Chapter 8
1884 Words
Chapter 8
After being thoroughly embarrassed in public by her phone call with Ethan, Margot completely lost her appetite and threw away her sandwich after only a few bites. Fury packed his to take home since he didn’t want to miss out on his free meal from Margot.
They walked around Downtown Summerlin in silence. Margot was too ashamed to speak, and Fury understood he couldn’t leave her while she was consumed with self-loathing.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For?”
“Not judging me.”
“Who says that I’m not?” Fury replied. Stunned, Margot looked up at him. “I am not going to sugarcoat anything for you, Margot. I am 100% judging you right now.”
“Geez, rude, much?” Margot spat and tried to stomp away.
“Hey, don’t be a brat,” Fury scolded her while grabbing her wrist. It took everything in him to ignore the sparks of the mate bond, which Margot could also feel, but also chose to disregard.
“Excuse me!?” she exclaimed in anger at his audacity.
“You heard me. Don’t be a brat. You know deep down that what happened back there with that phone call wasn’t right. It was just plain f*cked up. Everything in me told me to tell him off, but I had to remind myself in that split second that you were about to reject me… again. But I also couldn’t stand that f*cker speaking to you that way because a man should never speak to a woman like that. Let alone his woman. So, yeah, I hung up the call, because goddess knows that you weren’t going to.”
“Stay out of my relationship, Fury!” Margot snapped.
“The fact that you can even call that a relationship is what I can’t understand. Based on your reaction and the fact that you were taking it, it suggests to me that he always treats you like sh*t. Why do you allow it?”
“He’s not all that bad,” Margot replied.
“Not all that bad? Seriously?” Fury looked down at her like she were a clueless teenager.
“What?”
“Is that how you praise the man you’re willing to marry? Not all that bad,” Fury imitated.
“Why are you being so critical?!”
“You’re not giving me any reasons not to be. You rejected me for that,” Fury stated as he pointed at Margot’s phone in her purse.
“You’re not acting any better than, Ethan!”
“Oh, really? The fact that you can say that to me with a straight face is laughable, Margot. I’m judging you because you’re being stupid. He’s belittling you because he thinks he can. Only a boy with LDE talks like that to a woman.”
“LDE?”
“Little d*ck energy.”
“Oh.”
“I may have been born a rogue and spent my entire life on the streets until the Alpha was gracious enough to give me a home in his pack, but that doesn’t mean my parents raised a disrespectful little boy. My mother respected my father, loved him, and was loyal; in return, my father worshipped the ground she walked on. The only time a man treats his woman like trash the way your fiancé is doing to you is when he’s weaker than she is. And that’s the vibe I’m getting from that phone call alone. Also, given that Maxine is your sister, I can already tell you’re a powerful witch, Margot.”
“I’m not as powerful as Ethan,” Margot admitted.
“Not if you keep telling yourself that,” Fury stated. Margot looked at him in surprise. “If you keep putting yourself in these kinds of situations, and self-loathing, you’re only going to manifest negative sh*t. And that will be your downfall. You’ll lose everything you hold near and dear to your heart, and the first thing you’re going to lose is your self-worth,” Fury bluntly stated. His words left Margot gobsmacked. She didn’t want to concede, so she tried to defend Ethan again but failed miserably.
“You don’t know him. He’s—”
“I don’t need to know him to understand what type of person he is, Margot. I know men. I know weak men. I also know when a guilty man is compensating.”
“Compensating for what?”
“The way he gaslit you and called you a wh*re. He’s obviously pissed that you’re not at home with him because of something he did, and then also, his degradation of you means he’s the one who’s cheating. Am I right?” Fury questioned and got in Margot’s face. Margot’s eyes widened as he was able to deduce that with just one phone call from Ethan. “That’s what I thought.” Fury got the answer based on her silence. “He also has no right to say those things to you because even a blind man can tell you’re still a v*rgin.” Margot was stunned yet again.
“H—Ho—How can you tell—”
“Once again, I’m a werewolf, Margot. But I’m also a skilled tracker and bounty hunter. My sense of smell is more acute than that of others. When I sense you, I only sense your pheromones. No one else’s.”
“I don’t understand what that means,” Margot replied.
“It means that if you had slept with anyone, anyone at all, I would be able to smell them. All of them,” Fury answered. Margot’s brows furrowed at this information. Her mouth opened in an O shape as she understood his explanation. Fury sighed and kept walking, leaving Margot behind in his wake.
