Chapter 41

Piper

The air in the castle felt different. Lighter. There was something missing, and I couldn't pinpoint it. Maybe it was the absence of Priscilla torturing me, or maybe it was wishful thinking.

I didn't know, but it made me afraid to enjoy it. Not that I needed much more enjoyment for one day. I'd spent the mid-afternoon basking in the glory of our time together in the closet. I"d never felt so connected to someone in my entire life. It was ... wonderfully frightening.

Seeing him standing there looking at that ... thing had hurt me. It showed a side of him, a vulnerable side, that I admired.

Even if I happened upon it, he didn't turn away when I saw him. He let me see him that way, and it chipped off a piece of the ice around my heart. Seeing him face his curse with so much emotion softened me.

It'd been on my mind well into the evening, and then when Vivian called us down to dinner. William and Zander were both there at the table when I arrived.

My gaze swept over the steak dinner and to the dessert staring back at me. Zander leaned back, one arm rested on the arm of his chair and the other on the table.

He tapped his fingertips against the table as I approached and took a seat beside him. "Good evening," he said, leaning over to whisper in my ear. "You look delectable in that dress."

William cleared his throat. "No offense, but you're going to end up with more news to tell your parents if you two don't give it a rest," he said, over the top of his wine glass.

Vivian hid a smile behind her glass, while Zander glared at him. Realization hit me, and a blush rushed toward my cheeks.

I hadn't even thought about getting pregnant. I was on the pill, but I'd thought about none of it. Did Zander want children? I had most of my life, but did I want kids with a guy that turned into a wolf?

Zander cursed under his breath. "Seriously, William? Not now," he said.

William put his hands up in surrender. "I apologize. Dinner did just start. How rude of me."

Vivian began passing the food around, when I felt Zander's palm on my thigh. It was a reassuring touch, one that told me to calm down. His hazel eyes turned toward mine. "You have questions?" he asked. "We'll talk after dinner."

I shoved a bite of baked potato into my mouth to keep myself from having to answer. Dinner went by slowly with a lot of talk about Vivian and her visit to the pack house.

It was interesting to hear about it, because I knew nothing about their lives, and I wanted to know. I wanted to see Zander as their leader.

Zander grabbed my hand when Vivian started to clean the table, and guided me toward the library. We had a couple of hours before sunset. He shut the door behind us, and pulled me over toward a laptop on the desk.

"If you want to check your social media, or whatever you have, you can. I want you to know I trust you, Little One," he said, tilting my chin back with his fingertips.

I reached forward and shut the laptop. "I want to talk about something else first."

Zander leaned back against the desk, and placed his hands on my hips. The awkward look on his face told me he knew what I wanted to ask. "Don't listen to William. The wine went to his head."

I smiled though it didn't meet my eyes. "Do you want children? Is that in the plans for you?"

Zander stared at me, though he seemed to look right through my soul. "I've never thought about it, because I wasn't sure I'd ever find you."

"Fair enough," I whispered, playing with the buttons on his shirt. Zander placed his hands over mine. "What about you, Piper? Do you want to have children?"

"One day," I admitted. "Not now."

Zander nodded. "You have plenty of childbearing years left. There is no hurry—,"

"Could you see yourself having babies with me?" I asked, feeling like a sixteen-year-old planning out my life and running it by her first boyfriend.

Zander cradled my face in his big palm. "Baby," he whispered. "There is no other person on the earth that I would want kids with. What else is wrong? This is coming from somewhere else. Tell me."

My bottom lip trembled.

What is wrong with me?

"I don't know," I said with a blubber.

Zander picked me up in his arms, and slid onto the desk, cradling me to his chest. "Tell me."

I closed my eyes. "I'm nervous about tomorrow."

"Why?" he whispered. "Are you afraid that you'll want to leave with them?"

I shook my head. "I think I'm mourning, Zander. I think I'm mourning my old life. My parents. My moving on. I didn't like insurance, or my life, and it exhilarates me to think of a life with you, but I'm still mournful of what I"m leaving behind."

