Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
S erafina
I didn’t expect to even make it to the door, but even my low expectations of how far I would get are smashed as Ronan moves in front of me before I can make it three steps.
“Where are you going?” His voice is low.
And why does that cause a shockwave to weave its way down my spine? I stand up straighter to meet his gaze head-on, despite the weird sensations happening in my body.
“Where does it look like I’m going?”
“The door’s locked and Noah told you to eat.”
I almost forgot about the damn door locks. I still can’t get out on my own if I want.
“If you haven’t figured it out by now, let me explain it to you. I. Don’t. Take. Orders. From. You. Any of you,” I throw over my shoulder at Noah.
He tightens his lips, his nostrils flaring.
I turn back to look at Ronan, whose eyes are on his brother. I suspect they’re communicating through their brother-bond again.
“Yesterday you said if I played nice and went to your pack meeting, one of you would take me into town today to buy what I need. And I am not buying my skincare products and makeup at a pharmacy. There should be a cosmetic store in town somewhere.”
I move to step around Ronan, but he doesn’t budge.
“After you eat the breakfast that Montgomery prepared.”
I peer over my shoulder, looking at the two half-eaten plates of food. I smelled the food as soon as I opened my bedroom door. Who I don’t see is Montgomery, though.
Has he left early?
To do what?
My right hand curves into a fist and flexes as I wonder about his whereabouts. The ice pack did wonders for my healing. My hand wasn’t swollen or achy this morning at all. I want to ask what herbs he must’ve put in the pack.
I smelled something herbal but couldn’t identify it. And the chicken and dumpling soup, biscuits, and crackers he served last night were to die for.
Where did he learn to cook like that?
“Where is he?” I ask without thinking.
“Out for a run,” Noah says, from behind.
“You three don’t eat breakfast together?”
Ronan’s eyes go to Noah’s. I watch as they exchange a look.
“Sometimes,” Ronan responds. “Noah will take you into town once you’ve finished eating.”
With a roll of my eyes, I stomp off in the direction of the kitchen. I don’t have the energy to argue with them at this point. Plus, breakfast smells as good as last night’s dinner. Despite not being a wolf, I have a voracious appetite.
It’s probably because I was raised among them.
“Plates?” I ask, spinning to face the brothers who’re now following me.
Ronan pulls open the very fancy-looking oven and reveals a plate stacked high with pancakes, bacon, and eggs.
“There’re biscuits leftover from last night if you want me to warm them up,” Noah offers.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to make a smart-ass comment, but he sounds genuine. Besides, I should play nice in order to get him to let his guard down a little if I’m going to pull off my plan of escape today.
“This should be enough,” I say, gesturing toward the plate that’s been placed in front of me at the table.
I dive into the pancakes first.
Only after I’ve devoured every one of my pancakes do I even look at the bacon on my plate.
I take the first bite of the thick slice, not expecting anything special, but am I surprised. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and salty. I've eaten smoked maple bacon before but not like this.
“He buys the pork belly and cures and smokes it himself,” Noah explains from the opposite side of the table.
That’s when I realize I’ve been staring at the strip of bacon in my hand.
“Himself?” I ask, not bothering to hide the curiosity in my tone.
Noah nods, retaking his seat.
“Looks like someone’s glad they decided not to skip breakfast.”
I ignore his petty comment as I take another bite of the deliciously cured and smoked meat. Tears almost develop in my eyes. Is this what I’ve been missing out on?
Not that the food at home with my Nightwolf pack wasn’t great. And mealtimes were always a chance for our pack to get together, gossip, shoot the shit, and just be with one another.
To be honest, I didn’t participate a whole lot in mealtime activities over the years. I always knew my time would come to leave the pack, so I worked hard to protect myself against the inevitable pain.
I force myself to swallow the final bite of my bacon, and along with it, the memory or longing that comes with being part of a pack.
That’s not my place in this world.
“There,” I rise to my feet, “I’ve eaten. I’ll wait for you by the door,” I tell Noah.
Minutes later, Noah glares at me over his shoulder, catching me trying to peek at the door code he puts in to disarm the damn thing.
“Oops.” I whistle and roll my eyes toward the ceiling.
