Chapter 8 - Linnea

Aris slips away from the group as soon as Ado starts preparing the meat. I feel his presence like a homing beacon and can tell the moment he's getting further from me.

"Where are you headed?" Percy asks when I start in the direction of the large cabin. His golden curls are flopping over his forehead, his bright brown eyes shining at me.

"I—" I start, a blush creeping over my cheeks when I realize I was just going to follow Aris blindly because my body directed me to.

"Let her go," Bigby says, giving Percy a quick glance. Something unsaid passes between the two men, and Percy shrugs, dropping down onto a tree stump.

"Go on ahead," he says, "but if you take too long, I'm eating your share."

Ignoring whatever just passed between Bigby and Percy, I wander away, following the tug in my gut to the largest cabin nestled between the others.

I see Aris's shoulders tense when I walk through the door, but I keep moving.

"Are we going to clean this one now?" I ask, resenting the fact that he made me prepare the bathrooms but happy to be included. My voice echoes through the room, and I stop to take it in.

The center cabin is larger than the others and features a little desk and living area rather than just having beds. Instead of two twin beds, this one has a large four-poster situated in the center of a bedroom area. It's gorgeous, and the wood looks hand-carved.

"My dad made it," Aris says, his voice so quiet I almost don't hear it.

I was in town the day his dad died and had heard some of the whispers about what happened, but nobody really knows for sure. All the pack members knew was that Varun appeared, claiming he had killed Aris's dad and that he was the rightful alpha. Nobody could dispute it.

When I turn around to face Aris again, he's turning something over and over in his hands. It's a small dagger in a sheath, and tiny red jewels catch the light as it turns. He must catch me looking because he steps toward me, holding it out.

I step back, pulling my hands away, and he chuckles, reaching forward and pulling my palm toward him.

Every time our skin touches, it's like I'm scorched clean through. My body is practically swaying forward toward him. I have to fight against it, leaning away, reclaiming space.

"Here," he says, pressing the dagger into my hand. Despite myself, my fingers curl around it. "Keep this. Use it to protect yourself."

I shudder, hoping I'll never have to use a dagger on anyone—person or shifter.

"I can't accept this," I say softly, my thumb brushing over the sheath.

"I…" Aris starts, then he clears his throat and starts again. "My dad would want you to have it. He always said it was part of our duty to protect others."

"The alpha's duty," I say. I still don't know what Aris and his team are doing back in Rosecreek, but it feels too obvious that he would be back to claim his spot as alpha. Now that we're blood-bonded, does that mean I'd be the lady of the pack?

"Yeah," Aris says, his eyes still on the dagger in my hands. "But also just… Being strong. If you're someone with more strength, it's your duty to protect those without it."

"Is that what you're doing?" I look up and catch his eyes, which are full of indecision.

"No," he says, "Yes? My team and I—we're part of an organization that watches out for alphas like Varun. We make sure shifters adhere to the Maan pact, take care of their pack, that kind of thing. We got a call that Varun has been getting into some serious criminal activity that could get us in trouble with the DEA. We were supposed to diffuse the tension without conflict if we could."

I laugh despite myself, and Aris raises his eyebrows, clearly surprised.

"Whoever came up with that idea clearly doesn't know anything about Varun," I say, "that guy is itching for violence. It's like he lives to hurt people."

I notice Aris's hands clench into fists at his sides, and he tilts his head slightly, nostrils flaring.

"Did he—"

"No," I say, waving my hand and cutting him off, knowing what he's thinking. "Not me, anyway," my gaze drops to the floor as I think of the girls coming and going from the bar while I was there. "I'm a CPA; he brought me in to try and ‘clean up' the financials for the bar, which is definitely part of a money-laundering scheme. While I was there, I saw a lot of stuff I wish I hadn't. I don't think there's anyone in the pack who's happy to have Varun in charge. When they know they won't get caught, the old-timers talk about how much better things were when your dad was in charge."

It feels wrong talking about Aris's dad. I'd only met him a few times, at pack functions, when my parents dragged me along, but he was a classic sort of guy. Very formal and well-dressed. The few times I'd seen Aris outside of school when his dad was there, he was completely different. Buttoned up. Stifled, almost.

"I've heard that," Aris says, pressing his lips together. "I know my dad was a good alpha."

My brow draws together, and I look at him curiously. What does he mean by that? A good alpha, but not a good dad? Aris takes a breath and drops down into a chair, scrubbing his hands through his hair.

"I shouldn't have left," he finally says, his voice tight. When he looks up at me, my heart crumbles at the pain on his face. He may have been a bully in high school, but nobody deserves to lose their parents the way he did. "It's my fault. I know that. I left because—I never wanted to be alpha. He was so strict all the time growing up because he was trying to prepare me for this role I didn't want. So, I made a plan to go into the force. Leave right after high school. I thought—I thought I had more time. I thought I could build my own life and maybe come back after that. Do the alpha thing on my own terms. Then I heard about what happened, and I just… I was a coward. I couldn't come back."

I surprise myself by kneeling down in front of him, getting to his eye level.

"I lost my parents, too, Aris," I say, and though I'm still a foot away, I can feel his breath coming quick. "It's not your fault. Nobody deserves to be orphaned so young. And frankly—Varun's a slimy guy. I don't think—I mean, I know it doesn't help, but not many people think he bested your dad fairly. Obviously, your dad was quite a bit older at that point, but he was still strong. Still healthy. Something was… Odd about what happened."

