Chapter 124

I had been on my way to visit Nancy at the hospital when I had run into Nurse Irene talking to Joseph. Fortunately I had been able to hide before they spotted me. Though now that I had seen them together, I was dying to know what they were saying.

Keeping myself hidden behind the brush, I inched closer, to hear.

“Cynthia?” Joseph laughed. “She’s done some wild and crazy things. Do you know how we met? She came right up to me and kissed me on the mouth! I was so shocked! She’s so forward.”

That was not what happened! I had been a shy, innocent girl, and Joseph had approached me!

“She’s been with tons of guys,” Joseph went on. “She has a whole reverse-harem wrapped around her finger. When we all found out about each other, it was a big event. But she still can’t bother to admit that she’d done wrong.”

That wasn’t me! That was him!

Nurse Irene frowned as she scribbled down notes into her notebook. “Yes, this is fine, but have you ever witnessed her use any wolf abilities?”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. Sure.” Joseph nodded so much he looked like a bobble-head.

“Which abilities would those be?” Nurse Irene asked.

“Oh, you know. This and that.”

“Nothing… surprising?”

“Surprising? Sure,” Joseph said.

Nurse Irene frowned deeper. A line split her brow. “Something like… projection?”

Joseph paused. “Projection? Really?”

At Irene’s expectant expression, he cleared his throat.

“Projection. Oh, yeah. All the time. Constant projections. Couldn’t turn one way or the other without running into them.”

What was he saying? Didn’t he realize how serious this was? He probably didn’t, honestly, especially if it didn’t directly affect him.

“Can you describe a specific instance?” Nurse Irene asked.

Joseph tapped his chin. “I mean, she was constantly projecting Asher everywhere. She has such an embarrassing crush on him.”

From my hiding space, I startled so hard, I nearly toppled into the dirt. How did he know I could project Asher the best? He had to be guessing. Nothing he said sounded all that legitimate.

Nurse Irene must have thought so too, because she put her notebook away. “Thank you for your time…”

“Joseph.”

“Joseph, yes. I’ll be in touch.” Nurse Irene shook her head as she walked away in the direction of the hospital.

When she was out of view, I jumped out from my hiding spot behind the brush and approached Joseph.

“How could you tell her those lies about me?” I asked him, enraged.

“Of course.” He crossed his arms. “I should have known you were stalking me.”

Me? Stalking him? My anger spiked.

“Nurse Irene thinks I have the projection ability, Joseph! Do you know how dangerous that is? Do you know what will happen if she convinces others I have it?”

“It sounds like it’s not my problem.”

“They’ll send me to a research facility. I’ll never be able to leave. They’ll take away my baby.”

He rolled his eyes. “You are being dramatic, Cynthia.”

“I’m not!”

“So what, then? What if you aren’t? Why should I care? Your baby gets taken away? Well, that just makes it easier for my parents and I to take it back and raise it without you in the way.”

My mouth hung open for a moment. His callousness tripped me up every single time. I supposed I should have been used to it by now, how he treated me, but it still startled me.

When we had been together, he had kept us secret and he had been a selfish lover, but he had never been cruel. Not like this. Even now, after everything he’d done to me, I still struggled to reconcile the man I knew him to be now with the one he had been in the beginning.

“Don’t look at me like that, Cynthia,” Joseph said. “Like I’m some sort of monster. That nurse didn’t believe anything I said. I was obviously spewing a bunch of bullshit.”

Again, he surprised me. He hadn’t actually been trying to… protect me? In his own perverse way?

“Asher isn’t the only one who can look out for you, you know. He’s so direct about it. Sometimes you need someone a little more… sly. You can’t honestly say that you have forgotten everything I’ve ever done for you?”

I tried to think of the things he’d done for me, and came up short. But I didn’t say a word. Maybe that was what he meant. Had I truly forgotten the good things he had done?

… Or was he trying to convince me now to feel bad for him, rather than remember all the harm he’d caused me?

“I’m calling Asher,” I said, retrieving my phone from my purse.

“Don’t bother,” Joseph said. “He’s already headed this way.”

“What?”

Joseph pointed behind me.

I turned in time to see Asher hurrying toward us.

“You’re going to need me,” Joseph said before Asher could get close enough to hear. “Asher can fight for you all he wants, but he can’t take on the whole world. You need a schemer, Cynthia. Something to keep in mind.”

As I stood, speechless, Joseph quickly excused himself, disappearing down the street just as Asher arrived.

Asher touched my shoulder and gave me a once over, as if making sure I was unharmed. “Thank God. I worried I might be too late.”

“How did you know where I was?” I asked.

He sighed. “I have contacts keeping tabs on Joseph. Just to make sure he isn’t trying to cause any more trouble for you or me or the hockey team.”

That made sense. Joseph’s interference had caused quite a bit of trouble for Asher and his team. And me, too.

“Why didn’t you call me when he started talking to you?” Asher asked. “I can’t protect you from him if I’m not here in time. If you’d tell me yourself, I could be there quicker.”

I couldn’t quite hold his gaze and glanced away. I kept thinking about the committee meeting, and the way he’d said he was beginning to think of me as his mate.

I knew he had to be just saying that to get out of the committee’s worst punishment, but it still made my heart race thinking about it.

I was far too embarrassed to be anywhere this close to him yet.

“Cynthia…” Asher’s voice went icy, emotionless. “You are blushing.”

I wasn’t sure why he was getting angry about that. I blushed quite often when Asher was around. He had never seemed to mind it before.

Although maybe I was being too obvious now. Maybe he could somehow tell I had broken my word to him and gone to the meeting. He hadn’t wanted me to hear what he said, about being mates. He’d probably regret saying it at all if he knew I’d overheard.

“Am I?” I tried playing coy. I placed my hands over my cheeks. They were burning.

Asher’s gaze narrowed, when I dared to check it. I quickly looked away.

“You aren’t upset that I… interrupted you and Joseph, are you?” he asked.

What a strange thing to say. “Of course not.”

“You just seemed very… intimate there for a moment.”

What in the world was Asher talking about?

“When he was whispering to you…” Asher continued.

Wait… He wasn’t jealous?

“Give it to me straight, Cynthia,” Asher said then. “Do you still have feelings for Joseph?”