Caine finally snaps.
“But we’re staying too.”
“No, you’re not.”
Lyre’s denial is swift and firm.
Fenris makes another huffing sound and nudges Caine with his massive shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance, Jack-Eye coughs behind his fist, but by the way his lips keep quirking, I’m pretty sure it’s to hide laughter.
Must be nice to find this situation so amusing. I’m shaking with my own audacity and worried Caine’s going to snap and go for Lyre’s neck, but the beta’s over here snickering.
“We’ll be back in the morning,”
Jack-Eye says after a few seconds, and Caine’s head snaps in his direction.
“Bring breakfast if you’re going to intrude. Bacon, not sausage. I like my eggs over easy, but Grace likes them scrambled.”
The beta looks right at Lyre and laughs, seemingly unbothered by her flat stare and monotone demand.
“Bacon, not sausage. Got it.”
“White toast only,”
she adds, not a hint of emotion crossing her face.
“If you get me wheat toast, I’ll put my fork right through your tenders. And coffee. Black for me, cream and sugar for Grace.”
Her remembering my coffee preferences isn’t even something I blink at anymore, Lyre seems to remember everything the first time it’s mentioned. Sometimes even things I don’t remember telling her. Of course, it’s only been a few days, it doesn’t take a lot of brain power to remember basic preferences.
But I don’t recall us ever eating eggs together.
“Consider it done.”
Jack-Eye gives a mock salute, then jabs his elbow sharply into Caine’s ribs, without any deference to their difference in status. 2
His alpha doesn’t flinch at the impact, but his gray eyes narrow into dangerous slits. The two men lock gazes in some silent battle of wills-Caine’s expression darkening with each passing second while Jack-Eye’s remains irritatingly pleasant.
It’s enough to make me wonder if I’ve been wrong about the Lycan King this entire time. If you’d asked me a few days ago, I would have said Caine would kill anyone for even daring the slightest inch of insolence in his presence. Yet he allows his beta to argue with him, smack his back, and even dig his elbow into his side?
I shift my weight from one foot to the other, and Fenris presses closer. Maybe he thinks I’m cold. The breeze has kicked up, blowing my hair into my face. 1
Finally, Caine exhales a loud, deliberate sigh, though it sounds more like another growl.
“Fine.”
He stalks toward me, stopping barely a foot away. The breeze carries his scent my way, and I wonder what his cologne scent would be called. Something like Full Eclipse, maybe. Or Wildfire. 3
My body betrays me with a small shiver as I breathe it in.
“I’ll see you in the morning,”
he says stiffly, and his words sound like a command more than a promise.
Irritated with my body, and him, and his stupid cologne smell and why does he look so good when he’s a freaking murderer, I mutter,
“You really don’t need to come back!”
Oops.
His jaw tightens.
Oh, well. I’ve already said it, so I put every ounce of sincerity I possess into my voice as I add,
“Really. Truly. You don’t.”
His scowl sends a chill down my back.
“I’ll be back.”
(2
Why does it sound like a freaking threat? It’s just three words, but they land like stones, heavy with certainty.
“Eight o’clock,”
Lyre calls out from behind me.
“Any earlier and we won’t be decent.”
Caine doesn’t acknowledge Lyre’s words, his stormy eyes never leaving my face. The intensity of his gaze makes me feel stripped bare, as though he’s peeling away layers I didn’t even know I had.
Then there’s my body.
The stupid thing wants to wrap itself around him until his smell seeps into my skin, deep enough it can never be scrubbed away. To lick his neck and see what he tastes like. To put my mouth-
Damn it, my mind’s going haywire.
Stupid body. Stupid cologne-ad smell. Stupid sexy werewolf.
“Come on, boss.”
Jack-Eye claps a hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s give the ladies their beauty sleep.”
Suddenly, I like Caine’s beta very much. What a reasonable, thoughtful man.
Andrew remains awkwardly positioned on the ground, he hasn’t twitched a muscle this entire time, and no one seems concerned about helping him up. To be fair, I wasn’t, either. Knowing he’s alive is good enough, I’m not interested in taking him in as a friend and making sure he’s happy or anything. I just didn’t want his death on my hands.
Backing away, I mount the first step to Lyre’s camper. Caine’s eyes track the movement, his body tensing as if to follow, and I narrow my eyes.
I climb the second step, still ascending backwards. He hasn’t moved, but his fists clench at his sides.
“Turn around,”
he says roughly, scowling once again.
“You’re going to fall.”
Hmm. Telling him I’m going backward because I want to make sure he isn’t following probably won’t go over very well. Frowning, I do as commanded, but pause to cautiously peek over my shoulder. He hasn’t moved, and he’s still glowering at me like I’m doing something wrong.
The third step puts me at the threshold. When I look back for the last time, I swear, Caine stands like a statue, tall and immovable in the darkness.
A cold knot forms in my stomach as I step through the doorway. It feels like turning my back on someone who wants to eat me.
The camper is warmer and less humid than outside. A little safer, too. But the illusion shatters when something large brushes past my legs. I yelp, spinning around to find Fenris already making himself comfortable on the tiny patch of floor in front of the refrigerator.
“Excuse me?”
I sputter, flabbergasted by his audacity.
“I didn’t invite you in.”
Lyre is the last to step inside, frowning at the wolf.
“Neither did I.”
The massive wolf blinks at me, his gray eyes almost amused, then deliberately lowers his head onto his paws.
“Oh no, you can’t stay here.”
I point toward the door.
“Out. Now.”
Fenris doesn’t budge.
“He’s the size of a miniature pony,”
Lyre observes from the doorway, her slitted eyes taking in the scene.
“Where exactly do you think we’ll put him?”
I glare at the wolf.
“Outside, with his master. Go on. Shoo.”
Fenris huffs and closes his eyes.
“I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”
Lyre steps inside, closing and locking the door behind her. Before it closes completely, I catch a glimpse of Caine’s rigid posture, still watching the camper like a hawk.
“Wonderful. Just what we needed-a spy.”
I rub my temples where a headache begins to throb.
“You realize he’s going to report everything back to Caine, right?”
Lyre shrugs, stepping over Fenris’s massive form to reach the sink.
“Maybe. Or maybe he has his own agenda.”
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.