*Grayson*
My attention drifted to Keera. Again.
We were trying to go over the plans for today but I kept getting distracted by different thoughts of her. The security squad was going to arrive today. We had to get them settled and then Ryan and I had a few tasks we had to get done before we conducted the ritual tomorrow. Like getting enough wood for the bonfire, for one. We were all in the conference room and by all I meant the council and Keera’s team. Conall and Ralph were talking about a few places in the forest where we could easily find all the wood we needed.
As pack lead hunter and lead warrior, no one knew the forest better than them and so everyone was paying attention. Or at least everyone except me. And Keera. But mostly me. I stared deep into her brown eyes, the knowledge of what happened last night screaming in the silence between us. I run a finger along the edges of the table, recalling her taste, like sweet nectar. I’d never thought I’d ever be so intoxicated by a female in my entire life.
Until Keera.
It had taken everything in me to not drag her from her bathroom to my bed so I could have my wicked way with her. She broke the stare first, moving her attention back to Conall. She tried to act cool and put it together but I could see she was trying very hard not to squirm in her seat. It must be hard for her, I thought to myself. Sitting away from me and trying to act indifferent and professional when I’d been licking her release off her fingers only hours ago.
I noticed Lexi bouncing her gaze between us then, and dragged my gaze away from Keera to meet hers. We stared at each other for a second before I turned my attention to Conall. Lexi had obviously picked up on something despite how natural we’d been trying to act. Almost like I was being pulled by an invisible string, my eyes lifted to Keera’s again, our gazes colliding. I noticed the shiver she tried to hide but still she didn’t move her gaze away from me until seconds later.
The meeting rounded up a few minutes later and we left the room, stalling a little bit to make small talk. Nyx called out for Ellie and she stood up from the couch, running to her mother. Her neighbor had left the house to run an early errand and so they’d had no choice but to bring Ellie over and have her occupied with coloring books while the meeting had been going on.
“I need to drop Ellie off at Billy’s place,” Nyx said to me, playing with Nyx’s hair. Keera walked past us and headed for the stairs. Ellie turned to watch her, moving her head from side to side in a way that made her hair fly all around her face. I gave her a nod as Ellie moved to clutch my legs instead.
“I want to stay with Aunt Keera,” Ellie pouted, halting Keera in her tracks at the foot of the stairs. She turned her attention to us, trying to confirm whether or not she’d heard properly. The rest of the team were a little farther away so it was just the three of us who’d heard Ellie. “Can I stay with you, Aunt Keera?” She asked, making a puppy dog face.
Keera blinked, moving her gaze between Nyx and I like she was waiting for us to say something. I wasn’t ready to get myself involved when Nyx was here. She was Ellie’s mother after all. If she was okay with it then I was too. Keera might want to hate us for the rest of her life but one thing I was certain of was that she would never do anything to hurt a child. And from the look on Nyx’s face she knew it too.
“Stay with me?” Keera spluttered helplessly, drawing her eyebrow together. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea” She said, looking at me for help. I craned my eyebrow, silently asking why on earth I would do that. She shot me a deadly look, glancing at Ellie. “You can’t stay here. Your mom won’t be okay with-”
Nyx met my gaze briefly. “Actually, I don’t mind,” She said on a shrug. Keera’s eyes bulged in horror and she stared at Nyx with her lips wide open. I pressed my fist against my mouth before I accidentally burst out laughing at her comical expression. Before she could get a hold of herself, Ellie pulled away from me and ran to clutch her legs.
“Yay!” She exclaimed, smiling widely. Jax walked up to us then and Nyx informed him Keera was going to be watching Ellie for the day. His brows jumped in surprise but other than that he didn’t say much. I was a little surprised Ellie wanted Keera babysitting her. Ellie didn’t even like some of the pack members. She’d always been an extremely selective child and a good judge of character. I wasn’t sure she’d judged correctly this time though.
Not with the way Keera was subtly trying to dislodged her hands from her leg.
Keera gave the couple a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, before heading upstairs to her room, Ellie right on her trail after hugging her parents. “You’re really going to leave Ellie with her?” I asked them, twisting my lips to the side in surprise. Nyx stared at her mate before meeting my eyes.
“Honestly, I don’t think she’s a bad person,” Nyx admitted. Jax raised his hands in surrender and left the both of us, indicating he didn’t want to be a part of the conversation. Nyx gave me a mischievous smile, patting my chest twice. “And I think you’re also starting to feel the same way.” She gave me a wink as Ryan approached us.
