9. CHAPTER 9
Helia falls asleep in a matter of minutes. She fits perfectly into my arms, her back pressed against my chest. At the risk of being a creep, I bury my nose into her blonde hair and inhale her sweet flowery scent, determined to commit it to memory.
I can’t believe I’ve slept with a human. I can’t even claim that I’ve fucked her because what we did was the opposite of that. While I’ve done more than my fair share of fucking, I’ve never made love to anyone. Until now.
You’re fucked,my wolf comments, clearly having no problems to state the obvious.
What will I do?I ask him, but the reply doesn’t come. Neither one of us has an answer to our predicament.
For a while during dinner, I’d actually forgotten that I was surrounded by humans. As annoying as Jessica and Melissa seemed at first, I had fun hearing the three of them joke with each other. While Matthew kept that asshole Liam occupied, Lorraine was happy to throw me a bone to tease Helia about our supposed beginnings.
It was a fun night, but the morning is coming. Everything is better in the dark. The light always shows the imperfections, forcing us to face the reality.
What the fuck will I do?
What we shared on the sofa was something new for me. I want to experience it again. I want to feel her. To touch her. To kiss her. Fuck, I want everything with her.
Start by telling the truth and see where that goes,my wolf suggests at last.
I shake my head in dismay. This is too important to just go with the flow.
You just met her,he points out. You can’t have caught feelings yet.
I know, but I want to spend more time with her. I want to get to know her. I want to know every little thing about her. Is that crazy?
Yes, he replies, without missing a beat. You’re fucking mental, but guess what? If you think that what you’re doing is bad, remember that your brothers have probably done something that’s even worse.
Garren is getting into some weird shit by insisting that a commoner is his fated mate,I muse, imagining how the people will accept their prince marrying a commoner. Granted, she’s an alpha and comes from a respected military family, but that doesn’t make things much easier for my brother.
It’s a good thing you weren’t born first, my wolf agrees. We can fly under the radar as long as we don’t call too much attention to ourselves.
You’re right. I guess we could give it a try,I agree. We’ll start with parts of the truth and then go from there.
Helia stirs in my arms. Her deep and even breathing changes. It’s too early for her to wake up just yet, but I suppose she’s used to getting only a couple of hours of sleep at a time.
I kiss the back of her neck. Her back tenses ever so slightly, confirming that she’s awake. The second kiss I plant just beneath her ear. Her eyes are still closed, but her lips are twitching. I skip the third kiss altogether and catch her earlobe between my lips, nibbling and sucking on it. Helia lifts her shoulders up and giggles, but I hold her tight.
She squirms against me, her bare ass rubbing against my erection. If she keeps moving like this, we’re going to spend the day doing everything else except talking.
I let go of her earlobe and whisper, “Good morning, baby.”
Helia turns in my arms to look at me. Her beautiful green eyes are heavy with sleep, but they shine with unspeakable joy in them. She doesn’t say anything, but instead lifts her hand and gently touches my cheek, running her fingers through my stubble. I kiss her fingertips as she trails them across my lips.
“Good morning,” she says at last. Her morning voice must be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. I smile against her fingertips, and she moves them to my hair, brushing my messy strands backward.
“It’s still early,” I tell her. “You should try to get another hour or two.”
She trails her fingers downward, tentatively touching the bags under my eyes that my wolf didn’t consider important enough to smooth away just yet. “You look like you didn’t get any sleep at all.”
“I know I shouldn’t, but I’ll take this as a compliment,” I tease, then lower my head and kiss her cute little nose.
“Were you watching me sleep all night?” she asks, sounding genuinely curious.
“Like a creep that I am,” I confirm, planting a kiss on her cheek just under the eye.
She slightly raises her brow, and I know that whatever follows is a test. “Do I snore?”
I narrow my eyes at her, then give her my most determined nod. “You’re like a god damn train.”
She gasps, her mouth falling open in surprise. I grin and plant a kiss on her other cheek before wrapping my arms around her. She nestles against me, resting her cheek against my chest. I gently set my chin on top of her head, holding her close and silently cherishing this precious moment.
“Are you hungry?” I ask, but before she can open her mouth to answer, her stomach grumbles loudly. I chuckle and kiss the top of her head. “I’m taking this as a yes. I’ll call room service.”
“You don’t need to do that,” she says, but I’ve already rolled to the side and reached for the landline.
“Reception desk. How can I help you?”
“Yeah, hi,” I say into the phone, aware that the blanket has slipped down low enough for Helia to get a good look at my ass. “I would like to order room service to the Presidential Suite.”
“Sure thing. What can we get you?”
“Breakfast for two,” I reply. “A bit of everything.”
