Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
Every minute of every hour.
That was the promise Kyre had made to his mother, and I should have known he wasn’t the kind to exaggerate.
He kept his hold on me as his mother led us out of the hall and toward the kitchen, where she asked the cook to prepare a few extra servings for lunch.
He sat in the chair next to mine as we ate a magnificent meal of grilled fish and wild rice.
He even stood behind me, hands draped over my shoulder like some sort of grim guardian angel, once the tracker finally arrived.
Though to be honest, I wasn’t upset about that last one.
Thorn turned out to be just as intimidating as every other alpha I’d encountered, with flinty grey eyes and a constant scowl. During our conversation, I had to repeatedly remind myself that I wasn’t in any danger.
At least not if I could trust what Kyre’s mother said.
And the strange thing was, I did. I’d even go so far as to say I liked her.
Once I’d gotten over the shock of realizing that the ferus had chosen a woman leader, it was easy to see why they had picked her.
Calindra was open but clear-headed. When someone spoke, she leaned in, truly listening to every word. And when she responded, it was with thoughtful consideration.
Talking with her through the day, it was easy to spot the traits that she’d passed on to her son. Her intelligence. Her resolve. The pair even moved with a similar deliberate grace.
But, beyond the obvious physical differences, the main contrast between the two seemed to be their attitude toward me.
All through the day, Calindra stayed warm and welcoming, while Kyre seemed to sink deeper and deeper into resentment.
After just a few hours, I was left wondering how I would survive multiple days in his company.
But at least I wouldn’t have to do it alone. With Hannah and Calindra around, I would always have an escape from his constant glower.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Then the sun began to dip toward the horizon, and Hannah stood up from her seat.
“Tauren and I should start heading home before dark,” she said.
“You’re not staying here tonight?” I did my best not to sound as distraught as I felt.
“I’m afraid not.” She shook her head. “This house doesn’t hold a lot of good memories for Tauren. Even if we were invited to stay the night, I don’t think he’d accept.”
That was right. Not only was this the home he’d been kicked out of as a young man, but it was also where his father had been murdered in cold blood.
I’d been so wrapped up in my own concerns that I hadn’t been thinking about that.
Just like I’d been assuming that this was where Kyre and I would be staying.
“Are we invited?” There was no way not to sound awkward asking a question like that, but Calindra managed a gracious answer.
“Of course, my dear,” she replied. “There are plenty of open rooms here for you and Kyre to choose from. Please, take your pick.”
“That’s generous of you, mother,” he said, already shaking his head. “But I am going to take Sophia back to my cabin.”
“You are?” I couldn’t believe it. “But why? This house has so much more room. Surely, we’d be more comfortable here.”
A smile tugged at Calindra’s lips as she tilted forward an inch or two in her chair. “I didn’t realize you’ve already been to Kyre’s home.”
Damn. I needed to watch my mouth. I was becoming far too comfortable around someone with such perceptive eyes.
“I haven’t,” I said. “I just noticed the dense circle of wooden houses when we came through the gate. I assumed those were the cabins Kyre was talking about.”
“They are,” she admitted, sounding slightly disappointed that I wasn’t that easy to catch in a lie. “Though I still don’t understand why Kyre insists on staying there when there is so much room here.”
“Because that’s where the unmated alphas live, mother,” he said in a tired tone of voice that made me think that they’d had this argument plenty of times before. “And I am not mated.”
“If you say so,” she said with a shrug. “But surely tonight you can make an exception.”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “If Lash discovers Sophia is here, he and the rest of Nelissa’s followers might try another raid. And if they do, I won’t risk them coming this deep into the village to find her. I refuse to put you at risk.”
“It seems you two have an answer for everything,” Calindra mused, her gaze sliding back and forth between us.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Kyre shot back. “I know you were hoping to listen at our bedroom door for the sound of Sophia’s cries of pleasure as I pounded myself inside her all night long.”
“Holy crap, Kyre!” I shouted before I could stop myself. I couldn’t believe he was talking to his own mother that way. My face burned in mortification. “Stop.”
