Page 56 of Starting a New Life

Gray growled. “Not here,” he said, jaw clenched. “Definitely not here.”

I believed him. At least part of me did. Part of me relaxed upon hearing his words, having him confirm what I hadn’t dared to hope.

Another voice was screaming at me to be careful. That they’d sneak up on me, betray me if I let my guard down.

“I don’t understand why you snuck onto my pack lands in the first place, though,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be easier to stay far away from shifters?”

And here we were again, at a point where I had to admit to bringing trouble to their door. Where I’d find out at what point Gray would decide I wasn’t worth the effort and kick me out.

“Because there’s a pack of wolves who’ve been hunting me for six months now.” I raised my chin, staring at him defiantly. “They followed me all the way here from Southern California.”

He growled, his eyes flashing.

“Those intruders?” he spat in fury, hands balling into fists. He came a step closer, but this time I didn’t shrink back; I didn’t try melting against the wall.

“Yes. I’m sorry they’re a hassle to you.”

He huffed. “We can manage. And now that we know what they’re after…” A dangerous glint flickered in his eyes, and his lips pulled back in a menacing snarl that would’ve terrified me even twelve hours ago. “The kid gloves we’ve been treating them with come off.”

I swallowed, nerves and excitement warring in my stomach until it let out a growl. I quickly pressed a hand to it and tried shoving the hunger gnawing at my guts away. Now was not the time. At all.

Gray laughed.

“Hungry?” he said, raising a brow at me. “You look like you could use a meal or ten.”

Oh, I wanted to snark back, but I didn’t. He was the Alpha, and I was… I had no idea. Not a prisoner, though, and that was more than I’d dared hope for.

“It’s okay for you to be hungry, you know?” he said, eyes turning softer, even though his aura was still in turmoil, emotions high within him. “I mean it, you need to eat. I can bring breakfast to your room, or if you’re up for it, you can come downstairs with me. I could show you our packhouse. Prove to you that the first impression we made isn’t who we are as a pack.”

I hesitated.

This room was safe. A controlled environment. There were only so many people who could fit inside at once, and no one could get into this room undetected.

Downstairs… I knew packhouses. I knew how they worked. Knew how crowded they could be, wolves coming at you from all directions, auras and emotions high, the volume overpowering until I was so busy sorting through everything that I missed the important stuff. An attack. Someone tripping me to make fun of the clumsy mage.

In the end, my stomach decided by letting out another rumble, another wave of cramps hitting me.

“Fine,” I said, my voice betraying the fake confidence I’d been going for. I raised another shield a couple of inches around me, one that should keep people from being able to reach me.

Gray smiled as if he were a kid at Christmas.

“I have to warn you, though,” he said as he opened the door. “My pack is like a big family. A very big, very loud, and very nosy one.”

Was it too late to change my mind?

Chapter 12

Gray

Nix was sitting outside on the wraparound porch, two thick blankets covering his legs, a cup of steaming hot tea in his hands as he watched the sun slowly disappear behind the trees. He had a thoughtful expression on his face, not quite a smile, but not the mask of fear either.

He’d spent breakfast with me in the dining hall, but it’d been hard on him. Everyone was curious about the mysterious mage who’d shown up out of nowhere… who I’d had thrown into a cell.

My wolf huffed.

Yeah, yeah, I thought. That was a mistake.

A big one. One I’d have to make up for for ages to come. Because unbeknownst to me at the time, I’d confirmed Nix’s worst fears about shifters.