“Noted,” the receptionist replies, the sound of typing reaching my ears. “Someone will be up there with it in twenty minutes or so.”
“Great, thanks,” I say into the phone and hang up.
“That’s a lot of food, isn’t it?” Helia teases when I roll back to her.
“I eat up like a wolf,” I joke back, then immediately regret my choice of words because she flinches and jerks away from me. “Whoa. What’s wrong?”
Helia gets off the bed, pulling the blanket along with her to cover herself. She rubs the palm of her hand over her face, muttering something that I can’t distinguish even with my heightened senses.
“What’s wrong?” I repeat, unable to suppress the urgency in my voice. I grab the pillow to put over my lap as I sit on the edge of the bed. “Helia?”
“Please, Grayden,” she pleads, her green eyes meeting mine. “Please tell me it’s not true.”
She knows,my wolf says.
She can’t, I insist. She’s human. Humans don’t know about our existence.
She knows, he repeats.
“You need to be a bit clearer,” I tell her, trying to keep my cool. She can’t know. There must be something else that she’s freaking out about. “What’s going on?”
I brace myself as Helia opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She closes it and shakes her head.
“Helia please,” I urge, needing her to tell me what’s wrong. “Talk to me.”
Her eyes dart to the bed where we’ve slept, and then toward the living room to the sofa where we’ve made love. She shakes her head again and sighs heavily.
“I need a shower,” she says and goes into the bathroom, locking herself in before I can object.
She knows,my wolf tells me again.
Shut up! I scream at him, frustration getting the better of me. Just shut the fuck up.
Take a breath,he orders, putting a bit of growl at the end to bring his authority up a notch. Not knowing what else to do, I obey. You’re going to get dressed. When she comes out of the bathroom, you two will sit down and talk. You planned on having this conversation with her either way. You’ll just have to have it a bit sooner.
And on her terms, I mutter.
Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you should try to figure out why she knows about our existence,my wolf points out. Who is she? Does she know other wolves? How is she connected to us? Those are just some of the questions that she should answer if it’s true.
You’re right, I agree and take another breath.
As a human, Helia shouldn’t know about wolves. It’s true that there are some who are aware of our existence, but the chances of me randomly meeting one of those are slim. They’re practically nothing.
The shower turns on in the bathroom. I close my eyes and allow myself a moment to imagine her standing in that tub. Drops of water falling over her naked body. Her hands rubbing all over, washing away any signs of our lovemaking.
You have bigger problems than worrying about her trying to get rid of your scent,my wolf says with an exasperated sigh. It’s not like other humans can sense it anyway.
She’s mine,I tell him, marking my territory like an alpha. She will be mine until I say otherwise.
That’s not how it works,he warns me. You should drop it and move on.
Right,I say and shake my head to banish territorial thoughts out of my mind. I don’t know what’s happening to me.
Me neither,my wolf admits with a quiet voice that makes me shudder. Maybe we’re in bigger shit than we’ve first thought.
Since I’m also in dire need of a shower, I don’t bother putting on a fresh set of clothes. I quickly locate my outfit from the night before and put on some pieces of it. Just enough to cover myself and give us an opportunity to have a serious conversation.
Not a second after I button up my shirt, Helia opens the bathroom door. She left her suitcase there, so I’m not surprised that she’s also dressed up. Skinny jeans and a white T-shirt look good on her. I wish I could tell her that, but judging by her face, there are other things that we need to get out of the way first.
“I’m here,” I tell her when her eyes dart around the room.
She turns to me and starts walking toward the living room with slow, tentative steps. She keeps her eyes averted away from me, and I nearly suggest for us to sit on the sofa but decide against it. I don’t think she’d appreciate the reminder of our lovemaking.
“The dining room?” I suggest, pointing a thumb over my shoulder.
Helia doesn’t reply and instead walks directly to the dining room. She hovers by the table, so I take the initiative and sit at the head of it. As soon as I’m seated, she moves to the opposite side and as far away from me as possible.
“Okay,” I say slowly, my brows furrowing. “Do you want to talk now or after breakfast?”
“I’ve lost my appetite,” she mutters, but I can hear her clear as day.
“Just say it,” I say with a sigh and lean back into the chair in resignation. “Let’s cut the crap. I know you know, so out with it.”
“So, it’s true then?” she asks, finally lifting her eyes to meet mine. I breathe in sharply when I notice hers glimmering with tears. “You’re a wolf.”
“Yes,” I confirm, not seeing the point in denying it.
Ask her,my wolf insists, being more annoying than encouraging.
I clear my throat and tilt my head to the side, giving her a questioning look. “How does a human know about wolves?”
Helia’s eyes widen and her mouth falls open. To say that her reaction is unexpected is an understatement, especially when she begins shaking her head.
