12. Kezia

The femalein the doorway of the bedroom startled me, but not as much as the speed with which Cannon leapt off the bed and confronted her. I saw her cowering as he towered over her, and despite being as naked as the day I was born, I jumped off the bed to grab him.

I sensed no violence coming from him, and something told me that this wasn't the kind of alpha he was. He wasn't the kind of alpha that ruled by fear. I knew that as well as I knew my own name.

Cannon was in his underwear only. I don't remember taking his shirt off, and it was completely the wrong time to appreciate the man's physique, but hot damn, he was droolworthy.

"Shirt!" he barked at me without looking, and while he couldn't see my exasperation, I knew he expected it because he let out a huff of amusement, and with relief, I saw his shoulders lose some of their tension.

I pulled the shirt over me, realizing too late it was his and not my own. Catching the hem, I went to lift it off when I heard his low growl.

"Leave it."

My eyes caught the narrowed stare of the woman who had walked in on us.

Us.

My heart skipped a beat. There was an us? Shaking my head, I shoved all weird and confusing thoughts to the side as I focused on the situation in front of me.

"Koda?" I guessed, coming to stand beside Cannon. He didn't look at me, but I felt him relax as I moved closer to him. "Hi," I offered the other woman.

Well, this wasn't awkward at all.

"Who are you?" she asked me, her gaze flitting between Cannon and me.

"She's not a slut," Cannon growled, anger once more riding his emotions.

"I'm Kezia," I offered, reaching out and running my hand down the alpha's arm. "I understand what that must have looked like." I had no idea what I was doing. I'd never been in this situation before. What it looked like? It was exactly as it looked, me and her alpha—lover—naked on the bed, wrapped up in each other after a really, really good make-out session. "I'm a…guest?"

Koda was beautiful. There was no other word to describe it. She was perfect. Dark hair, dark chocolate brown eyes, perfect bow-shaped pout, perfect figure, perfect height, perfect curves. She was perfect. I wondered how many times my brain could use the word perfect to describe her… She was also shrewd, because the look she was giving me told me she knew I was full of shit.

"You're the prisoner from the cells."

"Prisoner seems extreme," I mumbled, taking a step away from Cannon, who reached out and tugged me back to his side. "Nice to meet you?"

Koda looked me over quickly. I was disheveled, wearing her alpha's shirt, which reached mid-thigh, and she'd have to be unconscious not to scent the smell of sex in the room. I shifted to my other foot as I was weighed, measured, judged, and dismissed in the space of five seconds.

Koda moved her attention to Cannon. "Alpha?"

"Why are you here?" Glancing at him, I winced at the coldness of his gaze as he waited for an answer.

"I saw Nikan." There was a beat of silence before she continued. "He came in here with a backpack and left so quickly I thought you were…"

"I was what? Busy?" he scoffed.

Backpack? My backpack? My face flamed. Nikan had come back while I was rolling around the bed with his brother, heard us, me,and rushed out the door just as quickly as he probably entered it.

Shit. This was embarrassing.

Cannon glared at me so briefly that I thought I imagined it. "What do you want?" His tone was still cold, and I felt bad for the female in front of us.

"I…nothing." Koda straightened her back, holding her head high. "I'll leave you to it."

I didn't miss the inflection on the word it, and I couldn't help but take offense, although I tried not to react. Cannon also heard it and didn't hide his disapproval.

"Koda," he warned. "Your petty jealousy is beneath you," he told her bluntly. "We fucked. You knew it was nothing more than scratching a mutual itch. If you made it more, that's on you."

"Shit." I hadn't realized I had spoken out loud. This was uncomfortable as hell. Eyes filled with hurt and loathing met mine. "Sorry." Focusing on the open doorway behind her, I wanted to leave the room, but I knew I had nowhere to go, and it was unlikely Cannon would let me leave.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Cannon scolded me.

"I'm apologizing for you," I retorted sharply. "You're being a dick." He huffed in displeasure but said nothing in his defense.

Koda was back to looking between the two of us, her confusion clear, her questions bubbling under the surface just waiting to burst free. "I should go."

"You should," Cannon confirmed.

Ouch.

I elbowed him not so subtly, and he didn't even budge.

Koda watched the interaction, and I saw a flash of pain before she turned and hurried down the stairs. We heard the door close, and only after a long moment of silence, I turned to the alpha dick of the century.

"Dear Goddess, you are a heartless dick," I snarled at him. "It may have just been an itch to scratch for you…" I took a deep breath to calm my temper and push away the weird pang of jealousy. "Also, who says that to someone? That was brutal. But whatever it was for you, it was obviously more for her."

"She's a good actress," Cannon said carelessly, picking his jeans up off the floor.

