*Grayson*
She had no right looking nearly as good as she did. Her red hair was in a ponytail. She had on black tights, a white shirt, a black jacket tied around her waist and black ankle boots. She looked more badass than a scientist had any business looking. And it was doing a lot of things to my wolf. Not me, of course. I didn’t think she was ever capable of affecting me. Just my wolf. I already knew how rebellious and stubborn she could get beneath that cool exterior of hers.
She halted her movements at my words, turning to face me with a cold look in her eyes. Yes, princess. I’m not about to make any of this easy for you. Her brown eyes flashed a warning at me. One I was very well going to ignore. I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited for her reply. “There was no need for him to know.” She finally spat.
My brows rose as I huffed, moving my head from side to side. “It’s okay to keep things to yourself but then it becomes a problem when someone else does the same?” I couldn’t help but remark. We both knew I was referring to her situation with Ginny. She hadn’t said it yet but I knew she had no intention of smoothing things out. She seemed the type to prefer cutting people off to settling differences. And this was who the goddess had chosen as my mate. I didn’t think the goddess was capable of making mistakes but I could definitely say that she hadn’t given much thought to our matching.
Not in the least.
“It’s not as the same as you think.” She managed, looking into the house through the glass doors. Her head turned sharply at my derisive snort and her eyebrows narrowed into slits. I didn’t need the mate bond to tell me she was already well on her way to being pissed. Was I trying to piss her off? Definitely. Did I know why? Not really. Was it fun?
Absolutely.
I pretended to think for about three seconds before giving her a nod. “Yep, I think it actually is.” I said bluntly, digging my hands into the front pocket of my jeans. “You and Ginny were friends.” I reminded her and I didn’t think they could but her eyebrows narrowed even more. “Are you saying you’re not at least friends with Trevor. You know, with the way he wants you safe and all.” I drawled mockingly. Before I could even blink after my statement she’d stormed to stand right in front of me, just an inch or so away.
She clenched her jaws tightly, stabbing her index finger at my chest. “Firstly, you have no fucking right talking to me about my friendship with Ginny, not when you’re partly to blame for our falling out.” She snapped. “Secondly, keep my friendship with Trevor out of your god-damned mouth. You’re out of your mind if you think that’s something you can also ruin.”
My hands fisted loosely. It turned out that it was something that hadn’t changed yet. She could still piss me off so easily. “Careful, princess.” I said softly, the hard look in my eyes contradictory with my tone. “You’re not talking to the same person you did six years ago.” I informed her calmly. A lot had definitely changed since we’d had that pissing match out in the open in front of their graduation building.
Keera scoffed, raising her eyebrows in a way that was mocking. “Because you’re an Alpha now?” She retorted, with a light shake of her head. “Oh, please. You can kiss my ass.” She stated flatly, moving an inch closer to me. “I’m now one of your little pack members you can order around,” Her tone made it clear she wanted me to understand that. “You might be their Alpha,” She said, making hand gestures to indicate the pack. “But you’re certainly not mine.”
And that was where she had it all wrong.
I was not just her Alpha, I was the one she had been destined to be with. “Don’t be so sure about that sweetheart,” I finally whispered. We stared at each other, neither of us moving for a minute. Her heart was beating so loudly I was sure she could also hear it despite the fact that she was human. Somehow we’d ended up so close that if either of us moved our bodies forward even a little bit, we would be touching.
Everywhere.
My gaze dropped to her mouth. Her lips were pink and full, her bottom lip a little fuller than the first. With her standing just an inch away from me, they looked very kissable. I wondered if they were as soft as they seemed. If they would open for me if I wanted to touch my tongue to hers. The hitch in her breath reminded me that I was staring at her mouth longer than I was supposed to. My gaze moved back up to meet with hers.
I could kiss you right now, Keera. I thought to myself. Consequences be damned.
Thankfully before either of us would say anything to break the silence, the front door opened and we instantly backed away from each other. Nyx stood right in front of the door, staring at the both of us and there was something in her stare that made me realize she’d been watching us for quite a while.
Great, I thought to myself. She had caught me in a slightly compromising position with two different women in one day. I had to get myself together. I didn’t want any of my pack members thinking that the deaths weren’t a priority for me. Clearing my throat, I raised an eyebrow at her. She’d been standing motionless for quite a while without saying anything. I wanted to see how Keera looked but I didn’t dare move my eyes away from Nyx. Even I knew that was going to give her the wrong impression and seal the final nail in my coffin.
