Chapter 31 Chapter 31 -Kael 55 vouchers I woke up to the uneven sounds of my own breath . My head is pounding like it has a pulse of its own , and a terrible ache splits across my temple . My body feels heavy , my mouth is dry and my throat is parched . " Ughhh ... " I grunt , clutching my temple as I roll over in bed . 4 My head isn't the only part of me that aches . Pain radiates around the skin of my left wrist as well , it feels like a bruise from something hard and coarse . Metal ? My mind immediately works to trace the memory of how I ended up like this . Last night ... I was drugged . I recall the feeling of the foreign substance in my blood stream , stirring my wolf to an almost feral haze . After meeting Alpha Scott , I got back to my office . The pain hit then , and I tried to suppress it ... Then ... I picked up my phone and called Laila ... What did we talk about ? I don't remember it . I don't remember much else than that moment where I dialled her number . My mind feels slow and my memories are fragmented . Everything is blank until hours later when I hobble out of the club , snatching the keys of my bike from the varlet and driving home before Blake could catch up . Before that ... the memories are like fragments , like a huge part of my memory has shattered and an even larger part has been cut out . There's not much I can do about the blank parts , but I try to piece the fragments together . Before dashing out of the club , I woke up with someone in my bed ... In the early hours of the morning , her blonde hair splayed over my chest , her arm around my waist like she belonged there . The lighting was dim , but the sheets were tangled around her waist and her skin was bare , a familiar tattoo inked across her waist ... Julie ! I sit up too fast , and the room spins around me . I don't remember how she got into my bed . I don't remember 18:45 Mon , Oct 13 Chapter 31 touching her . Hell , I don't even remember how I got down to my red room . IX 55 vouchers I don't remember much of anything after the drugs blurred everything out. But this ... waking up with Julie in my arms , this wasn't how I expected last night to go at all . Not in my head , at least . And yet somehow , it doesn't matter . Because what I do remember is waiting . I know I waited . Not for Julie , for Laila . She was supposed to come to me . I sat there with the pain setting my veins on fire and I waited for her . If she had shown up , I would have felt it . I would've known ... she would have been the one in my bed when I woke up . But she never came . She hadn't bothered . She didn't care . I didn't expect her to either . Last night confirmed. to me what I already know . Laila and I are two strangers sharing a home , with a contract binding us together . Grunting beneath my breath , I swing my feet off the bed . Clutching the wall for support as I make my way to the bathroom . Running a cold shower quickly sobers me and the ache in my head subsidies just enough . Getting out , I dry myself and throw on some casual pants and a tee shirt . It's a weekend , so I don't have to go to the office at Blackwood Co. I have some business to handle at the club , but that's for much later in the day . My phone buzzes on the nightstand . I pick it up . Blake has left me about a dozen missed calls . I sigh , returning his call . The line rings once before it clicks and his voice comes through , " It's good to know you didn't die in a crash somewhere . " He says first , skipping the pleasantries and going straight to the point . I roll my eyes , " Where are you ? " " Still at the club . I'll be over in an hour ." He says . I hum in response . Blake goes silent and I'm about to hang up the call when he continues , " Kael ? " " Last night ... " He goes quiet again , hesitant . " Do you remember anything from last night ? " I frown slightly . " Other than the fact that I fucked Julie ? No , not really ." " I'm sure I can guess the events leading up to her getting into my bed . After I told you not to let anyone in . " " Laila ... " He leaves his words hanging . " What about her ? " I ask , Blake goes silent for a moment too long . " Nothing . I'll be there soon . " My frown deepens as the line goes dead . Shaking my head slightly , I head down the stairs just in time to hear Marie say , 18:45 Mon , Oct 13 Chapter 31 " Yes . He came in a little after dawn ." : I stop by the door , watching Laila's expression contort into a frown . Is she mad I didn't come home last night ? Or does she know about Julie ? I shake off the thought . There's no way she would know , unless she saw it herself . And that couldn't be possible because she never showed up . Right ? Marie asks Laila if she wants to have breakfast together . I glance down at my wristwatch . I do have some time to spare , but before I can say anything , Laila finally notices me . 55 vouchers Her eyes don't widen in surprise , instead her gaze turns steely . The smile on her face drops instantly . She declined curtly and got up to her feet , brushing past me . I resist the urge to scoff . She's the one who abandoned me last night and now she's ignoring me like I'm the problem . This is why I don't deal with fragile women . They get too sensitive over things like getting home late , forgetting I never had to come home every night for the past three years ... I chose to . Not for her either . For Liam . Because being his father , even if it's only temporary , means being more responsible than I usually would be . Laila doesn't meet my eyes , not once . Something feels off ... something in her silence gnaws at me . The way she walks past me like I don't even exist . She's always been cautious and distant , but this is worse . It's deeper ... like she knows something . Like she saw . AD Comment