I didn’t think I wanted to know what it meant.
***
“Been a while since we spent time alone, huh?” Ryan asked, grunting as he lifted the axe and brought it down forcefully, splitting the wood in front of him in two. I paused, raising my head to look at him. I wiped sweat from my eyes, mulling his statement over in my head. It had actually been a while since we’d spent time together. I looked away, guilt curling in my stomach.
Ryan was more than my best friend. He was like a brother. We’d been friends long before he’d found out that Ginny was his fated mate. Somehow, over the past few weeks we’d hardly spent time together. “Yeah,” I conceded, letting out a breath. “And it’s entirely my fault, I’m sorry,” He shook his head at me, letting me know he understood. “It’s just. . . with the killings and everything there’s not been much time.”
He thought about it for a second, placing another log on the rock in front of him. “You’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Ria lately,” He let out casually. I reared back in surprise, mostly because he sounded more curious than accusing. There was no way he could be insinuating what I thought he was.
Right?
I managed a light laugh, kicking the small logs in front of me aside and steadying a bigger one on the rock. “You say that like something’s going on between us,” I accused lightly, arching an eyebrow at him. He raised his hands, his palms facing me, knowing that I’d hit the nail right on the head. He wanted to find out if I was interested in her.
I shook my head to say no.
“It’s nothing like that,” I assured him. “Ria’s just fussing around and trying to make sure I’m okay.” I waved my hand in the air in a nonchalant gesture. “I actually told her she could do that instead if it would take her mind away from trying to read into the future.” I confessed. I didn’t need to remind him how much her obsession with finding the killer through her visions had been affecting her.
Ryan stroked his chin, studying me as I continued chopping the wood. He made a noncommittal sound behind his throat, getting back to work. I think I heard him murmur something beneath his breath but I couldn’t be completely sure. Especially when it sounded a lot like, “Interesting.” Luckily he hadn’t been focused on me enough to notice the undercurrents passing between Keera and me lately. Or maybe he had.
And he wasn’t ready to bring it up yet.
Which was just as well because I wasn’t ready to think about it either. For the first time ever, I didn’t know what I was doing. I’d been acting on impulsion last night. Not giving a second thought to the primal urge to taste her. That wasn’t me. I didn’t do things without looking at the side effects in the long run. With Keera, things were different. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I knew that as much as we both wanted to go on hating each other, we couldn’t deny the insane attraction brewing between us.
But it could only ever be just that.
Attraction.
Because Keera and I could never work.
Our phones beeped simultaneously as we stacked up the last bunch of woods, staring at the almost six foot heap we’d made. We had to make sure it was going to be enough to cover the entire ritual. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, reading the message on the screen. The squad had arrived. I let my hand drop to my side, throwing my head back and releasing a deep breath.
More humans in the pack, great.
Ryan and I tidied up and headed back to the pack house. Like Keera’s team, they were just five. Two women and three men. I shook hands with Gabe, and then with the rest of his team. Ria and Elena had arrived at the pack house to welcome them. They were going to be staying in a small house a few blocks away from mine. I politely asked that they wait for me in the conference room while I headed upstairs to freshen up.
The sound of laughter coming from the kitchen upstairs and me halting in confusion. I walked to the kitchen, pausing outside the door and giving it the slightest push with my finger so I could take a peek inside. The scene before me took me by surprise. Keera was standing in front of the counter, with her back to me. I guessed from the movement of her hands and from the sound of the cutting board that she was chopping something. Ellie was lying on the kitchen island, her legs bent at her knees and raised in the air.
All the items on the counter had been cleared, I’m guessing so that Ellie didn’t accidentally injure herself. She had a crayon in her hand and a tiny coloring book in front of her but her attention was solely on Keera. It took me a while to realize she was listening to something Keera was saying. Listening and grinning widely like Keera was saying the funniest story. I wasn’t sure what threw me off the most. The fact that Keera was actually spending time with her or the fact that Ellie was smiling wider than I’d ever seen her smile with a complete stranger.
It was probably a mixture of both.
Just when I thought I would slip out unnoticed, Ellie’s gaze shot to mine. I immediately brought my forefinger to my lips, silently asking her to be quiet. She held back her giggle, nodding her head and giving me a thumbs up. I gently closed the door, not understanding why I didn’t want Keera to know I’d seen her making lunch for Ellie and herself. I thought back to Nyx’s words from earlier as I walked into my room and realized she’d been right. I did in fact trust Keera.
More than I wanted to.