18. Voss

18

VOSS

I grinned to myself when I heard her come through that front door. I continued moving food around in the frying pan as the smells wafted around.

I reached out in groupthink as she made herself comfortable at the kitchen table. Dom, were you able to talk to her today?

Dom snickered. You really think that after all she’s been through with us in less than 48 hours that she’s gonna talk now? She needs time.

We don’t have the luxury of time.

We do this the way I know, or you find someone else to do it. Simple as that.

I peered over at Bexley and found her staring off at the wall. I didn’t like having to wait for shit. I needed answers, and I needed them yesterday. Especially since the mess created with her was because of my fucking men in the first place. It boiled my blood, but I didn’t have a choice. I finished making us some dinner, and that’s when her voice piped up.

“It smells good, Voss.”

I smirked as I plated her up some food. “Just some chicken and vegetables. Eat up.”

I placed the plate in front of her before she shook her head. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that. I’m sorry.”

“You do that a lot, don’t you?”

She paused. “Do what?”

I walked back over to the fridge and pulled a soda out for her. “Apologize.”

She snickered. “Yeah, Jacob always told me it was a bad habit.”

My back stiffened. There was another man in the mix? “Who’s Jacob?”

She cleared her throat. “My best friend.”

I nodded slowly as I brought my plate and drink to the table. “You see him often?”

She stared down at her food and her voice fell flat. “Not since he died.”

Great. Just what I needed to start our conversation. “I’m sorry.”

She snickered. “Now look who’s doing the apologizing.”

That genuinely made me chuckle as I picked up my fork and stabbed my food. But, I saw that she still hadn’t picked up hers yet.

“Eat,” I said as I pointed at her food with my eating utensil.

Bexley shook her head softly as she leaned back against the chair. “I’m not hungry, but thank you. I promise I’ll eat it before I go to bed. Just not right now.”

I stared her down. “I didn’t ask. Now, eat.”

Her gaze finally connected with mine before she scoffed. At first, I thought she was going to challenge me. I thought she would buck up and give me that ol’ stubborn streak of hers. But instead, she picked up her fork and stabbed a mushroom. And the way she hummed while she chewed shivered me from head to toe.

Fucking hell, what I wouldn’t have given to use my dick to elicit those sounds.

“So,” I said as I went back to focusing on my food, “what’s your power?”

“My what?”

I reached for my drink. “You know, your power. The one that came to you when you grew into your shifterhood.”

She scoffed. “Survival.”

I looked at her curiously. “Survival is your special trait?”

She took a bite of her chicken before placing her fork down. “I can survive anything. Legitimately, anything.”

I found myself entranced by her words. “Explain.”

She leaned back and shrugged. “I’ve been in stickier situations than glue on a wall, so to speak. Jacob and I, we…”

The pain in her eyes that accompanied his name felt familiar to me. Like the pain I experienced when my family was slaughtered by that fucking vampire.

“You and him were close?” I asked.

She cleared her throat and took a long pull from her soda. “He’s the only shred of family I ever really had in this world. And when he died, I…”

I nodded slowly as I continued eating. “I lost my parents in a vampire attack a few years back. Been trying to chase that bitch down ever since.”

“I’m so sorry, Voss. My pack and I are familiar with what vampires are capable of. I hate that you and your pack understand the same.”

I found my entrance and I took it. She was relaxed. She leaned back in her chair and had a bit of food in her system. She practically guzzled her fucking soda.

I had her right where I wanted her.

“So, tell me,” I said as I placed my fork down, “what happened with the vampire attack on your pack?”

Here we go, Dom said.

I knew Ronyn was listening in, but he didn’t pipe up. I kept the lines of communication open and sharpened my ears as I ran the conversation through my head. It wasn’t as if Dom could hear her through me, per se. But, conversations could always be overheard if one was in the mind of the person experiencing it.

“It was awful,” Bexley said as she picked up her fork and took another bite of food. “One second, the pack is resting after fleeing their first home, and only three weeks later, I find them in the midst of yet another attack.”

“You weren’t with them for the first attack?”

She shook her head softly. “No, I wasn’t.”

“Why not?”

She clicked her tongue. “Because I wasn’t with my pack at the time. I found them during the second attack and helped them to fend off the vampires charging them. That’s when they took me in as their Alpha. But, up until that point, I wasn’t with them.”

“They were lucky an Alpha with no pack stumbled across them.”

She shrugged. “I’d like to think that I was lucky finding them.”

Be gentle, Dom warned.

I’m almost back from town, Ronyn finally said after being gone all damn day on his research quest.

I chose my words carefully. “Where were you before you found your pack, then? What forced you into survival mode before you came across them?”

She placed her fork down and stood to her feet. “Well, that was a lovely dinner, Voss. Thank you so much.”

Told you, Dom said.

Ronyn barked with laughter before he saw himself out of groupthink. I practically heard the proverbial slamming of the door on his end, he made such a fucking exit. I didn’t think much of it, though. She was already willing to divulge a great deal. I learned more about her in those twenty minutes of food than I had since her and her makeshift pack came out of nowhere in that meadow.

I stood to my feet with her and held out my hand. “Here, I’ll take care of your plate.”

“Thank you,” she said softly as she handed it to me.

“You can stay in any of the beds I have here,” I said as I made my way into the kitchen, “you’ve got the bed you were in upstairs as well as two of them that are down here. Anywhere you crash is fine.”

“Voss, I really have inconvenienced you enough.”

I scraped her leftovers into a Tupperware container. “Suit yourself. But, there’s only one of me and four of these beds. If that’s how you feel, then fine. But, they’re there if you want one.”

Emergency meeting now. I know who Bexley is, Ronyn said as he struggled catching his breath.

I finished cleaning up before I brushed past her. “I have a meeting with my men. Make yourself at home. Or don’t. The choice is yours.”

I felt her stare on me as I walked out of my place, closing the door behind me.

I was ready for some fucking answers as to who in the hell this woman was.