Chapter 8 #2
Her wolf felt settled for the first time in a long time.
Brice was here.
In their home.
Keena crossed to the fireplace and crouched down in front of the hearth. The fire she’d left earlier had burned down to glowing embers. She added another log, then another before she struck a match.
The flame caught immediately. Within seconds, warm light and heat spread throughout the room.
“Show off,” Brice said playfully.
“It’s really not that hard to start a fire,” Keena mumbled. She stood and rubbed the back of her neck. Brice’s eyes dropped down to her naked breasts then slid down further. Her breath caught in her throat at the way Brice’s eyes darkened. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here.”
There was something about those words that nearly undid her. She turned and went into her bedroom to find some clean dry clothes to throw on. She didn’t want to grab the ones she’d left by the back door. She’d worked in those.
She closed the door to her bedroom and found some leggings. She threw those on and pulled a charcoal sweater over her head. She stood in front of the dresser longer than necessary, but she couldn’t get her feet to move. She braced her hands against the wood and stared at herself in the mirror.
“You’ve made a mess of this.” Her reflection offered no argument. She’d walked away from Brice because she was terrified of what could happen if she stayed. “I can’t keep running.”
Her wolf nudged her gently.
She inhaled softly and felt the strength her animal lent to her.
She returned to the living room and found Brice standing in front of the bookshelf tucked beside the fireplace.
She ran her fingers along the spines of the few books she owned.
Some were the books her father had collected.
She had refused to part with them when he died. It gave her a little piece of him.
“You’ve alphabetized them,” Brice murmured.
“How else would they go?” Keena arched an eyebrow at her.
“Maybe by genre, then author, then by title? You have an eclectic selection here,” Brice said.
“Most of them are my father’s,” Keena said.
Silence settled over the room, though it wasn’t uncomfortable. The fire crackled steadily while the wind blew outside. Brice turned from the bookshelf and faced her.
“You have a beautiful home,” she said.
Keena tried to see it through Brice’s eyes. She tucked a loc behind her ear and sighed.
“It didn’t always feel so empty,” she admitted. She turned back to Brice. She needed to get some things off her chest. She owed Brice an explanation. She motioned to the couch. “Will you sit with me?”
Brice nodded and crossed the room without hesitation. She lowered herself onto one end of the couch. Keena sat beside her. She was close enough to feel the warmth radiating from Brice. For several long moments, neither of them spoke. Keena stared into the fire and tried to gather her thoughts.
“I owe you an explanation,” Keena began. She could feel Brice’s eyes on her. She swallowed hard and exhaled. “My mate’s name was Lizzie. Elizabeth Monroe. She hated when people called her Elizabeth. She said it made her feel like an old woman.”
A faint smile touched her lips. Brice’s small hand claimed hers. Keena glanced down at it and entwined their fingers together.
“I’m sure Lizzie fit her personality,” Brice said.
Keena nodded in agreement. Her gaze landed on the photo resting on the mantel.
“I met her fifteen years ago when I first became an enforcer,” a slight chuckle escaped her lips as the memories surfaced. “Back then I thought I knew everything.”
“I have a hard time imagining that,” Brice said.
“I was impossibly arrogant,” Keena admitted.
“Whatever. You were not,” Brice chuckled.
“I arrested her,” Keena admitted.
“You what?” Brice blinked.
Keena laughed. This time it was a genuine one as she remembered the look of horror on Lizzie’s face. It was similar to the one on Brice’s face now.
“She had parked in the alpha’s reserved spot.” Keena shrugged. What else was she supposed to do then? It was her first week out of orientation and she had studied every law and knew them in and out.
“That was your first meeting?”
“Mmhmm…” Keena nodded.
“And you arrested her for parking in the alpha’s spot?”
“I mean, really I wrote her a citation. She got an attitude with me and I then threatened to arrest her,” Keena admitted.
“What did she do?” Brice grinned widely.
“Lizzie looked at the ticket then at me and said, ‘You’re cute, but I still think this is abuse of authority.’”
Brice laughed so hard she leaned forward and covered her mouth. Her grip on Keena’s hand tightened. She finally was able to breathe as she turned back to Keena.
“Then what?” Brice asked.
“I told her to move her car and she asked me to dinner.” Keena laughed again.
“After you had given her a ticket?”
“Yup, but I said no.”
“You did not!” Brice exclaimed. “So she just gave up?”