Chapter 27

Piper

Zander placed a piece of a blueberry cheese cream muffin to my mouth, and I slipped it between my lips. Vivian had no reason to worry about losing her job to me.

The girl was magic in the kitchen.

Zander moaned slightly, and abruptly stood up, offering me his hand. I'd spent the morning trying to find a book that would tell me more about wolves, especially after my dream from the night before.

The truth had rested on the edge of my tongue during our breakfast. I wanted to tell him about my dream, but something stopped me. Maybe the voodoo queen would tell me more if I kept it to myself.

Not that she didn't scare the Hell out of me, because she did, but she brought answers I desperately wanted to know.

His fingers interlaced with mine, his scent leading me blindly toward a hallway I'd never been down before. Watching his side profile, I examined the sharp cut of his jaw that was blanketed in a dark coat of stubble.

"How many places are you keeping a secret from me in this castle?"

Zander unlaced his fingers from mine, and shoved me into a small alcove tucked into the hallway. "There are many places in this castle that you haven't seen, Little One, and I plan to show each one to you."

I chuckled, my body heating at the close proximity of his skin against mine. "Tiny alcoves," I whispered. "A heated pool. What else are you hiding?"

Zander lowered his mouth to slant over mine, and snaked his tongue out against my bottom lip. "Stick around, and you'll find out."

I chuckled. "Touché."

Zander winked at me, and looped his arm around my waist. "When William and I were young, we"d wait until everyone was asleep and play hide-n-seek in the dark." His breath formed goosebumps along my skin. "I can"t wait to play that with you, Little One. Only, I think we"ll up the stakes. For every time I find you, you take off an item of clothes, and vice versa, of course."

"I like the sound of that," I whispered, tugging on the collar of his shirt. "Maybe we can start now--,"

He chuckled, and pulled back from me. "Temptress," he whispered. "Do not distract me when I"m trying to be good and open up to you."

Him admitting that he wanted to open up excited and frightened me all at once. It was one more reason to stay. His honesty.There is nothing more sexier than an honest man.

And one more reason for me to fall head over heels for him.

We walked down a long hallway that took us toward a grand ballroom. The detail in the woodwork took my breath away. It was straight out of a storybook. "Wow," I whispered. "Did you all have balls here?"

Zander glanced at the stage with an absent look. "We had my alpha coronation here. Other packs would come and we would feast in the dining hall down there," he said, pointing toward our right.

I twirled around in my dress, feeling like a little girl. "I can imagine you standing there," I said, pointing toward the stage. "Everyone in awe at their alpha. Do you miss it?"

Zander looked far away, as if he'd been transported back into that time. He gestured for me to follow him. I padded along, still barefoot against the marble floors, and into a small room tucked away in a corner.

The furniture was boyish, with a blue comforter and baseball memorabilia. He stopped in the doorway. Sliding my arm around his waist, I took in the room obviously made for a small boy. "This was your room?"

Zander swallowed. "Yes. It was my room growing up. I—this was my room when I first shifted, and found out that I would become alpha one day."

I tried to picture a small Zander sitting on his bed reading a book, and I giggled. Zander glanced down at me with a curious look. "What's so funny?"

I stepped into the room, which Vivian obviously kept clean, and sat down on the edge of his bed. "I'm just trying to imagine you sitting here, or imagining you being a little boy."

A soft smile spread across his face. He moved over toward his nightstand and pulled out a picture. Sitting down beside me, he flicked it over between his fingers.

"My family. My immediate family," he said.

I laughed at William's glasses, and moved the pad of my thumb over Zander's face. "You were a cute boy. Skinny. Look at those legs."

"I grew into them," he said, matter-of-factly.

"That you did," I whispered, looking up at him. "Your mother was beautiful. You have her hair."

"William looks like our father," he said.

"I see the resemblance. Did you go to school here?"

"The pack house had their own school. It's tough for young wolves to stop themselves from shifting at first. We couldn't chance our pups going to a public school."

"Makes sense," I said, wondering why he brought me here. He was holding something back, it was written all over his face. "What's wrong? You look like you're far away."

Zander palmed my knee, and stood up slowly.

"I wanted you to see that I was once a child."

I eyed him. "I know you aren"t Benjamin Buttons, Zander--,"

He looked down at me. "I was groomed to be fierce from a young age. My father was alpha before me, and he was stern. Some would say mean. He ruled the pack with strict rules."

