*Keera*
I froze.
For a second I admired Grayson’s natural ability to be cool under pressure. He almost looked like he’d been half-expecting Ginny to pop out from behind him. Grayson turned to face her, blocking me from her view in the process. The last thing I needed Ginny to think was that we had something to hide. I casually stepped out from behind him, shooting her a smile I hoped looked natural.
“The case.” I quickly interjected, meeting Grayson’s eyes for a spell. Ginny narrowed her eyes into slits as she bounced her gaze between the both of us. We didn’t need a soothsayer to let us know she thought something was fishy. “He wanted to let me know… the meeting with the Nightshade wolves had gone pretty well… and we’d be having reinforcements anytime soon… so we didn’t need to bother as much with surveillance.”
Phew.
Ginny bounced her gaze between the both of us again. Damn, Grayson was right. She did suspect something. How was that even possible? We’d hardly been together since we got back from town. It was admittedly a little weird that we were out in the woods alone, but still, it wasn’t completely farfetched. I knew Grayson met up with some wolves out here when he wanted to clear his head and didn’t need any distractions.
“What are you doing out here?” Grayson’s voice was unimpressed and Ginny noticed. She took s defensive stance, squaring her shoulders lightly and meeting his eyes. “I know you’re not out here because you were searching for me.” He added. “You can have easily called my cell.” Ginny scowled, irritated he was trying to brush her off.
“I’d only wanted to make sure you didn’t need anything, we didn’t get a chance to talk while we were at Nightshade.” She turned her attention to me. “I hadn’t been aware Keera was out here with you.” Her voice wasn’t accusing, just curious, but the strange glint in her eyes let me know we were going to have a private talk soon enough.
Grayson cleared his throat. “We’d only been updating each other about the case, that’s all.” He made a show of looking at the watch on his wrist. “I have to… meet up with some of the pack warriors right now… so I’ll see you guys later.” He was leaving me here? With her? My lips opened and closed like a fish in desperate need of water as I stared at his back watching him leave.
I fisted my hands, holding back the urge to reach out for his shirt and pull him back to me. I was definitely going to talk to him about this. Ginny and I went silent as he walked away until we couldn’t see him anymore. We waited for the sound of him turning and running back to the pack before we locked eyes with each other. The silence between us was both awkward and calming.
I folded my arms.
Ginny did the same.
“What going on between the both of you?” She wasn’t in the mood to beat about the bush. She moved her head sharply at angle, waiting for a reply. Ginny didn’t just make confrontations out of impulse, even back when we’d been in college, so I knew it would be pointless lying to her but I still had to give it a shot.
I pushed my hair behind my ears and shrugged. “Nothing.” I said simply. She shot me a dry look, pursing her lips. She was clearly unimpressed with my answer. Whatever, it didn’t matter. She had to make do with it since I wasn’t ready to tell her anything else. “Seriously, Ginny. There’s nothing going on. Why are you even asking me that?”
She uncrossed her arms, slapping one hand to her thigh. “Um, maybe because I’m not dumb?” She asked rhetorically. “You think I don’t know what Grayson’s like when he starts liking someone?” She lowered her eyebrows, throwing me a meaningful look. “What you’re like.” I bit back the urge to let her know six years was a lot of time for me to have changed.
It would only make me sound defensive, and that wasn’t the way to handle the situation.
Not when it came to Ginny.
“And you’re so sure it’s me because?”
“Because since when did you and Grayson get along to the point of meeting up in the woods?” She gestured around, throwing her hands into the pocket of her coat. “And don’t even try to fool me with any of your denial bullshit, Keera.” She said it halfheartedly but there was some form of steel in her voice. “I know for a fact that something’s changed between the both of you. I can sense it.” Of course you can, Ginny, I thought to myself.
You know us better than anyone else.
How did we even think would keep this away from you?
I thought of just spilling everything to her there and then but it was the thought of Grayson that held me back. As nice as it would be to come clean to Ginny, I couldn’t do it without talking to Grayson first. And it wasn’t just because there was no telling how it would upset their relationship. Getting involved with humans was still against their laws. It didn’t matter who was concerned; the Alpha or the least ranked person in the pack.
A law was a law.
I shook my head, giving her my best genuine smile. “Grayson and I have taken the time to sort out differences, that’s all.” I said calmly. “We both realized we needed to fix a few things if we really wanted the case to be solved as soon as possible.” Technically I was lying to her, but it really didn’t feel like it. It was what had happened after all. “I guess that’s the change you picked up on. We’re cool with each other now.”
She didn’t need to know just how cool.
She parted her lips to say something but her phone rang before she could let a word out.
She ended up hurrying back to the pack, making a distracted promise to finish the conversation later.