“Try all you want to find out the code.” A chill runs down my spine from Ronan’s whispered words in my ear. “It changes every twenty-four hours. You’re not getting out of here unless we say so, Serafina.”
I spin to curse him out but then I get a whiff of his aftershave and notice just how damn close he is. He’s dressed in a just his pajama bottoms, and I hate how disgustingly good he looks.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I tell him before spinning around and heading toward the truck behind Noah.
“I don’t need your help,” I tell him as I climb in and he starts to buckle my seatbelt.
Noah chuckles, irritating me even more.
“Don’t try any bullshit today, Little Hellraiser,” Noah says while snapping the seatbelt into place.
I tilt my head to the side. “Have I told you how much I despise that nickname?”
“You’re free to tell me as many times as you’d like … Little Hellraiser.”
“I got your hellraiser,” I mutter, glaring at him as he rounds the truck to get in the driver’s seat.
Noah should be suspicious because I have every intention of securing my freedom from these three tyrants.
Noah
She’s got something up her sleeve. That little smile and innocent look can’t fucking fool me.
I cut my eyes in her direction from the driver’s seat. She’s staring straight ahead. My damn wolf is all but purring inside of me from being close to her.
As a way to save my damn sanity, I roll the driver’s side window down a few inches. Fresh air is all I need to clear my thoughts.
Having the space inside of my truck completely full of her scent is driving my wolf insane. Not just my wolf, either.
“I mean it,” I say.
Serafina finally looks over at me.
I tighten my hands on the steering wheel instead of reaching over and pushing her hair out of her face. I don’t like not being able to see all of her.
“Excuse me? Did you say something?”
She’s so damn …
“If you try to run, every male wolf in the Blackclaw pack will be on the hunt for you. And once we find you, I will personally drag you back home and lay you across my knee to give you the spanking you earned. You’ll be walking around, unable to sit without an ice pack, for two weeks.”
I put the truck in park when we come to a red light.
Leaning across the console, I get in her face, taking her chin into my hand.
“And that’ll be before I fuck you into a coma.”
I’m so close that the little exhalation of air she makes, in surprise, brushes across the hairs of my facial stumble.
My lips part as they spread into a satisfied smile.
“Think I just figured out how to finally shut you up.”
“Fuck you, you damn bastard!” She slaps my hand away from hers and shifts so her body is pressed completely against the passenger side door.
She follows it up by rolling her window all of the way down.
My chuckle reverberates around the truck’s interior. Serafina might like playing hard to get, but she’s not immune to me. To any of us.
I saw her face immediately after Ronan kissed her last night. She wanted more.
I watched her while she ate the breakfast Montgomery prepared. Yes, my brother is an artist when it comes to food, but her expression changed when I mentioned he was the one who cooked it. She wants to know more about him.
Hell, so do I.
And just now, she was left speechless as soon as I mentioned fucking her.
The chemistry between us is undeniable.
“I hope you know the tab for everything I get today is on you.”
I peer over at her. That fake ass smile plastered on her face. I swear out of all of her expressions this is the one I like the least. It’s the one that puts the most distance between us.
She does it to put a barrier between us and what she’s really feeling. I don’t want her to be fake.
I crave the real, raw, and yes, even fiery Serafina a hell of a lot more than the phony nice woman now staring at me. I’d rather have her anger, if it’s genuine, any damn day.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, completely forgetting what she’s said.
“The tab. You’re paying for everything since you three decided to withhold my wallet with my checking and credit cards.”
“Ouch, what the hell?” I grunt when she punches me in the arm.
“You three aren’t using my cards to pay for whatever bullshit you’re buying, are you? Where is my wallet?” she asks as if she’s just thought about it.
In a huff, I lean over her to press the button that opens the glove compartment. Serafina’s wallet falls to the front.
I hand it to her.
“It’s been there since we brought you here.”
“You mean since you kidnapped me,” she counters, flipping through the wallet.
“Look all you want. Everything’s in there. You won’t need it today anyway.” I had every intention of buying the clothes and whatever else she needs to get today.
I take one hand from the steering wheel to dig into my pocket and pull out my credit card.
“Use this for your purchases,” I tell her while keeping my eyes on the road. “Take it or you’re not getting out of this truck,” I insist when she hesitates.