"Know that from experience?" I snarked back at him.

Hooded green eyes full of smugness looked me over slowly. "Trust me, pup. I know when someone's faking underneath me."

Asshole.

"Happen a lot?" I asked, one hand on my hip.

"Never." He looked far too confident. "Don't try to lie to me with whatever bullshit you're about to spout."

I bit back the response he predicted as he spoke. Could I say I faked it? Sure. But what would the point be? He knew it wasn't true. You couldn't fake the sounds I'd made for him. Well, if it was possible, I didn't think I could.

"You were still cruel."

"She called you a slut." He fastened his jeans. "Unacceptable."

"She doesn't know me!" I protested, following him out of the room as he jogged down the stairs.

"Exactly."

Throwing my hands in the air, I followed him into his study. "I mean, for all she knows, I could be a slut!" Cannon looked at me, an eyebrow raised, causing me to blow out a breath. "I'm not. Obviously," I mumbled. "But she doesn't know that. She doesn't know I'm not some bedwarmer of the pack. I could be new."

"We don't have bedwarmers in my pack," he growled. "Every male, female, and child in my pack is treated fairly and with respect," he bit out tersely. "Pack bedwarmers are a disgusting, archaic practice, and packs that still use those methods of sexual exploitation should be ashamed of themselves."

I was speechless. I'd seen Cannon pissed off lots of times, usually at me, but he was more than pissed off right now. He was angry. Yet still my stupid mouth couldn't keep itself closed, even though I admired his stance on an outdated practice still held in many packs.

"You didn't show much respect to Koda."

He didn't so much as wince. "She called my mate a slut. She's lucky I didn't rip her throat out."

Fuck.

I swallowed.

Cannon arched a brow at me. "What? Speechless? You? Surely not."

"Har har." Flicking him the finger as he flung my words back at me, I took a seat, pulling his shirt over my legs, very conscious of my nakedness beneath it.

Cannon lowered himself onto a couch, his look assessing, his gaze returning to my bare legs more than I think he realized. "Locks on the door is a good idea."

I hadn't expected him to come back to that, but I nodded in agreement. "I can go somewhere else," I suggested again, careful not to trigger his unreasonableness. "It would be easier."

He nodded thoughtfully. "And when you see Koda or another single female enter my home, how will you feel?" My wolf snarled viciously, and I wasn't aware I'd growled until I saw his smug-as-fuck grin. "So we agree? We stay together?"

"It's a stupid idea."

"The bunker?" he countered.

"But I can stay in my room if you can stay in yours."

He laughed out loud before becoming serious again. "The pull is getting stronger," he admitted quietly.

I nodded, avoiding his penetrating stare. "We're not helping either." Pointing to the ceiling, I felt myself blush. "I think the more we do things like that up there…the harder it is to stay away."

He was nodding but frowning. "I agree. You stay here, you stay out of trouble, and we try to stay apart."

"I can't believe I am saying this," I muttered. "Maybe I would be better back in the cell?"

He was already shaking his head. "Too many of my pack know about you now. Vic isn't the town gossip for nothing." He looked amused and annoyed at the same time. "Why do you think Koda was slinking up my stairs when she's never been in any of the bedrooms before?"

She hadn't?

"Vic will have told people, Royce's girls saw you. Koda saw you," he continued. "Too late to put the spilled milk back in the bottle."

"I'm milk?" I asked, my lips twisting at the analogy.

"You're definitely creamy."

Fire scorched my cheeks at the innuendo. "That was cringey," I protested weakly, looking anywhere but at him.

"It was tacky, I agree, but still true," Cannon chuckled. He got to his feet. "I need to go find locks."

"Locks? Two, right?" I asked him softly. I wouldn't put it past him to cage me inside the room.

The way he looked at me, I had to sit on my hands to stop myself from pulling off his shirt and laying back on his couch and telling him to climb on.

"You want the bond broken?" he asked me quietly, his face clear of expression.

Did I? I wasn't sure. "It's maybe for the best."

Cannon nodded curtly. "Agreed. I'll put locks on my door too."

I barked out a laugh of surprise. "You think you need to lock me out?" I asked him incredulously.

"I know I need to lock me in." Cannon's eyes darkened and I felt my laughter die in my throat.

The tension built between us, and I was helpless to fight it. He crossed the room in two strides, and I'd already risen off the seat to meet him. He kissed me so deeply that my toes curled, and it wasn't long before I was climbing him like my own personal tree.

"Fuck," Cannon cursed, pulling his shirt off me. "You're like a drug."

His hands ran over my nakedness, and I arched into his touch, hungry for more. "It's crazy, the need that I have," I admitted, gasping in pleasure as his fingers stroked over my sex. Pulling his belt free, my hands unfastened his jeans, one hand slipping inside, touching him for the first time.