Zander stroked my head. "That's normal. Are you sure that's all that you're worried about? If you're second-guessing us—,"

I turned to face him. "No. I'm just anxious to see my family, my father—he isn't going to want me to stay. I'm going through the what ifs. What if my mother cries, or Amanda begs? Or if my dad tells me he wants me to come home. It all keeps running around in my head. What if Henry shows up? I haven't seen him since he was in the shower with another woman, and I don't want to see him."

Zander stroked the skin of my thigh with his fingertips. "I don't want to see him either. I think I may call to the gators in the bayou. The one the beast ripped apart looked hungry. I bet his family is, too."

I chuckled. "I won't stop you if you want to defend my honor. Knock him around a little bit."

Zander smirked. "Don't tempt me."

"Just remember that," I laughed.

I climbed down from Zander's lap and wiped at my face. "It's getting late," I said.

Zander's gaze moved toward the laptop. "You're not curious to see what's being said about you on the news? Or on social media?"

I thought about it for a few minutes, and shook my head. "No. I don't think so."

Zander watched me curiously, like I had watched him in the closet. "Do you ever go into the closet like you did today?"

"No."

"What made you go in there?" I asked.

Zander bit his lower lip. "I wanted to face it. I've spent so much time ignoring it. Ignoring her, and now I'm having to face what I did. I can taste her fear, Piper. When you came into the closet and helped me, I could sense her fear. She's scared because she think it's going to happen. She thinks we're going to break the curse."

I glanced over at his square jaw, and the sharp edges of his cheekbones. He was facing so much for me. His past. His curse.

All for me.

And I was afraid of facing my parents.

Clearing my throat, I put my palms on his face and lifted onto my tiptoes. "I've never had a man reach down so deep for me, Z. I've never had a man care about me like this."

I pressed my forehead against his and smiled. "I don't care what my family says tomorrow. If they try to drag me away screaming—I'm going to stand up for us, because we both deserve it."

Zander swept me up into his arms again. "I will be by your side tomorrow until the beast arrives. Don't leave me," he whispered, his vulnerability open for me to see.

I wrapped myself in it.

I listened to the thumping of his heart, and rested my head against his shoulder. "Does William listen to us ... you know?"

Zander laughed in a deep baritone. "Wolves have impeccable hearing. He can hear everything. That's why they left to give us time alone."

I cringed. "He heard us in the closet. How embarrassing."

He chuckled. "I have something that I think will help you forget." He carried me out of the library, and up the stairs toward his bedroom.

"Is it another closet session, because William's room is really close to ours—,"

Zander stopped on the top step. "Ours?"

Heat licked the tips of my ears. "I mean—you know what I mean."

Zander lifted a brow. "Ummm ... are you going to try to redecorate it next?"

I slapped his chest. "Maybe. It's pretty doom and gloom. It could use some color." Zander kicked open his door and sat me down at the foot of his bed. "You can paint it pink—I don't care, as long as you're here with me."

He left me standing at the foot of his bed. I watched his big frame dig in his nightstand, and pull out something red.

He fingered it for a moment, his shoulders tense, before he turned to face me. His face was serious, his full bottom lip tucked between his teeth. "This was my mother's, her father gave it to her. My father hated the relationship the two of them had, and wouldn't allow her to wear it. It was the one thing I saved from her room, because I was scared someone would take it."

The black collar was choker-style, and rested close to the neck. Three bronze circles, two small and one large had red diamonds in the center of them. The large one in the middle sparkled brightly, and I reached out to touch it. It was mesmerizing. I"d never seen anything like it before. It looked like it"d been plucked from some vintage shop from the 1800s.

"This is gorgeous, Zander."

He reached around me, and clasped it together around my neck. "I—I can't take this, Zander."

He brushed the back of his fingers against my skin, over my collarbone and toward my mouth. "I want you to have it. I saved it for you, Little One."

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.

Zander slid his tongue against his lower lip, and trapped me against the post of his bed, and his chest. "It's getting late."

The honey color of his eyes flashed, and a vibration slid along his skin. "I want you to know something, Piper."

"What's that?" I asked in a whisper.

"I'm in love with you."