4. Zane

Chapter 4

Zane

I can’t blame Fenris for being skeptical of the newcomer, or Victor for being his overbearing self. It’s just who they are. But I’m drawn to her inexplicably, and I can’t help but lurk near the door of the guest suite, taking in the succulent scent of her pheromones, co-mingled with hints of lavender and honey.

Where Fenris sees danger, I read nothing but fear and trauma in her mossy, hypnotic stare. The imbalance of energy only confirms what I sense, and I’m determined to set things right, even if Fenris and Victor are too guarded to do it. I sneak a look at my older brother, wondering if he can read my innermost thoughts about the unwelcome newcomer, but Victor is distracted by Fenris’s foul mood.

Victor stares after our youngest sibling’s swishing sooty tail, and smoke exhaling from his nostrils as if he’s about to morph and take off after him. I half wish he would, but he contains himself, ever-controlled Victor, and his sense of righteousness.

“Do you ever wonder how Mother put up with all three fathers?” I muse absently.

“I’m sure she fantasized about killing at least one of them daily, if it wouldn’t mean her own death, too,” Victor replies lightly, and I snort.

“The mate conundrum. One life for all.”

Victor looks at me sharply.

“I don’t have to worry about you, do I?” he growls, spinning to march down the stairs, presumably after Fenris. “You’ll behave?”

“Don’t I always?” I chirp good-naturedly, watching as he disappears out of view.

Exhaling, I wait a moment before turning toward the bedroom suite and rap on one of the double doors gently.

“Yes?” Aurora calls out softly.

Turning the handles, I peek inside, noting how she stands in the center of the sitting room, her hands folded in front of her nightgown. Every curve of her slight form is visible through the flimsy material, and I hasten my eyes away, taking in her pretty face instead. There’s more than enough to look at without making her feel more violated. That’s not what I’m here for, luscious as she is. That kind of thing is easy to come by in Oak Hollow—hell, anywhere, really. I don’t need to take it unwillingly.

Stepping fully into the room, she tenses, and the walls vibrate, a low buzzing echoing through the chamber.

Victor is right. She’s in full control of the magic, whether she realizes it or not. How interesting.

“Hi,” I offer, flashing her a smile. “How are you settling in?”

Her eyes narrow at my tone, head cocking suspiciously. I take a mental picture of her in that moment for my mind’s eye, capturing her beauty for posterity.

“Fine…” she drawls. “For a prisoner.”

I ignore the jibe. “You must be hungry,” I say, ambling closer to her, reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. She flinches at my touch, but I’m gentle, tucking the tress behind her ear and giving her space again, showing her my hands. “Can I have the chef make you something? What do you like to eat?”

Her mouth parts, but she doesn’t seem to know what to say. She merely stares at me for a few seconds. A half-smile quirks at the corners of my lips. “Do you have any dietary restrictions?” I prompt. “You’re a prey shifter. Do you eat any meat?”

“No,” she confesses haltingly. Her eyes dart over my shoulder. “Where are your brothers?”

My grin widens, and I flop onto the bed, sprawling casually over the duvet. “They’re around.”

“I’m not hungry.”

I stifle a sigh, determined to win her over as the floor trembles harder underneath me. Maintaining my grin, I pat the bed beside me. “You don’t have to worry about them or anything else, Aurora. You’re safe here. I guarantee your safety personally.”

Skeptically, she pads toward me and perches on the edge of the mattress. “Am I?”

“Of course,” I tell her genially. “You’re our guest.”

She laughs hollowly. “That’s not what your brother said.”

I wave a hand dismissively and sit upright, bopping her nose playfully. Dumbfounded, she gapes at me. “You can’t fault us for being a little wary of you,” I tell her. “You showed up here out of nowhere without much of an explanation. How would you feel if the roles were reversed? You have to cut us a bit of slack.”

The energy in the room settles again as her shoulders sink, her eyes darting behind me as if she expects Fenris to burst back through, howling and complaining.

“Look at me,” I command her, and she does, inhaling shakily. My smile returns, and I inch closer to her. “What can I have the chef make for you? You can have anything you want, and it will be made to perfection. I guarantee that, too.”