“Oh, wow,” she breathes, her brows high. “This is worse than I’d thought.”
“What do you mean?” I ask with a bit more force than intended. I’m starting to lose my patience. I hate always being the last one to find things out.
“You think I’m a human,” she says as if trying to clarify it.
“Yes,” I confirm, then furrow my brows.
My own eyes widen when I finally get it. I jump off the chair so fast that it tips over. My nails shift into claws and my teeth extend into sharp fangs.
“You’re a witch,” I growl, my voice low and threatening. I glance around the room, waiting for her coven to come out. “Is this a trap?”
Helia doesn’t react at all. She remains seated, her eyes looking at me with terrible sadness. A lone tear trails its way down her cheek. After the longest moment, she shakes her head.
“No one’s coming,” she tells me. “I had no idea who...what you were.”
“Neither did I,” I confess. My chest hurts as if my heart has shattered into a million pieces, each of them sharper than the one before. “Wh-what do we do now?”
A knock on the door interrupts us. I dare a glance toward the sound.
“It’s room service,” I say. “I should go get it.”
“Yeah,” she agrees.
I’ve no idea how I manage, but somehow, I get my claws and fangs to retract as I walk toward the door. I even plant a smile on my face as I open it.
“I’ll take it from here, thanks,” I tell the hotel employee, pull the service cart in, and practically close the door in his face.
You could’ve at least tipped him,my wolf comments, but I’m not in the mood to joke.
The smell of food gets my appetite going. I roll the cart into the dining room and leave it halfway between both of us.
“I hope you don’t mind if I serve myself,” I tell her, my back turned toward her as I’m already reaching for the plate and piling it sky-high with bacon, eggs, and sausages. When she doesn’t say anything, I glance over my shoulder at her. “You should try to eat something, too.”
To my surprise, she approaches the cart full of food as soon as I’m back into my chair. She opts for granola, fruit, and yogurt instead. If our situation wasn’t so tense, I’d make a joke about her food preferences.
“What now?” I ask when she sits down. Though I’m cutting my sausage into small pieces, my attention is on her.
“Honestly?” she asks and scoffs. “I have no idea. I’ve never been in a situation like this. Hell, I’ve never even met a wolf before you. This is all new to me.”
“I’ve never met a witch either,” I confess, then add, “Though I did hear a lot of stories about your kind. None of them good.”
“Same,” she admits. Her eyes slowly lift to mine. “You don’t seem like the big bad wolf.”
“I might be big and a wolf, but I’m not bad,” I joke, but it lands flat. I mentally curse myself for even trying. The situation is too tense to be lightened, and I definitely blame my wolf because he was the one who made the first joke. “That was lame. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, it kind of was,” she agrees, her lips slightly lifting. “Who are you? Is your name even Grayden?”
“One way or another, everything I’ve told you has been the truth,” I assure her. “It’s true that I should’ve given you a few more details here and there, but in my defense, I did think you were a human.”
“I guess I wasn’t exactly honest with you either,” she admits, taking a part of the blame. “Should we start being now?”
I nod. “Do you want to start or should I?”
“Could you, please?” she asks, and I could’ve sworn that her voice shook at that last word.
“Sure,” I confirm and take a deep breath. “I’m Prince Grayden Gray, the second-born son of King Gael Gray.”
Helia’s eyes widen, and I can tell that she didn’t expect this to be so bad. To her credit, she doesn’t look away from me and lets me speak without interrupting me.
“You have to believe me when I tell you that I never planned for this to happen,” I continue, forcing myself to push forward no matter what. “I never meant for us to happen. I didn’t even want to go to that stupid bar in the first place, but Wyatt dragged me there because he wanted to get together with this girl, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the curb next to the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. After that, well, you know...”
“Yeah, I guess it’s partly my fault that we didn’t part ways,” Helia admits. “I probably should’ve been more suspicious when you didn’t want to go to the hospital.”
“That should’ve been a red flag,” I agree. “I could’ve been a dangerous criminal, hiding from law enforcement.”
“You are dangerous,” she points out.
“But I’m not a criminal,” I counter. “Nor am I hiding from law enforcement. At least as far as I know it.”
Helia smiles, her icy facade beginning to melt. I’m not sure whether it’s a good sign or not, but I’ll take it.
“Your turn,” I tell her. “We’ll do the question round later.”
“Fair enough,” she agrees and sighs. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Yeah, I feel you,” I mutter. “What a fucking mess.”