Not that I was going to let her get me alone.
***
I got to the pack house and headed straight to my room. I was tired and needed a nice hot shower before I would get myself something to eat. I was still drying my hair after putting on my clothes when I heard the knock on my room door. My first thought was that Ginny had really been serious when she’d promised we would finish the conversation. The knock sounded again and I quickly realized who it actually was.
Lexi.
I walked to let her in, still violently drying my hair with the towel. “Finally,” She announced with a bit of exasperation in her voice, flopping down on my bed. I shut the door and turned to her with a raised eyebrow. She sounded like I’d gone missing and she’d been searching for me for ages now. She picked up the bag of chips on my nightstand, ripping it open and popping some into her mouth.
“Finally?” I repeated, stepping into the bathroom to return the towel. I walked back into the room and began brushing my hair. “You sound like I’ve been away for decades and you’ve been out searching everywhere for me. What’s up?” She squinted her eyes at me, raising her palm to face me and she hurriedly tried to swallow. I laughed, settling my brush down and checking my hair out in the mirror.
I turned to her after deciding my hair didn’t look so bad. “I might as well have,” She shot back laughing. She scooped a mouthful of chips into her mouth, studying me as she ate. The hairs at the back of my neck stood up in warning. Lexi was shooting me the look she always did when she wanted to confront me about something. “We’ve hardly said two words to each other since you guys got back from town.”
Please not today, I silently prayed.
I pulled my chair out of my dresser, straddling at and giving her a curious glance. “I mean… I’ve been trying to brush up on all the things I missed concerning the case while I was away,” I responded, flaying my hands in the air. I wetted my lips, casually lifting my shoulder. “It’s not like I’ve purposefully been trying to avoid conversation or anything.” Shit, why did I have to add that?
I saw the second she registered my words.
She smiled widely, staring at me like I was the prey she’d managed to successfully trap. “No one said anything about you purposefully trying to avoid conversation,” She drawled, wiggling her brows at me teasingly. “Unless, there’s something you’re not telling me?” She asked curiously. I folded my hands at the top of the chair, staring curiously at her.
She had to stop beating around the bush if she was hoping to get information.
I wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
“Something like what?” I asked, bracing myself for her reply. Grayson and I had barely spent three days in the pack and the people we were closest to were already suspicious of something. I hated to think what would happen in the coming days. The thought of everything blowing up in our faces made me consider backing out completely.
I mean, was it really worth it?
Lexi folded the half empty bag of chips and placed it on the nightstand, rolling out a little bit of paper towel from the one I’d kept beside the lamp. She met my eyes. “Like the fact that you and Grayson seem more comfortable with each other.” Her head tilted and I knew she was watching me very closely for a reaction. I laughed and asked why she was saying that.
“Don’t you dare try to play mind games with me!” She yelled dramatically, waving the folded tissue paper in my direction as she pointed at me. “I know you know what I’m talking about. Something definitely happened between you guys while you were both in town.” She narrowed her eyebrows to slit, standing up to throw the tissue paper into the tiny trash can in front of the bathroom door. “I just don’t know what.”
I laughed at her comment off, getting to my feet and dragging the chair back under the table. I adjusted my shirt, uncomfortable with the way it was sticking to my skin. “Grayson and I had a little talk and evened things out, that’s all.” I rolled my eyes when she shot me a look that said she didn’t think that was all. “You guys need to stop overthinking things for real.” I cursed myself inwardly. Wrong choice of words.
Again.
“So I’m not the only one who thinks something’s changed?” Holding back my laugh, I turned her around, mildly pushing her from the back towards the door. “You’re trying to get rid of me now?” She spluttered, laughing loudly and dragging her feet. “Keera, Keera, Keera. What are you hiding?” She turned around when we’d gotten to the door, still peering at me suspiciously.
“Nothing!”
We both laughed out my outburst. I was definitely doing a horrible job at pretending there was nothing going on. Luckily, I was able to finally push Lexi out of the room, shutting the door when she opened her mouth to say something. I heard the vibrations from her hitting the door with her fists, coupled with her vows to get the truth out of me one way or the other.
She eventually gave up and left.
Or so I thought.
A few minutes later, a knock sounded on my room door. I groaned, pushing my covers off and getting to my feet. I wiped all expression off my face, determined to let her know once and for all that nothing like that was going on between anybody and me. I slanted a glance at the mirror as I walked by to check my reflection. The doorknob twisted beneath my grip. “Lexi, I swear to God if-”
My words got stuck in my throat.
It was Grayson at the door.
One second was all I took to register the urgency in his eyes. I couldn’t have more than that even if I wanted to.
Not when he’d marched into my room and pinned me against the wall, his lips crashing down on mine.