Her boots made thumping noises and she walked down the porch steps. “We showed them all to their rooms and asked if they needed anything.” Nyx informed me. It had been a direct order from me before they arrived. They were to be shown to their rooms and asked if they needed anything. “They all said they did not.” She stated. I couldn’t help throwing a look in Keera’s direction. She looked pleased and for some reason it angered me.
Did she really think her team and her were never going to need our help concerning things that didn’t strictly matter to the case? Trevor had brought their own food and stocked all the fridges downstairs with it. It was like they wanted to be as independent as possible. Like accepting help from us was an insult to their race.
At first I had thought it was because Trevor hadn’t wanted to go back to being my debt. It was getting clearer that these people were full of pride. They were determined to be as independent as they could be while they were on pack grounds. I could take a quick guess who was the most determined of them all. I cleared my throat, my attention on Nyx. “That’s okay,” I said calmly. “Thank you.”
She gave me a small salute, waved at Keera and then walked past us. The second she was out of our line of sight, the rest of the council came walking out of the house apart from Ginny and Elena. I made sure to let them know how grateful I was for getting our guests all settled in before they passed. They all gave Keera either a wave or a nod as they walked past her.
All except Ria.
She was the least happy of the council to have humans on pack grounds. I wasn’t exactly sure where her dislike had stemmed from but she had made it known a few times that they were nothing other than a bunch of entitled people too afraid and haughty to accept the fact that a species who might even be just as good as them existed. She hugged me and then slanted a cool look at Keera before joining the others. And of course Keera noticed something was off. If the slightly confused frown on her face was any indication.
We watched them all disappear from our line of sight before staring back at each other. I wasn’t sure why I had thought she was going to have trouble meeting my eyes but she didn’t. Obviously she had already moved past whatever the hell that had been. I had to be careful around her or the mate bond was going to make me do things that I was definitely going to regret later.
She took her phone out of her back pocket, searching for something on it. “Speaking of whether or not we need something,” She said gazing up from her screen to look at me. “Please ask your council to be here bright and early tomorrow morning.” Her tone was flat. “My team and I would take today to get settled in after practically walking across the globe,” She said sarcastically, letting me know just how she felt about the pack grounds being so secluded.
I crossed my arms over my chest as she walked back into the house, the jacket on her waist swaying from side to side with every step she took. Ginny walked out of the house then, pushing her hair behind her ears as she glanced back at the house one last time. “I couldn’t face her, Grayson.” She said to me, It was very obvious who she was referring to. “She’s already let me know without words that she was neither interested in visiting the past nor in mending our friendship.”
My heart broke for my sister when I saw how distraught she was. I pulled her for a hug, adding the fact that Keera was bent on getting back at her and therefore upsetting her to the list of reasons I had to dislike her. “Hey,” I said softly, pulling away enough for me to see her face. “They just got here.” I reminded her. “It’s understandable if talking about something that huge after a long journey was something she didn’t want to do.”
And I hated to admit it, but I knew I wasn’t just saying it so Ginny could feel better.
Obviously Keera was not going to want to settle things the instant she arrived here. Not with the mission and certainly not when I suspected that she was still hurting just as much as Ginny was. Only difference was that she was able to hide it better. Ginny managed a small smile. that didn’t reach her eyes. “Or maybe she’s completely moved on and decided that she has no interest in talking to me about anything that didn’t concern the task.”
“Maybe,” I conceded because I knew it was also a possibility and I didn’t want to give Ginny false hope or downright lie to her. “If she’s not interested in talking things out then it’s fine. It’s her loss not yours.” Her mood deflated at my words but she gave me a small nod. “Try not to let that bother you Ginny, please. We have way more important things.” I added softly.
She smiled at me and then left. I walked back into the house after a few minutes just in time to hear Keera thank Elena for taking her to each member of her team’s individual rooms so she could know where they’d settled in. “You have no idea how grateful I am.” She was saying, her voice more polite than I’d ever heard it before. “And my bags?” She asked. “Where would I be staying?” I took a turn and got into their view.
“Upstairs.” I said in reply. And then I couldn’t help but add, “With me.”