Margot debated whether or not she wanted to leave and go back to Max’s house, but something told her to follow Fury. So, she did. Fury could hear her footsteps catching up to him. So, he stopped and spun around to face her.
“Listen, Margot, I don’t need to get to know you very well to see that you’re a wonderful person here,” Fury said as he placed his index finger over her heart, barely touching her chest. “The Luna would have said so because of her abilities. But she’s adamant that your soul is beautiful, even though it’s broken, and you refuse to see it. Even if she hadn’t spoken so highly of you, I can tell that you’re a beautiful person inside and out. This guy, Ethan, the fiancé you’re so in love with, doesn’t give two sh*ts about you—only what you can give him.”
“But I don’t have anything—”
“Your purity, you dummy,” Fury interrupted her.
“Huh?” Margot was even more bewildered.
“Margot, why are you still a v*rgin?” Fury shamelessly asked.
“That’s none of your business!”
“Humor me.”
“No!”
“Why? I already know the answer. It’s one of two reasons. And based on how he’s reacting to you ignoring his calls, which, I can hear your phone vibrating in your purse incessantly, by the way—it’s either because it’s a choice you’ve made for yourself, and you want to maintain that respect for yourself. Or it’s something, or rather someone, that’s instilled in you, making you think it’s important to keep your v*rginity until you’re married.” Fury studied her expression for a few seconds before he realized something. “Hm…”
“What?”
“I guess there’s a third option.”
“Which is?”
“It’s both. You not only value your purity and believe that s*x should be between two people who are truly in love and committed to each other, but also because someone drilled into your head how important it is. And something tells me that was Maxine. My only question is, why?” Margot’s jaw dropped at how amazingly Fury could figure everything out, even though she hadn’t said a word to him. But even she didn’t know why Maxine had instilled in her the importance of keeping her innocence until she was married.
“Wh—I—How?”
“Margot, I read people for a living. I’ve been doing it for years. You don’t have to utter a word for me to get the answers,” Fury softly said.
“Are you cold-reading me?” Margot asked.
“Yeah, I am, but not on purpose. Your eyes, these beautiful chestnut eyes,” Fury said as he pointed at her eyes, “Tell me a story. And that story doesn’t end well for you if you don’t wake the f*ck up.”
“What do you mean by that?” Margot questioned.
“Don’t take this as a threat, Margot. I’m only telling you the truth based on what I know about men like him, and vulnerable, pure, and innocent women like you.”
“Take what as a threat?”
“If you don’t open your eyes and your heart to the truth, you’re going to end up powerless and dead.” Fury’s words sent a shiver of dread down her spine, and goosebumps erupted all over her body. Her empathetic abilities told her that he wasn’t threatening her but genuinely trying to warn her. His words repeated in her head, and Margot finally sighed in defeat.
“It’s not that I don’t hear what you and everyone else are telling me. But I’ve only ever been with Ethan, and letting go of a love that I’ve held onto for over five years is too hard a decision to make.”
“Why? Because you’re afraid of the unknown?” Fury asked. Margot nodded without hesitation. “But why are you afraid of something that hasn't happened, but not afraid of the danger that’s literally staring you in the face every day?”
“I honestly have no idea,” Margot answered.
“Yeah, you do. You’re just too much of a chicken-sh*t to admit it.” Margot scowled at his blunt insult. “So, if that’s the case, allow me to show you that sometimes the unknown can be better than the known,” Fury said. Margot looked up at him solemnly. Fury stared her dead in the eyes, making it clear he wasn’t messing around. She knew what he meant.
“I don’t believe in cheating, Fury.”
“I don’t either, but you’ve been essentially cheating on me and our bond already.”
“That’s because you haven’t accepted the rejection,” Margot retorted.
“And I’m never going to.”
“What?” Margot questioned in dismay.
“I refuse to be with anyone other than you, Margot. Regardless of whether it was your goddess or mine who paired us, I believe in the sanctity of the mate bond. But if you choose him over me, you and I will never truly be happy with anyone else. Because we’ll both keep feeling the pain of infidelity.”
“Are you threatening me?” Margot gasped.
“I don’t make threats, Margot. Threats are bluffs. I’m making you a promise.”
- Writer