"I've heard that," Aris says, his voice choked. "If I had been here, it wouldn't have happened."

"You don't know that," I say, shaking my head. "Maybe Varun would have taken you out, too, in the same way." My heart twists at the idea of that, but I move on. "At least now you're here. You have the chance to come back and make things right."

There's a knock at the door, and Percy sings out in a terrible French accent.

"Dinner is served!"

Aris laughs under his breath and gets to his feet, holding his hand out for me to take. I stare at it for a moment.

He made my life hell in high school. Broke my heart on prom night. Has followed me through every day since as a phantom I hated and wanted at the same time.

But he's just a guy. A guy who shares my traumas and has come back to try and make things right.

I take his hand and let him pull me to my feet. Our chests brush briefly, and Aris inhales sharply, drawing back away from me.

"Since you're being so nice to me," he says, "I'll let you take the bed tonight. I'll take the couch."

I rear back as though he's burned me.

"What?" I say, faking a laugh in case he's joking. "We're not sharing a cabin. I can share with Eva. Or… Someone else."

"No," Aris says, not a hint of humor on his face. "Eva will kill you in your sleep if you so much as roll over and wake her up. And there's no way in hell you're sharing a cabin with anyone else. We'll sleep here. So I can keep you safe."

"Like hell we will," I snap, taking another step back from him. How does he keep tricking me into liking him? "There is no fucking way I'm sleeping in the same room as you, Aris. You have to be joking."

"I don't see why it's such a big deal."

"Are you kidding?"

"We're technically married."

"Technically? If you lay a single finger on me—"

"Hello!" Percy sings through the door again, knocking once more. I see a muscle in Aris's jaw tick. "Boss, girl we kidnapped—dinner is ready! Ado is gonna eat everything if you don't get out here!"

"Go away, Percy," Aris growls.

"Okay, okay," Percy says, his voice muffled through the door. I can picture him holding his hands up, backing away with that silly smirk on his face. "Whatever you say."

"Linnea, we are staying in this cabin together," Aris says, using what must be his alpha voice—because it's completely unforgiving.

"Over my dead body, Aris."

***

Two hours later, after a dinner of dry, flavorless venison that I have to force myself to swallow down, I'm tucked into the huge four-poster bed with Aris just a few feet away on the couch.

I'm staring up at the ceiling with my hands on my stomach. I'm still wearing my full ensemble because I realized I only had what I was wearing when Varun's lackey kidnapped me. My leggings are digging into my hips, and I'd kill to take them off, but I can feel Aris's presence like it's filling the entire room.

I can't stay still—sighing, tossing, and turning, and I can tell through the forming bond that he's still awake. I hope he's just as uncomfortable as I am. He could go and sleep in any other cabin or just let me share with Eva, at the very least, but he's forced us into this situation.

"Can you please stay still?" Aris says, his voice floating through the dark room when I sigh and flop onto my side again.

"No," I say curtly, turning onto my other side. The pillows smell stale, but the bed is insanely comfortable. I reach up and pull the underwire of my bra away from my side, where it's spearing me painfully.

"Just go to sleep, Linnea."

"Go sleep somewhere else, Aris, and you won't have to listen to me exist."

"Please, just give me a break. Aren't you tired? Don't you want to rest?"

"I would love to rest," I say sarcastically, bobbing my head against the pillow. "If there weren't a blood-thirsty beast in the room with me."

"I'm the least of your worries," Aris deadpans, and then, a moment later, "and shifters aren't blood-thirsty. You're thinking of vampires."

"No, I'm pretty sure I know what you are, Aris."

"Enlighten me."

"You're a bully," I say, hating how my stomach clenches at the memory of high school, at flinching away from him and his cronies when they came down the hall.

"That was forever ago."

"Time doesn't matter for stuff like this. Like it makes things hurt any less."

I think of my parents and wonder if Aris is thinking of his.

"Okay," he says. "Yes, I was a bully in high school."

"You're still a bully."

"I am—what have I done? I am not a bully."

"You kidnapped me. You're forcing me to sleep with you—"

"—I am not forcing you to sleep with me. For your information, I would never have to force a woman to sleep with me. Making you sleep in the same cabin as me is not bullying."

"—It is bullying. Because I don't want you here, Aris. And yet, you won't leave."

"For hating me so much, you sure love saying my name."

"It's like a spell. If I keep saying it, I can cast you out. Like a demon."

Finally, the discomfort of my clothes gets the best of me. As quietly as I can, I slide out under the covers and shimmy off my leggings. I reach up behind me and release my bra, suppressing a sigh of relief at the feeling.

"What are you doing?" Aris's voice is strained.

"Nothing," I say, "just stretching."

"Linnea," Aris says, and I can hear his thick swallow. "I'm—you know shifters have enhanced eyesight, right?"

"So?"

"I can see you."

I jolt, immediately moving and climbing back under the covers. My heart is pounding. Aris just saw me without my pants, braless in this zippered jacket. The room feels stuffy, and I try to inconspicuously take a breath of air. When I shift to squeeze my legs together, I hear Aris get up from the couch quickly.

For a terrifying, exciting moment, I think he's coming over to the bed, and to my horror, I feel my nipples perk up, my core heating. My body loves the idea, but I clutch the blanket higher under my chin, preparing to kick him if he gets too close.

But a moment later, the resounding thud of the door closing echoes throughout the cabin, and Aris is gone.