Dating

Chapter 25

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I stared up at the ceiling wishing that I would finally fall asleep bat, sleep refused to come. The moon shined in through the lace curtains and on the wall, I could see shadows from outside.

The howling of wolves sounded out loudly and I wished I was back on the mountain with Liam, back on top of him as I rode him in the snow, the wind blowing through my hair.

Finally, I gave up trying to sleep and sat up in bed. I knew why I couldn’t sleep. My mind was consumed by how Liam and 1 had ended things at dinner. I still couldn’t believe that he had wilked out on me. Just like that. I replayed the final words that I had said.

I’d asked him if he was dating me to get back at his family. How was I supposed to know that that was going to completely set him off?

You know what, screw Liam for making me feel like I did something wrong. He’s the one that had been acting all suspicious. refusing to answer a simple question. I don’t know why he was totally in his feelings about my question when really, I’m the one’s whose feelings were being jerked around.

I dragged myself out of bed. I was starting to get suffocated by the silence in my room pushing up against the swirling thoughts inany head. I needed to get out of here. I needed to breathe. I needed to hear something besides the thoughts inside my head.

I walked to the French doors in the parlor of the suite that Liam had booked for me. I pushed the doors open and

what I immediately, the crisp, cold night air from the mountains bit my skin. I took in a deep breath. This was exactly w needed.

In the distance, the snow–covered mountains stood tall and were completely breathtaking. Maybe tomorrow morning. before Liam woke up, I could see how much a cab would cost for me to take from the resort back home. I just couldn’t imagine nding all the way back home next to him.

Behind me I heard a door click open. I turned to find Liam stepping onto the balcony. I hadn’t realized that even though we were in two completely different rooms, we still shared a balcony

“Oh, Liam said. He looked as if he was still angry since he had a frown on his face. He looked troubled, like he wasn’t able to sleep either.

“I’ll just go back to my room,” I said. I didn’t want things to get more awkward than it already was. I turned to leave.

In two long strides, Liam crossed the balcony and was right beside me. He gently touched my lower back, “No, Ella, yout don’t have to go. Please, just stay.”

I took in a deep inhale at the touch of his hand. As hard as I wanted to deny it, I had missed his touch. I always missed his

touch.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I said. He hadn’t asked me but it felt like I needed to fill the stillness, the silence of the night with something.

A hint of a smile played on Liam’s lips, “Yeah, me either. Turns out my conscience turns me into an insomniac every time t know I’ve fucked up when it comes to you.”

1 looked up at Liam with surprise. What exactly was he saying?

“I’m sorry about how I just left dinner. I never should have walked out on you like that,” Liam said.

1/3

Chapter 25

“It’s okay,” I said quietly

Liam shook his head, “No, it wasn’t. Ella, I want to tell you about my birth family, I do. I just…I don’t really know anything about them.”

I looked at Liam and frowned, “Really?”

Liam nodded, “When I was younger, I asked my adoptive parents who my real parents were, but they refused to tell me.”

“Are you serious?” I said, totally in shock, I couldn’t imagine what that must have felt like.

Liam nodded. “Once Noah revealed that I’d been adopted, I kept trying to ask my parents where I came from but they refused to give me the true answer. At first, I was pissed, but then I didn’t care.”

“They should have told you.” I said, pissed on Liam’s behalf.

Liam shrugged. “A few years ago, when I turned 16, I got an anonymous letter saying that I had a trust fund where money was going to be deposited every month from my birth parents. At first I wasn’t going to take the money.”

I frowned, “Why?”

“Because I refused to be bought. I wondered what kind of birth family would rather send me money than reveal who they were and why they left me with the Gravens,” Liam said. Even though he tried to cover it up, I could still see the hurt in

Liam’s eyes.

1 pulled Liam closer to me, “I’m so sorry.”

“But then I said, fuck it, it’s my money too. I would spend the money however I wanted to. And that’s what I’ve been doing. Even though my adoptive parents don’t have money, my birth parents do. I don’t know why they haven’t revealed who they are, and I don’t care.” Liarn said.

Suddenly, everything began to click into place, “So that’s why you were able to afford your fancy car and that’s why you have a VIP membership to the resort,” I said.

Liam nodded, “And that’s why Noah can’t stand me. He always thought he was better than me just because I was taken in by his parents. He never treated me the way a brother should. And when I got all this money, he tried to pretend that he was supportive the entire time.”

I wrinkled my nose, “Noah has always been an opportunist. Sometimes when Noah and I were supposed to hang out, he’d cancel at the last minute because he’d heard of some thing that someone popular was going to be at and he just had to be there.

“Ella, the reason I wanted to date you was for you. I didn’t start dating you because I wanted to make my family pissed. Fuck that. I’m here for you.”

I looked into Liam’s eyes and nodded. I believed him. Evey thing that Liam had just told me was a lot to take, I realized then that I hardly knew anything about Liam. We had grown up as neighbors, he was the boy that I tried not to notice, even when he walked right past me and I couldn’t get enough of that unique smell of his.

It made me feel good, knowing that Liam wasn’t with me for some messed up reason. Still, I could see that his having a human girlfriend wasn’t going to be quickly forgot by everybody in his life. His Beta family already were angry at him for being in a relationship.

Of course they didn’t know that we were fake dating but that didn’t matter. What if his birth family, his family werewolves found out about us? What would they say? What would they do?

of Alpha

15:26 Tue, Aug 13 RG.