“Since you’ve met my coworkers and have been at my workplace, you know for a fact that I am who I said I was. Dr. Helia Payne,” she starts, sounding just as awkward going through the introduction’s bullet points as I did. “My parents were the heads of the New York City’s coven, but they died a year ago. They were hunted down by a group of wolves. I have a twin sister who always showed more interest in running the coven. She took it over, and let’s just say that if she finds out that I’m with a wolf, not even a wolf, but Prince Grayden Grey himself, I’m going to be shunned from my people forever. That is if I’m lucky to be kicked out with my life intact.”
“I’m sorry about your parents,” I tell her, wanting to address this first. I’ve been lucky enough not to have lost anyone close to me, so I can’t even imagine how she must feel. “Do you know which pack it was?”
“There are rumors going around that have something to do with Shadows,” Helia replies with a shrug. I freeze, my entire body stiffening. Fortunately, she doesn’t notice. “As a doctor, I’ve dealt with a lot of gang shootings and witnessed first-hand that retaliation only brings more death. While I don’t want to get involved in that, Hekate made it her life mission to bring the covens from all around the world together and exterminate the wolves once and for all.”
She must be referring to Gavin’s old pack,my wolf comments.
She’s referring to my youngest brother who left and married into the Lafayette family and became a king in his own right. Before he rose in the ranks, he was the Alpha of the deadliest pack of wolves in the Grey kingdom. He fought in numerous battles and led twice as many hunts. It’s a high possibility that he’s the one Hekate’s looking for.
As if being a witch and a wolf wasn’t an obstacle enough,I complain. I don’t know what I’ll do if my brother’s the one who killed her parents.
He did his duty,my wolf reminds me. You are to do nothing.
“Wait,” I say as I find my voice at last, my brows furrowing. “Your sister is Hekate?”
Helia raises her brow in question. “Yes, why?”
“Please tell me that there’s more than one Hekate in New York City,” I plead, but when she shakes her head, I know for sure that I’m even more fucked than I originally thought.
“Grayden, you’re scaring me,” Helia says slowly. “Tell me what’s going on.”
I sigh heavily and run my fingers through my hair. “Right now, your sister is literally our worst enemy. She’s on the top of our most wanted list. Every wolf is looking for her. My brothers are looking for her as we speak.”
“Why?” she asks, the question barely audible. Her eyes are wide and scared.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” I scoff. “Well, for starters, some lower coven under her command took my brother and his alpha hostage. They managed to get out alive, but it’s not looking good for your sister because the royals are putting their differences aside to bring her down. Apparently, she’s one of the biggest threats our kind has faced since the original witches that cursed us. It also doesn’t work in her favor that she’s experimenting on rogue wolves, giving them abilities that they shouldn’t have in the first place.”
“I had no idea about any of that,” Helia says with so much sincerity that I’m inclined to believe her. “What happens now? With us?”
“I’m not sure,” I reply honestly. “Here’s the thing. I like you and I don’t know what to do about it because I’ve never liked anyone the way I like you. You’re funny, kind, compassionate, beautiful, and just about everything I’m not. You’re the opposite of what I’ve ever seen or been around, and I like that.”
“I like you, too,” she admits, her eyes locked on mine. “I’ve always kept a distance from other humans because of my connection to the witches. I didn’t want to live a lie and not tell my partner about who I was. The funny thing is, that though in theory, you know everything about me, that’s also the problem.”
“How about a break then?” I suggest, going with the flow as an idea forms in my head. “Let’s each go our own way for a week or two and see what happens with our families. When the dust settles, hopefully, the situation between our species will be clear up as will these things we are feeling.”
“Sure,” she agrees, although she doesn’t sound too convinced that this will end up well. To be honest, neither am I, but there’s nothing else we can do right now.
I clear my throat and stand up. “I’ll get out of your hair. Someone will come by later to gather my things.”
“You don’t need to,” she tells me, but we both know that I do.
“Don’t worry about the room, I’ll cover all the costs,” I continue. “You and your friends can take the private plane back.”
For fear that I’d chicken out, I do my damn best not to look at her as I walk into the living room to grab my jacket. My wallet is still in its pocket as is my phone. Without another word, I go to the door.
“Grayden,” Helia calls, running after me.
I turn around just as she flies into my embrace. She presses her lips on mine in a desperate last kiss. I return it without hesitation, soaking in her sweet taste. Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her as close as our bodies allow, her flowery scent filling my nostrils.
“Goodbye, Helia,” I say against her mouth, then let go of her, and leave before I can change my mind.
The image of the sadness on her face will be forever imprinted in me. Her usually bright green eyes are now dulled with pain.
The worst part is that it’s not even our fault. It’s just the wrong time and the wrong place. We’ve been born into the wrong families and the wrong species. It’s as simple as that. A tale as old as time, and a feud as old as our existence. For the first time ever, I understand why the witches thought that being a wolf would be a curse.