CHAPTER TEN
ALEXANDRA
Bran's been staying at my place for two days now, and I haven't once regretted giving in to my desire for him. Not even yesterday morning when he tried using my coffee maker and somehow had coffee spraying all over my cabinets and the counter. It’s wild how fast you can get used to someone’s presence in your life and how seamlessly they fit right in.
It feels so natural to wake up to his sleeping body next to mine and his scent everywhere.
I'm starting to believe this could actually work. The whole going to his realm thing still weirds me out, because I’m not sure how exactly that all works, but it’s clear that Bran and I work.
He texted earlier, which is so cute. I had to show him how texting worked, and since then he texts me all the time, even when I’m right on the couch next to him.
Today he said about surprising me for lunch, which is super sweet.
There are definite benefits to dating a guy with all the free time in the world and an unlimited credit card.
Not only does he enjoy paying for our meals, but my condo has never been cleaner!
I even like the potted plants that keep popping up.
Bran insists that they’re better for our health, and hey, I’m not going to argue.
I'm at my desk going through a stack of claims when I hear a commotion near the front of the office.
Smiling, I shake my head. Bran’s hot, but come on, is everyone going to check him out?
That’s when I notice chairs being shoved back and people popping up from their cubicles.
“What is that?” someone asks.
Several people turn their attention to the windows, and that’s when curiosity gets the better of me too. I go over and find Denise at the glass along with three others, all of them pressed close together as they peer out the windows.
“Are those... pigeons?” Denise asks, pressing her nose up to the glass. “Like, a lot of pigeons.”
I follow her gaze outside, and my stomach drops straight through the floor.
There are birds on every available surface of the parking lot.
Sparrows lined up along the curb in neat little rows, sitting at attention like little soldiers.
A dozen pigeons covering the hood of someone's sedan, wings tucked and motionless.
Two blue jays are perched on the hood of my own car, bright blue against the red of my car, and they appear to be staring directly at the insurance building.
“I've never seen anything like this,” Janet says, joining us, her face creased in concern. “Should we call someone? Animal control?”
“It's probably nothing,” I say, though my voice cracks. Clearing my throat, I say, “Birds do weird stuff sometimes. Migration patterns or whatever.”
“In the middle of a parking lot? In May?” Denise gives me a look that says I’m a special kind of stupid.
A horrible suspicion is already forming as I scan the lot, and when my eyes land on the far end near the entrance, I find exactly what I was afraid of.
Bran is standing there, hands in his jacket pockets, looking entirely unbothered by the chaos surrounding him. Even worse, a squirrel is perched calmly on his shoulder like a parrot would on a pirate.
My first instinct is to dash out the entrance and ask Bran what in the world is going on.
Naturally, I can’t do that because I don’t need my coworkers putting two and two together and figuring out Bran is somehow responsible for this. I don’t even know for certain that he is, but the squirrel on his shoulder tells me this is all his fault.
I slowly back away from the windows and pretend I’m returning to my cubicle.
Only instead, I keep on walking and slip out of the side exit near the break room.
It opens out onto the narrow strip of pavement between our building and the financial group next door.
Nobody uses this door except smokers on their breaks.
It puts me well out of view of the front windows and, more importantly, well out of view of Bran and his apparent animal fan club.
Pressing my back against the brick wall, I inch as close to the edge as I can while still remaining out of direct sight and peer around the corner toward the front lot. He's still there, exactly where I saw him last.
“Bran,” I hiss, as loud as I dare without actually shouting across a parking lot full of birds.
He doesn't hear me. Or he hears me and is ignoring me, which I really don’t think is the case.
I risk raising my voice. “Bran!”
His head turns, those bright green eyes zeroing in on me with an eerie intensity that is almost frightening.
But it’s Bran, and I’m not scared of him.
He says something to the squirrel and starts walking my way, unhurried, like there isn't a single reason to rush, even with me hiding around the corner of the building. Guess keen powers of observation aren’t one of Bran’s strengths.
He appears around the corner less than a minute later, the squirrel still on his shoulder like a furry mascot, with a perfectly calm expression that makes me want to scream.
“Bran.” My eyes dart around making sure we’re still unnoticed. “What is happening right now?”
He glances at the squirrel and gives a careful shrug of his shoulders. “My powers are slowly returning. The dampening the elves placed on me is fading faster than expected.”
“And the birds just... what, show up to say hello?”
“Living things respond to me. It's always been this way.” He says it like it’s information I should know. And maybe I have been lax in asking what exactly a Lord of the Woods does.
“Plants lean toward me. Animals come when I'm near. The longer we're together, the stronger the pull becomes.”
“How long has this been happening?”
“A few days.”
My mind goes back to how the past two nights did seem full of cricket noises and distant howls, which is really odd for living in a condo far removed from nature.
Leaning my head against the brick wall, I try thinking things through. “So this is the norm? All your animal friends?”
“It is.”
Shit.
“Alexandra.” His voice is gentle. “You're frightened.”
“I'm not frightened.”
I am absolutely frightened, my heart hammering against my ribs in a way that almost hurts
“I just need a minute,” I gasp, trying to get my breathing under control and failing miserably as visions of wolves and bears camping out on my deck fill my head.
Or worse yet, deer flinging themselves in front of my car on the highway.
I’ve lived my entire life in PA and have been lucky enough not to hit a deer.
I don’t need Bran bringing them like some hunky Pied Piper.
Blowing out a deep breath, I look at the man I’m falling for and the squirrel on his shoulder. The squirrel sitting there with its black eyes watching me makes something in me snap.
My head starts shaking and the words tumble out, “I can’t do this. This is weird. I have a job, Bran. A normal, boring, human job, and my coworkers are fifteen feet away convinced we're in the middle of an avian takeover.”
His body stiffens. “I understand.”
Chewing my lips, I continue shaking my head. “Do you? Because I’m not sure you really do.”
“You need space.” He says like that’s the perfect answer. “I can give you that.”
Space? That’s not what I want. Is it?
“Bran-”
His head bows, his long hair swinging around his face. “It's all right, Alexandra.” His voice is gentle. “I'd rather give you room to think than be the reason you're hiding in an alley from people you work with.”
“That's not-” I stop, because it kind of is exactly that.
He nods and reaches for my face, no doubt meaning to stroke my cheek like he often does. I don’t mean to, but I flinch. His fingers ball into a fist before his hand drops to his side. “I'll go to the cabin. Take whatever time you need.”
There's no anger in his voice. No bitterness either. He just looks at me for a long moment, his green eyes moving over my face like he’s memorizing me. He turns and walks away down the narrow strip of pavement toward the street, his shoulders broad and his back straight as he strides away.
I watch him go with my chest aching in a way that has nothing to do with the animal invasion and everything to do with my fear that I’m letting the best part of my life walk away without a fight.
I could call after him. Tell him to wait and that I didn't mean it the way it sounded. That I'm scared but not done, not even close to done.
Yet I don't.
Because I am scared. Scared of giving up everything that makes me me if I accept life with the Lord of the Woods.