Reluctance by Cindy C Bennett Read Free Book Online Page B

her. It took all her control to stop herself from lunging at him, teeth bared, with intent to harm, not feed. Shocked at herself, she quickly thrust the sodas at them and fled from the room. She darted up the stairs and into her room in less than a second. Quickly closing the door, she leaned back against it.
    "What is wrong with you?" she muttered aloud.
    She slid down to the floor, not an easy task in the tight jeans. This only infuriated her more, and she tore the jeans from herself, shredding them. Feeling slightly better, she followed suit with her shirt. Sitting there nearly naked made her realize how ridiculous she was being, and she laughed at herself. She went to her closet, pulling out a long paisley skirt, which she topped with an old blue sweater. She pulled her hair down from its tie and scrubbed her fingers through the silky strands. Deciding she might as well go all the way, she scrubbed the makeup from her face. Feeling more normal than she had for some time, she returned downstairs.
    "I want to go out," she announced to Jace who was sitting even closer to Aster than he had been when she went upstairs.
    "What?" he said, looking up in surprise at her announcement. Distaste crossed his face as he looked her up and down. "We're enjoying this movie," he whined.
    "Fine." Dahlia swung away from him, heading for the front door.
    "Wait," he called, hurrying after her. "You're going without me?" His voice rang with disbelief.
    "Yup," she said, putting a jacket on.
    "But . . . ."
    Jace looked around, confused. Dahlia was sure he couldn't imagine any girl ever wanting to go out without him.
    "You coming or staying?" she asked, hands on hips.
    "I'm . . . ."
    "Jace," Aster called from the other room. "Are you coming?"
    Jace turned toward the sound of Aster's voice, echoing Dahlia's question. Dahlia huffed out a sarcastic laugh and exited the house, closing the door behind her. She began to run, not wanting Jace to catch up to her. Now that she had stood up for herself and left, she had no idea where she wanted to go. She definitely didn't want to go to the club. She slowed her pace to a walk.
    Eventually, she found herself in the park and sat down on a bench. For the first time since first spying Jace and understanding what he could do for her, she questioned whether she could go through with making him her mate. She hadn't ever thought she might love Jace, at least not since she first understood who he was. But she believed she could tolerate him. Once she changed him he would . . . not love her, but would be completely devoted to her. Sometimes the two felt the same. Now it was a matter of whether she wanted to have him around all the time.
    After several hours of trying to decide what she wanted to do, the hunger became unbearable and she gave in. She ran as fast as she could to her usual hunting ground. She pulled up short when she saw Cam walking among the homeless people, handing out blankets. He looked up as she appeared.
    "What are you doing here?" they both asked at the same time.
    "It isn't safe here for you," Cam said.
    "Nor you," she argued. "And it's really late. Why are you wandering around here this late?"
    "I might ask you the same," he retorted, continuing in his mission.

    Dahlia folded her arms in stubbornness, letting him know she wasn't speaking until he did. He glanced at her, then his eyes scanned her from head to toe. Relenting, he sighed as he continued distributing the blankets.
    "I don't really know," he said.
    Dahlia could hear the confusion lacing his voice.
    "I just felt this . . . need to be here. Something drew me this way, as if I've been here before and knew these people had a need and I could help them." He stopped and looked at her again. "But I have no memory of having ever been here. Isn't that strange?"
    Dahlia was speechless. What could she say? Not as strange as you might think.
    "Your turn," he said. He covered a sleeping woman with his last blanket and walked over to her. "Why are