a free you decide to give our relationship a name.”

person until

I didn’t stick around for him to respond and sped inside the mansion to my bedroom. But, my bad

luck, I bumped into Silas, spilling juice on his shirt.

“Ugh! Do you ever do anything right?” he screamed, making me close my eyes and take a deep

breath before preparing myself to face him.

“I’m sorry,” I said, not even trying to argue with him. As I tried walking past him, he grabbed my arm

and halted my steps, making me look up into his eyes.

“You are going to clean–” he stopped talking the instant he narrowed his eyes and met mine. I didn’t

realize I had tears in my eyes until he pointed it out.

“What happened to you?” he asked, his frown deepening.

“Did someone bully you in school?” he kept his tone mild, almost as if trying hard to appear

unbothered.

118 Forced To Date Brady

“That’s none of your business,” I shrugged off his arm, speeding upstairs to finally be free.

Once I was in my room, I paced around before letting my wolf free and twisting the ring on my

finger.

“What the heck was he trying to do? Is he sabotaging my mate bond with Cain or what?” I asked my

wolf through tears.

“I wouldn’t go that far. But it was odd that he demanded such things,” Akira was much calmer than I

was. But I guess that was because she didn’t face it when it all happened. I went through it and felt

so odd.

“I’m not going to reject anyone until he accepts me first. I can’t believe he’s embarrassed of me,” I

buried my face in my hands and sat down on the bed, almost sobbing.

I hated how people only loved me if I did what they said.

“Calmm down. Everything will be okay. How about just giving it some time and perhaps giving each

other some space?” Akira asked, but she didn’t understand that he was asking me to give Brody a

response within a time limit and also reject Cain.

That’s when I received a message, and I had to halt my thoughts to respond to it. I frowned at the

caller ID.

Natalya: I want to believe you. But I just cannot. The fact that you haven’t found a mate till now and

are busy being tossed around by your stepbrothers makes me wonder.

My mood sunk low at the choice of her words.

Natalya: And what is up with you and Brody? Obviously, he is just a toy for

you.

56.911

18–Forced To Date Brody

I grunted, watching her delete her messages the minute she was certain I’d read them. What a

coward.

I stared at the screen and wondered what would be the right step to take. Since Ryker wouldn’t

understand and was not going to accept me as he was embarrassed of me, I had to think of a

different way to clear

my name.

Me: You couldn’t be more wrong. I’m going out on a date with Brody.

I bit my tongue once I sent that message to her. I threw my phone away and sat defeatedly.

“Way to go. Now, that was a move!” Akira hissed at me.

Now what? I had to go tell either Cain or Ryker about Natalya’s words. Somebody needed to help

me out as I was failing to do it on my own. But then, Cain wasn’t home for the night, and Ryker had

left for a run in the woods.

I was also so angry with Ryker that I didn’t want to take his help.