I leaned back against my palms, and watched as darkness fell over his face. "My childhood was good for a long time, and then it became dark. My wolf was dominate, but not mean by nature. My father"s wolf was mean, he groomed me to take what I wanted, and have no mercy."

Thinking of Zander as someone with no mercy didn"t fit with the man I knew now.

"Why aren"t you mean now? I mean, besides you kidnapping me, you haven"t exactly been cruel to me, Zander."

He ran his fingers down a small coat hanging on the back of his desk chair. "I"ve had many years to learn from my mistakes, Little One."

"From your curse?" I asked.

"Yes."

"She gave you those marks?" I asked absently. "On your back?"

Zander nodded slowly, his thick lips opening in a heavy sigh. "Yes, she did, and much more."

Standing to my feet, I placed my palm against his chest, and the other on the side of his jaw. Zander closed his eyes, and snaked his arms around my waist, bringing me toward his chest.

His heavy heartbeat thumped against my cheek.

"What did--,"

Zander stepped back from my grasp, and motioned toward the door. "That"s enough for today. I just wanted you to see that I was once an innocent child. My father isn"t the only person to blame. I was the alpha, I should have went with my gut, but I didn"t."

I nodded. Feeling heavier, I followed him out of the room and down the hallway that would lead us back to the ballroom.

Zander stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at me. "If you stay, and my curse is broken, we"ll invite the pack back, and we"ll have a coronation for you as my new Luna. We"ll dance. Eat. Whatever you like."

A tingle of nerves swarmed my insides. Dancing in a room this grand, with people surrounding us sounded like it"s been plucked from a fantasy.

"Okay," I whispered.

Zander offered me his hand again, and walked with me back to the main part of the castle. The cart of food was gone when we passed the library, not that I was hungry in the least.

He stopped at the foot of the stairs. "I have some business to attend with William. I"ll come find you soon."

I glanced at his hazel eyes, and into the depths I never imagined were so deep. "I"ll be around," I said, kissing his cheek.

I felt him watch me on my way up to my room. My days had blended together, but by their assumptions, the search party would make it to us by evening.

My time here would be short-lived if I decided to go with them.

And the truth was that I wasn"t sure what I wanted to do. My body yearned to stay with Zander, which was crazy to admit. But my logical brain told me to leave. He was a beast, and told me what he"d become before his curse.

But I still wanted to stay. I knew him to be more than that, and I needed the truth. I needed to know what he did to deserve the fate he was given.

And I wanted to explore being his mate. His Luna. What were the chances of me finding another man that made my blood turn molten like he did? It wasn"t a coincidence was it? It couldn"t be.

There were too many promises of a perfect life together to abandon it, right? Swallowing the growing lump of sadness, I walked into my room and rested my back against the door.

The pressure of the night weighed heavily on my shoulders. Tears of frustration, of want, and need, swarmed me like angry bees.

I rested my head against one of the post of my bed, and sighed.

"Piper," someone said.

I glanced over at Vivian opening my door, and looking inside. "Can I come inside?"

"Sure," I said, turning to face her.

Vivian shut the door behind her. "I know the boys think that your search party will be here soon, and I wanted to tell you something in case they do."

I studied her unruly blond hair, and pretty features. "What is it, Vivian?"

"Don"t leave," she whispered. "Alpha Zander doesn"t have long. I caught a glimpse of his tattoo this morning when you two were in the library. It was a huge rose at the beginning, and now he only has a few petals left. You"re his only hope, Piper."

Sadness climbed my throat, and I swallowed down my tears. "He needs more than just me being here. He needs me to love him--,"

"I can see that you want to stay," she whispered, touching my forearm. "Zander loves you whether he knows it or not. I"ve never seen him this happy. This full of life. He"s hopeful, even if he doesn"t say it."

"Thank you, Vivian," I said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"And I don"t want that woman to win," she whispered, looking over her shoulder. "The way she hurt him still lives in my nightmares."

"Were you there?" I asked.

Vivian"s bottom lip trembled. "I was hiding in the woods like a coward," she whispered. "I saw everything. When you arrived, I had hope for the first time that this curse would blow up in her face, and that you"d save us all. Zander deserved the lashing, but he didn"t deserve the curse," she said, before walking toward the door and stopping. "You both deserve to be happy, and we both know, you weren"t happy before." Vivian turned to face me in the doorway. "You were lost well before you turned down that dirt road."