“Kyre, love, I think you’re embarrassing Sophia,” Calindra said. “I remember Tauren telling me that the kirre can be skittish when talking about sex.”
Oh my God.
“I’m not skittish,” I insisted. “It’s just…I’m not comfortable talking about things like that so openly.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of skittish,” Kyre said.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“You know what? Maybe it is time to get going.” I pushed myself up from my seat. “Thank you for everything, Mrs…Mrs…Lykaon.”
“Again, please call me Calindra.” In one graceful move, she rose up to her feet and inclined her head my way.
“I hope you both have a restful night’s sleep, and I look forward to talking to you again in the morning.
And Sophia, I will pray to the Fates tonight that Thorn may return soon with good news about your friend. ”
Damn, even her goodbyes were classy.
“Good night, mother,” Kyre grumbled in response, his hand right back around my wrist, already pulling me toward the door.
“Your mother knows.”
I waited until we were out of the house and walking through the village before stating the obvious. Even then, I was careful to keep my voice down to a whisper.
“No.” Kyre shook his head. “She suspects, and if we’re careful, that’s as far as she’ll get.”
I wasn’t so sure.
We’d barely made it through a single afternoon with our secret intact. I had no idea how in the world he expected us to make it through several more days.
“Maybe we should avoid her tomorrow,” I suggested. “And maybe the day after that too.”
“If you’re really that concerned, I could take you back to the Wall right now,” he shot back without even bothering to look my way. He was too busy meeting every curious glance from passing alphas with a stern glower.
Damn, I was getting tired of this constant grumpiness. If there was one thing I was sick of dealing with, it was entitled rich boys who thought the world should revolve around their mood swings.
So I dug in my heels, pasted on my best customer service smile, and glared daggers into the side of Kyre’s oblivious face.
“And if you’re really that worried about Lash, then why don’t you leave me with that Zale guy your mom was talking about, and go help Thorn find him?”
Sure, the thought of being handed off to another alpha was terrifying. Still, there was no way it could prove more mentally exhausting than trying to navigate the constant storm clouds above Kyre’s head.
But I instantly rethought that plan the second Kyre stopped cold in the middle of the street. A nervous lump formed in my throat as I watched the muscles lining his jaw twitch. The tendons along the side of his neck stretched tighter than piano wire.
And I wasn’t the only one who was worried.
Even the other ferus knew to give him a wide berth as he stood there frozen and seething in the middle of the path.
“I need you to listen carefully, Sophia,” he growled, his voice shaking with so much intensity that I could barely make out the words. “Don’t ever talk about being with another alpha again. Do you understand?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
Sure, I understood every word he’d said. I just didn’t have a clue why he’d said them.
His logic didn’t make any sense. Clearly, he couldn’t stand being around me. So why did the mere suggestion of handing responsibility for me over to someone else make him nearly boil over with rage?
What the hell was going on with him?
I didn’t want to know, I told myself. Especially, after he started storming down the street again, huffing like an angry bull.
We walked the rest of the way in stony silence. It didn’t help either of our moods that the other alphas’ glances and stares grew more obvious and blatant the closer we got to his cabin.
So this was the neighborhood where all the unmated alphas lived.
In my dreams, I only saw a sliver of the whole.
But in reality, there were so many more of these small, rough shacks than I’d ever imagined.
Hundreds of them. Some decently maintained, others practically rotting away on their foundations.
My curiosity flew into overdrive at the sight.
Why was there such a disparity between the quality of the homes in the center of the village and those here on the fringes? I couldn’t make sense of it. The Wilds was a massive place, overflowing with space and resources. Certainly, there had to be enough for everyone.
My mind filled up with questions I wished I could ask Kyre. But I didn’t dare.
At least not now.
He’d already made it clear he wasn’t in the mood for conversation.
So far as I could tell, he never was.
At least not with me.
So filed my questions away for the next time I saw Hannah or Calindra…or anyone who would do more than scowl and grunt whenever I opened my mouth.
After a few more minutes of weaving in between cabins, I spotted a familiar sight—a neat stack of firewood pushed up against a set of stairs, an axe buried in the top.
