“It’s fine.”
It’s not, but as long as I’m not using it much, the pain is bearable. It’s the hunger killing me now, but it’s being gatekept by a Lycan with a questionable grasp on sanity.
His hand reaches out so quickly I don’t have time to flinch. My breath catches as his fingers capture a strand of my hair, letting it slide through them with unsettling fascination.
There are no nerve endings in my hair, but the action sends shivers down my spine regardless. 2
The lasagna’s rich aroma taunts me while my captor plays with my hair, and I’m struck again by the strangeness of this situation. Thankfully, Andrew’s coming tonight. Just a little longer and I’ll be free. For real this time.
“When were you first brought to the Blue Mountain Pack?”
I barely suppress a groan. He brings me food-which I’m dying to devour-but of course it comes with a cost. I guess I won’t be allowed to eat if I don’t answer.
He probably doesn’t remember any of what I said before, but it’s still annoying to repeat it.
“Six years ago,”
I answer crisply, fighting the urge to step away. Any sudden movement might upset him, and I’m not risking him taking away my food or something in retaliation.
His fingers continue their exploration, twining around the strand.
“Six,”
he repeats, as if testing the word.
“And your parents?”
“Dead,”
I snap. He might not remember the details of what I told him, but he should at least remember I’m an orphan, damn it.
“And he claimed you as his daughter?”
“Yes.”
My hands clench at my sides.
“Until he didn’t, the night of the Mate Hunt.”
Caine’s eyes narrow, his fingers still absently toying with my hair.
“Yes, explain that again.”
My patience fractures. The lasagna is right there, its cheese congealing while he plays twenty questions.
“Could I maybe eat while you interrogate me? Since you brought dinner?”
His eyebrows rise, but he releases my hair and steps aside with a gesture toward the bed.
“By all means.”
I move cautiously, as if approaching a sleeping predator, and perch on the edge of the mattress. The first bite of lasagna hits my tongue, and I have to stifle a moan. It’s perfect-rich tomato sauce, seasoned beef, and cheese that stretches in satisfying strings. Heaven wrapped in pasta layers. 3
The Blue Mountain Pack is no longer home, but the chef is great.
Caine stands uncomfortably close, looming over me as his eyes follow my fork.
“Continue.”
I swallow, forcing myself to eat slowly despite my hunger.
“Not much to tell. I must have been drugged, because I woke up practically naked in the forest during the Mate Hunt. I guess he was trying to force me to shift. He thought I was his biological daughter and found out I wasn’t.”
I shrug.
“Then he tossed me to the omegas.”
“And how did he ‘find out’?”
His voice carries an edge that makes me pause mid-bite.
My brows draw together.
“I told you, after the Mate Hunt. When I didn’t shift.”
He circles to face me, blocking the light from the window.
“Did he ever bring up shifting before?”
“No.”
“Not even at sixteen?”
“No-oh.”
Staring blankly at the lasagna, I recall,
“He did throw me a pretty big sweet sixteen. He would always get me a cake for my birthday, but it wasn’t usually a big party like that.”
Caine frowns.
“I see. How was his mood?”
The memory is clear, because the day was so special to me.
“He had to leave halfway through because something came up. I didn’t think much of it because Rafe was with me.”
Poking my lower lip with my fork, I squint in the air, as if it’ll help me see my memory with more clarity.
“He was happy when I first saw him that morning, but he was pretty subdued by evening. I thought he was just busy.”
A low growl rumbles through the room and Caine spins away from me, pacing the floor. Five steps. Turn. Five steps. Turn.
I set my fork down, appetite vanishing under the weight of his agitation. He’s ruining all my meals. 1
“Did Brax intend to mate you with Rafe?”
The non sequitur throws me for a loop, and I blink.
“No, Alpha had nothing to do with our relationship.”
“Stop calling him Alpha.”
Caine whirls toward me, his voice sharp as a blade.
“He’s not your alpha anymore.”
I flinch, my shoulders hunching.
“Alpha Brax,”
I correct myself, my voice smaller than before,
“had nothing to do with our relationship.”
His scowl deepens, storm clouds gathering in his eyes.
“How long were you in a relationship with the pup?”
The way he spits the word ‘relationship’ makes my skin crawl. It’s so venomous.
“You mean
Rafe?”
A sharp nod answers me, his jaw clenched so tight I can see the muscle jumping beneath his skin.
“I don’t know. We were friends from day one, and it just grew to more one day.”
Rubbing at my arms to soothe my crawling skin, I add,
“Alpha Brax wasn’t against the relationship. He was fine with it until the Mate Hunt.”
“Of course he was,”
he mutters, resuming his pacing.
“Your mother. She was his mate?”
“That’s what Alpha Brax told me.”
My fingers twist in my lap.
“But I don’t know anything about her. His mate, I mean. The pack never said a word about her.”
Rafe probably knows… and kept it from me. It’s a depressing thought.
“There’s probably a rule against it.”
Caine’s pacing slows, his broad shoulders tight with tension.
“Because of his pride.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.