Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 53

I shake my head. This was a mistake. "Nevermind."

"Nevermind?"

"Yeah, nevermind," I walk towards the gym.

"What, that's it? I thought you wanted to talk?" he walks towards me.

I keep walking. "You wanna fight someone? Go try it with someone else. I told you that's not what I was looking for."

He grabs my arm.

I yank against his grip. "Stop it."

"I'm sorry," he says, not letting go.

I try to say something but he cuts me off.

"Please. I'm sorry just... don't leave. I'll talk."

"Well then let go." I look at my arm.

He doesn't budge.

"Carson." It doesn't hurt, but that doesn't mean I want him grabbing me. "Let go."

He lets go, reluctantly.

I take a few steps back. I rub my arm.

He stares at it. "Why do you do that?"

"What?" What could I possibly be doing now?

"You don't want me touching you, at all. You act like I'm burning you or something. I can't even look at you without you yelling at me."

That's not true. "I just want you to respect me," I say.

"No, you want Axel."

Oh my god. Here we go again. "Why are you so stuck on this idea that I have a favorite?"

He gives me a look. "Maybe because I'm actually in touch with reality?"

I cock my head back.

He scoffs. "I'm not blind, Mia. It's clear you have a favorite, and it's clear who that favorite is."

"Well tell me who, because I guess I didn't get the memo."

"Don't play dumb."

"I'm not. I'm worried about my family and myself. The last thing I'm concerned with is-"

Carson stalks towards me, abruptly.

I take a step back, but he corners me up against the wall. He props one of his arms above my head, putting his weight on it and trapping me.

"Carson," I put my hand on his chest, pushing.

He doesn't budge. He leans down so that he's staring into my eyes.

I hold my breath. It was a mistake to be alone with him.

He shakes his head. "Nothing."

"No, say it." This whole talk is about honesty. We can't afford nothings or neverminds anymore. Otherwise this situation will just continue to escalate.

He looks at me from the corner of his eyes. "You're just really weak, even for a human."

I give him a look. Okay, honesty be damned. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

He sighs. "I'm not trying to be rude. This is why I didn't want to say anything."

"Well you did anyway."

"You told me to," he points out.

"Well, I didn't know that's what you were going to say," I cross my arms. At least I try to. He's still blocking my personal space. "I already know that my lungs are crap and I'm weak and..."

"It really didn't feel like you were pushing me," he says, seriously. He gives me a hard look and I stop trying to argue. "I think, maybe that's why we're getting confused about body language and stuff. If that's the force you've been using to pull away from me and get away from me, I'm not surprised I haven't noticed you were serious."

I consider his words. That would make sense. Werewolf strength and all.

He keeps going. "More importantly, if I've hurt you-"

"You haven't," I say quickly.

"But if I have," he says.

"You haven't." I don't want him to think he did, much less to think that I would still be talking to him if he had. "Seriously. You've just, invaded my personal space."

He looks down at the lack of space between us and then steps back. "Sorry."