I didn't expect the feel of his cock. Silk and steel at once. My fingers wrapped around his length, and the feeling of pride as he groaned in pleasure when I started to move my hand was also unexpected. He was thick and long. While his mouth claimed mine, I let his cock go to push his jeans down and then used both hands to take hold of him again.

I had no idea what I was doing, but it seemed the alpha didn't care how inexperienced I was. The whimper of pleasure when I squeezed his length slightly made me moan in return.

The banging on the door made me jump, both of us springing apart. The door to the study opened fractionally.

"I can't hear you," Royce said gruffly, "but I can smell you both. Unless you want the mate bond to be permanent, I suggest you move apart."

Cannon and I watched each other, and in an unspoken agreement, we both took a further step backward.

"You have two minutes to be decent," Royce told us both. "Then I'm coming in."

Cannon fixed his jeans, and I once more pulled his shirt on. I was wet, I could smell it, Cannon's wolf could smell it, his eyes flashed turquoise, and I knew I needed to get out of the room.

Knowing Royce had already seen too much of me for it to be an issue, I pushed the door open and ran up the stairs to the room I had been given. Looking around frantically, I grabbed the clothes from earlier and darted across the hall until I found the bathroom.

Locking myself in the bathroom, I started the shower. I needed his scent off me. That's what it was. I could smell him, his scent clung to me, so my wolf craved him and made me act all wanton.

Scrubbing myself clean, I finally got out of the shower and realized I had no towels. Opening the bathroom door a crack, I found two towels outside the door. Snatching them up, I dried myself and put on the clothes from earlier. Taking a deep breath, I headed back to the study.

Royce was sitting on one of the couches, reading a book. He looked up when I entered.

"Hey," I greeted, knowing my face was red.

"New plan," Royce told me, closing the book.

"Bunker?" I asked with a sinking feeling in my belly.

"No." He grinned but it had no mirth. "You stay here. You must give me your word, Kezia, that you will not run. You will stay here and try to fit in."

I nodded. "I can do that."

He stood. "Good. You hungry?"

I blinked at his sudden change in conversation. "Where is, um, the alpha? Cannon, I mean. Where is he?"

Royce scratched his cheek as he watched me. "New plan, like I said. You stay here, he stays with me."

I knew my mouth dropped. "What? He's leaving me? Here?"

"No, he is not leaving you here. I am taking him from here. You two…" Royce shook his head. "You can't be together. Alone." He frowned at the contradiction. "You cannot be alone together," he clarified. "You're incapable of keeping your hands off each other." He looked annoyed. "Cannon told me the locked door idea." He snorted his contempt. "For two intelligent shifters, you're both dumb as a bag of rocks."

"He's okay with the fact I kicked him out of his house?" I asked dubiously.

"He's adaptable," Royce said grimly. Pinning me with a hard stare, he tilted his head. "Can I ask you a question?"

No?I felt nervous. "Sure."

"Do you want to be his mate?"

"Um. I…"

"If you want the bond, tell him."

Did I want the bond? Did I want to be mated to the alpha of the Blackridge Peak Pack, the pack that may have murdered my parents? The alpha who kept me caged and a prisoner? I knew nothing about him.

"No." I looked at Royce. "I don't want the bond." The unspoken yet echoed in my head, and I chose to ignore it.

Royce's face gave nothing away. "Then you stay here, he stays with me. Your next heat, we put you in separate states, countries if we must, and then we find a way to break it. Right?" When I said nothing, he sighed long and loud. "Right, Kezia?"

"Yeah. Right."

With a nod, he walked out of the study. "Come on, let's eat. Time you met the pack, and I don't have to tell you not to mention the murders, the blackouts, or the fact you're the alpha's mate, do I?"

"Nope. I don't need to be reminded not to say anything."

Royce led me out of the house, and we walked in silence as I looked around the town. Royce stopped outside a large community building.

"Mess hall," he confirmed. "You ready to be the new girl?"

"No." I smiled at his laughter. "I don't blend well, and I don't mingle well either."

"Shocker. You're so approachable." He led me to the double doors that were pinned open, and the sound of laughter and cheer came from within. "You're a piss poor liar too," he said with a careful look over his shoulder. "You don't want the bond?" He huffed out a laugh. "Delusional, both of you."

Both of us? I stood frozen as he entered the hall. Did Cannon want the bond? Did he want to be my mate?

"Kezia! Food doesn't get eaten by itself!"

Jumping into action, I pushed all thoughts of the bond aside as I hurried after Royce and entered the hall of a pack I didn't know.

I had bigger problems to focus on right now. Cannon could wait.