Her lips press together, and I find myself staring at them, my gaze lingering over them for too long, as if magnetically drawn to them.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” she whispers.

“I want us to be friends,” I tell her. “Or would you rather we spend our time fighting and arguing?”

Her body stiffens, and she turns away. “I don’t belong here!”

Outside, a flock of ravens caw, flocking to the balcony in an unkindness, their beady, black eyes peering into the window inquisitively. They pile on top of one another, higher and higher, until I can’t see out the window at all.

“You’re here for a reason,” I counter quickly, eager to put her at ease again. “Or you wouldn’t be here. You came through a magically protected portal when no one else can. That must make you very special.”

Aurora’s head tips back defiantly. “You don’t really believe that. I heard what you said about getting rid of me.”

“That wasn’t me,” I correct her. Once again, her shoulders relax as she reads the sincerity in my eyes. One by one, the ravens fly away, the tension subduing for the moment.

“Let me see what the staff can whip up for you, all right?” I say, backing out of the room, my pulse quickening slightly. I’m not sure what’s happening here, but it’s clear that Aurora’s moods are in control of it.

Victor’s right. We need to treat her well. I don’t want to see what happens if we don’t.

I hand deliver the silver tray with butternut squash soup and homemade garlic bread to her suite myself.

“Something’s wrong with the electricity,” one of the housekeepers complains as I make my way up the stairs. “The lights keep flickering, and the lightbulbs keep burning out.”

“I’ll check the fuse box later,” I mutter, knowing full well it has nothing to do with the circuit breakers. “I’m going to need more clothes for our visitor. When she’s finished eating, go into her suite and order her whatever she likes.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

I find Aurora in the sitting room, flipping through a copy of an old classic book, when I re-enter.

“You like to read?” I ask casually.

She glances up from the sofa, her eyes brightening at the sight of the food, and I can see I was right about her hunger, even though she’s trying to hide it. Setting the tray down just out of her reach, I slide onto the arm of the sofa, spreading my legs wide to loom over her as she eyes the laded food, no doubt wondering what hides beneath.

“Yes,” she replies. “But I don’t get a lot of time to do it. And I had to leave a lot of my books behind when I left Oklahoma.” There’s a hint of sadness in her tone.

“What do you like to read?”

“Everything!” she tells me enthusiastically. “Classics, contemporary, modern romance?—”

She abruptly stops. “Sorry,” she mumbles. “I’m babbling.”

I frown. “You’re not. I asked.”

Shaking her head, she doesn’t continue, but she eyes the food again, and I see my in.

“So, do you feel like telling me any more about yourself?” I ask pleasantly. “How you got here, or why you left Oklahoma?”

She balks slightly and sits back, pondering my questions. “And if I don’t?” she fires back, setting the book down on the stone coffee table and folding her arms under her chest. “Are you going to starve me?”

Something rumbles in the bedroom, and I immediately change my tone. Forcing a chuckle, I shift my position, falling gracefully onto the couch beside her. “Of course not. I told you—you’re a guest here. I wouldn’t withhold food from you.”

Her sweet aroma trickles through me, sending a pleasant shiver through my nose, and I inhale deeper, holding onto it. Warily, she reaches for the silver platter, and I slide it across the coffee table willingly. The rumbling stops, and I exhale with relief. She’s not going to bring the house down this time.

Aurora lifts the bowl, and a genuine smile touches her lips as she takes in the butternut squash soup with those wide doe eyes. Her pleasure gives me an unexpected twinge of happiness—and a distinct stirring inside me, the sensation surprising and troubling me in unison.

“I love butternut squash!” she exclaims, her wonderment tangible. She offers me a shy smile. “Thank you, Alpha.”

“Zane,” I correct her automatically.

“Zane.”

Who are you, Aurora? Why are you here?

I pose the question aloud again as she eagerly spoons her first mouthful through those dainty lips. They’re so sweet and kissable, drawing me closer irresistibly.

“It would be so much easier if you would just tell us what we needed to know,” I sigh.

She smiles through her mouthful of soup but makes no comment.

“I suppose we could just reach out to the Apex Alphas in Oklahoma and see if they will claim you,” I say conversationally.

Blood drains from Aurora’s face, her hand trembling slightly as the spoon lowers.