I’d been here so many times in dreams, but I still felt a strange rush of excitement to finally see the place in person. Without thinking, I walked faster, moving a few steps ahead of Kyre on the path, stretching the tether of his grip.
“You know my home,” he said, his tone hard to read as I rushed toward the stairs. I couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a simple statement or an actual question.
Either way, I wasn’t about to let it slip just how intimately I knew the cabin.
How I’d memorized nearly every inch of the place.
That I knew which floorboards creaked and which pillows were the softest. That I knew what his sheets felt sliding against my bare skin or how the bed frame groaned with the strain of his weight.
Those were my private memories of a fantasy man that didn’t truly exist.
“It’s the subject of one of Hannah’s photos,” I said instead. It was the truth after all. “The picture is so good that the gallery used it in their advertising.”
I couldn’t help myself from reaching out and tracing my fingers down the carved handle of the axe. The detail felt just as fine as it looked.
“I’m sure Hannah will be happy to hear that,” he grumbled after a short second. Then, as callous as always, he dragged me behind him up the stairs.
Funny. I’d never had to walk up them before, I realized. Kyre was always carrying me in the dreams. Arms around me tight, kissing me senseless. Then he’d kick open the door, and—
I sucked in a sharp breath as rusted hinges creaked and Kyre’s massive bed came into view.
“There’s a chair in the corner,” he said, pointing to it as he closed the door.
As if I didn’t already know.
Quietly, I settled myself down in it, as Kyre leaned his shoulders against the opposite wall, arms crossed and head tilted toward the floor. But I couldn’t keep my gaze from sliding toward the bed.
Why in the world did Kyre think it would be a good idea to spend the night in this room? In that bed? After all the things we’d dreamed of doing in it?
Unless…
Unless his dreams weren’t the same as mine.
For some reason, I hadn’t considered the possibility until now, but it would make a strange kind of sense. After all, the only time Kyre had mentioned anything about sex, it had been to mock the idea of sleeping with me.
Oh God.
The thought burned inside of me, scalding my brain until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Um, Kyre,” I said, shattering the strained silence that had been taking up all the space between us for over a minute. “Can I ask you a question?”
His head stayed down, but his gaze slid up. “What?”
“Without you getting mad, I mean?”
“Just ask your damn question, Sophia.”
It sounded like he was determined to be upset no matter what.
“What do you dream about?” I asked.
Even from across the room, I could see the muscles in his body tensing. His eyes narrowed, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
“We agreed not to talk about that,” he ground out between clenched teeth.
“With other people, yes, but I was just…just…”
My words trailed off. It was too hard to think straight so close to his bed. I couldn’t come up with a believable lie fast enough.
Especially not when those green eyes were cutting straight through me.
“Just what?” he demanded.
“I was just curious, I guess.” It was one hell of an understatement, but it was still the truth.
“And you think I’m not,” he shot back. “You think I haven’t wondered what you see in your dreams? What you experience? What you feel?”
His voice tightened on that last word, his hands balling into fists at his side. Thrusting them back, he pounded against the wall hard enough to crack the wood. I jumped at the sharp sound.
“Sorry,” I said once my heart stopped racing. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I won’t do it again.”
“Sophia…”
“Yes?”
For a split second, I thought I saw his perpetual mask of anger slip.
The harsh lines bracketing his eyes and mouth softened, and for the tiniest moment, he was the alpha from my dreams—a man with dozens of fiery, passionate emotions.
A creature whose wants and desires ran deep enough to drown me in ecstasy.
But a heartbeat later, that dream alpha was gone, hidden under the familiar cloak of simmering resentment.
“We both need sleep,” he said. “To make up for what we lost last night.”
I nodded. What else could I do?
“You take the bed,” he said. “I’ll rest in the chair.”
Well, that didn’t seem right.
“Are you sure? Because I don’t mind—”
His low growl vibrated through the floorboards. “Get in damned bed, Sophia.”
Funny, I’d been fantasizing about hearing him say those words to me for months now…just never like that.