Silently cursing, Luke placed his mouth to Blair’s ear. “Need you to stay close, baby. My cat is seriously on edge right now. He still perceives your mother as a threat to our bond. You’re the only thing that will keep him calm.”
“Don’t think my female is much calmer,” Blair told him. “She’s not.”
Noelle regally strode inside with Les close behind her. She gave Blair a long look, her eyes briefly flashing with what might have been longing. She cleared her throat. “Came to collect the rest of your possessions, I see.”
“I said I would,” Blair reminded her, her tone even.
His eyes sad, Les offered his daughter a smile. “It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”
“You too,” was all Blair said.
Les gave Luke a stiff nod, who returned the greeting with an incline of his head.
Noelle sniffed at Luke. “I suppose you’re very pleased with yourself. You got what you always wanted.” A bitter smile curved her mouth. “Blair turned on me and left the pack behind.”
Luke didn’t bother pointing out that the situation wasn’t quite that dramatic. But there was one thing he’d like to highlight. “In truth, that’s what you feared she’d do. You projected that onto me; maintained it was my goal. It never was. All I wanted was to one day claim Blair. So, yes, I now have what I always wanted.”
Noelle’s eyes flared and then cut to Blair. “There’ll come a day when you realize you should have listened to me. A day when you regret mating so early in life. I want you to know that I’ll be there for you when that time comes. There will be no ‘I told you so’s.’ Only the support you’ll need to power through a difficult time.”
Luke tilted his head. “Do you truly believe that will one day happen, or do you just hope that if you plant the idea in her head it will eventually come to pass?”
Les put a hand on his mate’s arm. “Honey, can’t we just—”
“You should have given her more time,” Noelle told Luke. “You didn’t because you believed that the younger she was at the time she was claimed the easier she’d be for you to bring to heel.”
Confusion puckered his brow. “Bring to heel?” What in the hell?
“You want her under your control,” Noelle accused.
“You’re projecting again.”
“I never sought to dominate her life. Only to ensure that she knew she had choices; that she wouldn’t believe finding you so early meant that her future was already mapped out.”
“You communicated that well,” Blair cut in, her voice cold. “I heard you loud and clear. I simply didn’t wish to fight the future I saw coming.”
The corners of Noelle’s eyes tightened. “You were too blinded by him and all his pretty promises. Too overwhelmed by his level of dominance to develop a sense of self that wasn’t twined around his.”
Blair felt her body stiffen and her lips part. “You honestly tell yourself that I’m co-dependent on him? That I can’t think for myself and am firmly under his boot heel?” She shook her head. “Unreal.” It was stupid that Blair had hoped her mother would back down now that the claiming was done, wasn’t it? The woman was far too obstinate to wave a white flag so soon.
“It’s not what I tell myself, it’s what I know,” Noelle clipped. “You don’t see the reality of the situation because you’re too damn close to it.”
“What I see is that the only person who’s blind to the truth is you.” Blair sharply turned to Luke. “I’m ready to go home.”
He nodded. “Then we go home.”
Normally, it would have bothered her that Luke, Deke, and Isaiah protectively gathered around her to ensure the others didn’t get close as she headed for the door. Blair didn’t need to be shielded in such a way. But right then, she was so damn pissed she felt like she’d explode if someone so much as touched her. Which Luke must have sensed, because he didn’t take her hand or eat up her space.
Les caught her eye as she neared the door. “Sweetheart, I’ll … I’ll call you, okay?” He grabbed Noelle when she would have stepped forward. “No, just let them go. You’ve said enough.”
Blair kept her gaze firmly on the van as she exited the cabin, descended the porch steps, and headed to the vehicle. Settling on the front passenger seat, she clicked on her seatbelt, grinding her teeth as she wrestled back a snarl.
A wrestle she lost.
God, she was livid. So close to letting her anger fly that her skin felt raw. Still, she said not one word, knowing a hell of a rant would stream out of her if she opened her mouth.
Neither Luke nor the enforcers said anything as he drove away. She could sense his worry through their bond, but he did no more than occasionally give her thigh a brief rub or squeeze, giving her the space she needed.