She avoids my eyes as she swallows. “Have you done that already?” she whispers.

“Should we?” I ask, willing her to look at me. “What will they tell us?”

Her verdant irises dart sideways, and she places the spoon in the bowl, sitting back against the sofa heavily. “I’m not sure,” she answers. There’s a ring of truth in her words.

Wouldn’t it occur to her that it only makes sense for us to contact the Alphas from her territory?

I don’t understand her at all. I want to believe her, but I can’t help but think she’s holding something back.

“Or you could tell me yourself,” I coax her, sliding closer, cajolingly. “Spare us the trouble of having to reach out to them. Alphas do hate to be bothered over regular pack matters.”

Her spine stiffens defiantly. “There’s nothing to tell that I haven’t already said,” she insists. “I came to Texas to start over. That’s all there is to it.”

I can’t help but tuck her wayward waves behind her ear again. “Why do I feel like there’s so much more to it than that?” I muse lightly. “I can help you if you let me.”

Aurora’s head swivels, and she stares at me imploringly, her mouth inches from mine. Every pore of my body feels heightened, the ache of my wings pulling at my shoulder blades, threatening to break free in that moment.

I’m lost in the mossy pools of her eyes as she stares at me. “I didn’t mean to come here,” she insists.

“I believe you,” I murmur, unsure if that’s true or not, but her lips are calling out to me, urging me to take them, to take her, right there in the sitting room of the guest suite.

My hand curls around her neck, pulling her toward me, and she doesn’t resist, even as her eyes grow wider before closing as our lips mesh together. The temptation is overwhelming—her scent and beauty are more than I can handle.

My mouth locks on hers, the spicy soup and sweetness of her lips sending sparks of heat through me as my tongue nudges through her perfect teeth. But as my other hand snakes around her neck, the door to the suite opens, and Aurora yanks back in dismay, whipping her head away in shock and embarrassment. Her fair complexion stains crimson.

I sit back noncommittally as Victor glowers at me from the doorway.

“You should leave Aurora to eat, don’t you think, Zane?” my older brother growls. “No need to breathe down her neck every minute.”

Casually, I rise, flashing Aurora a grin, but she doesn’t look at me, her blonde tresses hiding her face as I amble toward the door.

“Eat up,” I tell her. “Before it gets cold.”

Ignoring Victor’s deep scowl, I make my way out of the suite, toward my wing of the estate, ignoring the daggers he shoots into my back with his stare.

“Zane!”

Sighing, I turn to face him. “Yes?”

The door to Aurora’s room is already closed behind him, and he stalks toward me in a fury. “What are you doing?”

“Making nice, just like you said,” I reply innocently.

“Don’t give me that,” he barks.

I hold my ground firmly and raise my hand toward the chandeliers overhead. “Notice anything different, brother?”

Victor hesitates and looks around, cocking his head. “The house is more stable,” he mutters.

“The key is keeping her happy. You’re right. The happier she is, the better things will be around here. I’m just doing my part.”

Victor scowls. “To what end, exactly?”

I grin broadly. “Are you asking for details, Victor?”

My older brother is annoyed. “We still don’t understand anything about her and you’re thinking with the wrong head. Did you learn anything new, or were you just trying to get her naked?”

I resent the implication.

“No, but I don’t really think there is anything to learn. My best guess is that she’s afraid of the Apex Alphas in Oklahoma and left the state to escape them. She wouldn’t be the first one to make a move like that for that reason.”

Victor makes a face. “We don’t need a problem with other Apex packs,” he grumbles.

“It doesn’t need to be a problem if we keep her happy,” I remind him.

His eyes narrow more, but I quirk a wink at him. “You make it sound like keeping someone like her happy is a major chore,” I chuckle. “I could think of worse ways to pass the time.”

“She’s obviously not our mate, Zane. There’s no bond,” Victor hisses.

I shrug, unbothered by the fact. “She might not be our mate, but she made it into our town somehow. And until we find our mate, she might be nice to keep around. I don’t think she’ll complain if we treat her properly.”

Turning away, I leave him with the thought to chew on and head toward my room, Aurora’s electric kiss remaining on my lips. I wouldn’t mind maintaining her happiness at all.