“And my bow and arrow and my phone?” she asks, after snatching the card.
I snort and shake my head. “Why the hell would I return a broken bow and arrow? Ouch!”
She sucker punches me again in the arm.
“It’s broken because you heathens broke into my home and destroyed it. Give it back.”
“Hell no. Why would I?—”
“It’s mine. My aunt gave it to me. She taught me …” She trails off. “Just give it to me. It’s mine.”
A lump forms in my throat from the unexpected emotion in her voice.
Yes, I manage to reply, “You can forget about that.”
“At least give me my phone then.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see and am able to stop her hand before her fist can make contact with my arm again. “No.” My voice hardens. “You’ll only use it to call only Mother Moon knows who, and say we’ve kidnapped you.”
“Which you have,” she claims at the same time she snatches her hand away.
“We’ve done no such thing.”
“I doubt my alpha and the rest of the Nightwolf pack will think so once I tell them what really happened.”
“We’re your damn alphas,” I say, putting some of my wolf in my tone. I don’t like the idea of her calling another man, her alpha. Not when she belongs to us.
“Never.”
I pull into the parking lot of the department store that has both a clothing and cosmetic store. I throw my truck into park and then lean over Serafina, bracketing her in between me and the door.
“We’re your fucking alphas. A fact you need to get used to. You were gung-ho about mating with us before. Don’t fucking act like it doesn’t thrill you to belong to us.”
I growl.
I expect her to quickly come back with some sort of smart comeback or even maybe a smack across my face. In all honesty, I probably just earned the latter response.
Her reaction is even worse than I thought, however.
Instead of anger, a shadow passes over her eyes.
Undeniable sadness fills that shadow. It’s so apparent that my wolf yelps, hurt from the sight.
Serafina squeezes her lips together and then fumbles for the door handle. After a couple of tries, she finally gets it open. It takes her a couple of clumsy attempts before she’s able to undo the seatbelt.
And then she’s out of the door.
I’ve never felt like a bigger asshole.
Yes, I was trying to bring her down to size, but I didn’t mean to hurt her. Obviously, throwing the past in her face so callously was a shithead move.
“Serafina,” I call as I round the front of the car.
“I need jeans and some shirts,” she says, already three steps ahead of me on her way toward the door.
“Don’t worry about paying for anything for me. I have savings.” She waves her wallet in the air, not bothering to look at me as she passes through the door.
I’m such a fuck up.
But I’ll be damned if I let her pay for anything.
Feeling like a pup chastised for not listening, I hang a step or two back from Serafina’s side, watching as she meanders through the jeans section of the department store.
I look around the store to see people milling about.
Most of them are human.
Then I catch sight of Erik, one of our betas. Our eyes lock and he nods in deference. With a wave of his head, he silently tells me that Alfred—not a beta but one of the other members of our pack’s security team—is also on the premises.
I nod my head in Serafina’s direction and then give him the finger-eye signal telling him to make sure he keeps an eye on her. I know Serafina has something up her sleeve.
Ever since Ronan, Montgomery, and I decided I would be the one to bring her into town, I made sure a few of our pack would be here to help keep an eye on her.
But I only told them I needed them to help make sure Serafina’s safe since she’s new to town.
Still keeping a watch over Serafina, I move closer to Erik.
“Don’t let her out of your sight.” I have to visit a few vendors while here in town.
Erik nods. “Are you still meeting with the in-town pack members to go over their furniture deliveries?”
I run our pack’s homemade furniture store. I can construct anything with my hands, from bookshelf trinkets to entire homes. Our cabin, I of course built, with the assistance of our pack’s architecture and construction members.
We purchase materials from vendors in town, and some of our pack members that choose to live in town help with the administrative aspect of running the store.
“Later,” I tell him.
While we’re not the largest or even the wealthiest pack of all of the wolf shifter packs, we’re pretty well off and financially able to support our pack members and their families.
My wolf begins to grow restless, and I start to tell him we’ll go on a run later, once we’re done in town.
Then I stop short and wonder if his agitation is due less to my thoughts about working in an office and more related to the fact that I’m getting farther and farther from Serafina.
While I don’t like walking away from Serafina, I need to take care of the needs of my pack. For the next hour and a half Erik gives me updates on Serafina’s whereabouts as she moves from one clothing store to another.
