The breath gusted out of her lungs. “Did they check the interior of the house?”
“Yes. He didn’t mark the inside. As if he acknowledged that that was your space, not a space that belonged to both of you.”
“Because he doesn’t want to be a real part of my life.”
“Exactly. But he marked the outdoors. Almost like he was warning others to stay away.” It made Alex’s blood boil. His beast was infuriated that another male would leave his mark on her territory. Infuriated that Paxton believed he had the right to mark it.
She rubbed her upper arms. “It makes me feel sick to think he might have ogled me while I was undressing. He probably even saw us having sex—which he’ll have hated, if the way he just talked about you was anything to go by. Yet, he never did anything. Never went after you or found a way to warn you off. I don’t get it.”
“He never went after me because it’s not so much me he’s pissed at. It’s you. He only really sees you, Bree. Everyone else … we’re interchangeable. Haven’t you ever seen a swarm of ants? They all look the same, none stand out, none make us feel threatened. They can be a general annoyance at times. The rest of the time? We’re mostly indifferent to them. Right?”
She slowly nodded. “Right.”
“That’s how Paxton views everyone except you. He does not like that I’m in your life, but he won’t feel jealous that I am. He won’t see me as a threat to whatever significance he feels he has to you—I’m just a mere annoyance who is not whatsoever important. He truly believes that. In his mind, you just don’t see the situation clearly.”
“But he’s threatening to kill you.”
“Because you and I have imprinted on each other. He can’t dismiss me as irrelevant to you anymore. But he didn’t call me, did he? He called you. He issued the threat to you. I’m not important to him; he just wants me gone. He will try to kill me if he believes it’s the only way to get me out of the picture. But he wouldn’t derive any pleasure from the act, because it would be no different to him than squashing a bug. Like I said, you’re all he sees.”
“He doesn’t want me for himself, though. So why do all this?”
“Because, whether you believe it or not, you do matter to him. Not in the way you matter to me, no. But you’re … significant to him in some sense. He believes he has a rightful place in your life. He doesn’t want to take it, but he doesn’t want anyone else to take it, because then they’d be replacing him. It’s all about how he feels and what he wants.”
Alex gently tugged her hand, pulling her onto her knees. “Come here.” Gripping her hips, he slid her toward him and curled his arms around her. His beast would have rubbed up against her, hoping to soothe her, if he wasn’t too exponentially pissed to do anything but snarl and lash out with his claws. “This shook you up, didn’t it?”
She rested her forehead against his. “I’m not shocked that he’s alive. I just … It was nice to have room for doubts; to be able to tell myself that he could be dead. I can’t do that anymore. And I’m scared of what he’ll do to you.”
Alex rubbed her back. “Don’t let him rattle you. He wants you to be afraid, because he thinks it will make it easier for him to manipulate and control you.”
Bree lifted her head and rubbed her chest to ease the ache there. “I know. And I know you’re stronger and bigger than him. Just like I know you could take down a pallas cat easy. But he won’t come at you fairly, Alex. He’s a guy who’ll come at you from behind or—”
“Hear me, Bree, he’s not going to kill me. He won’t come at me straight away. He’ll want you to be the one to get rid of me; he’ll want that control over you. It won’t be until he realizes you’re not going to dance to his tune that he acts. I don’t care that he’s gunning for me. I want him to come at me. I want to get my hands on the little shit. When I do, I’ll rip him apart limb from fucking limb. He’ll be gone from your life, and you’ll know for sure he’s dead. You’ll never have to worry about him ever again. Doesn’t that sound good?”
“Aside for the part where he comes at you, yeah, it sounds good.” No one would be going after Alex at all if she wasn’t part of his life. Guilt pricked at her and her cat. Neither of them wanted him to have to deal with this crap—he should be able to leave his apartment without worrying about watching his back.