Noah: Don’t take your eyes off of her. If anything happens to her, I’ll rip a hole in your throat. Got it?
Erik: Yes, Alpha Noah.
A while later, I get a notification from my credit card company. I chuckle at the four-figure amount I see that was recently charged, before accepting the charges.
While I suspect she’s spending so much as a form of payback from my earlier comment, the sensation of satisfaction that courses through me eases both me and my wolf’s anxieties.
We like the idea of taking care of our mate. The same reason Montgomery spent an hour in the kitchen last night preparing fresh biscuits and using his special seasoning mix to prepare her dinner.
“She will never be welcomed in the Blackclaw pack! That girl is dangerous!”
My grandfather’s harsh words come back, sending me reeling.
“Alpha Noah, is everything alright?”
I blink and look at Jason, one of our pack members who manages the construction division of our pack’s businesses.
His office is only a short distance from the strip mall where I dropped Serafina off.
“Fine,” I grunt, not meaning to sound so damn harsh but the memory still resounds in my mind.
My grandfather. The alpha of the Blackclaws ever since my three brothers and I were born. Even after my father took over as alpha, he still garnered respect among the pack.
And when my father died, he reclaimed the role as alpha until his death a half a year ago.
I shake the thoughts free.
“What were the numbers from last month?” I ask Jason even though I don’t give a damn about the numbers.
“They’re up,” he says cheerily. “We’ve pulled in a couple more small jobs. Alpha Montgomery’s helped increase our productivity almost twofold.”
I grit my teeth. While that should be good news, I know it isn’t right.
“Has he taken on any more positions?”
Jason hesitates before answering.
I know why. As alpha and brother to the man, I should be able to ask him directly what work he’s been up to. We live in the same house for Mother Moon’s sake.
Yet, Montgomery is so damn closed off. He barely says more than two full sentences to either me or Ronan all day. And the second sentence is usually, ‘ Going for a run.’
Unconsciously, I push out a harsh breath in frustration. It’s been years since Montgomery was that carefree pup who loved running free in either his wolf or human form. He had the best laugh out of all three of us.
That was then.
I shouldn’t compare this adult version of Montgomery to the brother I once knew. But it’s hard not to.
Yet, the years apart have separated us by more than time.
“I’ve offered him the lead role on the latest job, but Alpha Montgomery declined,” Jason says, his voice taking on a hint of nervousness.
I nod.
“But honestly, Alpha Montgomery is the hardest worker among all of our guys doing construction. He shows up before everyone and does close to twice the work. I know us wolves can endure a lot, but I sometimes wonder how he manages to outperform everyone time and time again.”
Jason’s eyes widen as if he realized he said something he shouldn’t have.
“Of course, he is the alpha just like you and Alpha Ronan. We only expect him to be strong and capable …” He trails off.
Placing my hand on his shoulder, I squeeze. “I get what you mean.”
I almost tell him to keep me updated on Montgomery’s behavior or let me know if anything seems out of place, but I stop myself. Doing so might further elude to Jason, and the rest of our pack, that there isn’t complete unity between the three of us.
Seeing as how there’s already doubt over our leadership, we don’t need any more chinks in the armor.
“Thanks, Jason. Hell of a job you’re doing out here.”
He nods, grinning with pride as I start for the door.
“Oh, Alpha Noah?” he calls at the same time my hand grips the doorknob.
I stop and turn to face him. “Yes?”
“A-About last night’s meeting.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Is it true?”
My brows narrow.
“About your mate and the supermoon?”
“What are you asking, Jason?” I fold my arms across my chest.
“Peter mentioned your need to acquire a mate, a few times in the past few months since you three took over after your grandfather. He says that if the three of you haven’t mate bonded within twenty-four hours of the next Supermoon Ceremony …” He trails off.
“That’s not going to happen,” I say sharply. “My family has always led the Blackclaw pack and will continue to do so.”
I tighten my hand around the doorknob.
“Yes, Alpha Noah.” He dips his head.
I leave without another word, but as soon as I do, my phone rings.
“Alpha, we’ve lost track of your mate,” Erik anxiously tells me as soon as I answer.
“Good Mother Moon!” I curse at the same time I take off running.