Chapter 11 #3
“Anyway,” the Alpha said roughly, his throat working as he swallowed. “I wanted to thank you for your help. I realize I didn’t do that yesterday. It became quite obvious I didn’t know what was at stake for you when you rushed to help those pups. So… thank you. I also need to apologize.”
I raised my brows at him, my mind still whirling from what he’d already said. He’d thanked me. And now he wanted to apologize? This had to be a trick.
“I should never have ordered you to be thrown into a cell,” he said, his Adam’s apple bobbing, voice hitching, guilt and pain written all over his face.
“I’m sorry for that. I let my temper get the best of me.
I was already on the edge. But that’s not your fault.
So, I’m sorry. If I could turn back time, I swear, I’d act differently.
The way I treated you… it’s not how we treat people here. ”
“Thank you,” I whispered, my heart hammering in my throat, that tiny voice in my head telling me to walk over and give him a hug. But I stayed where I was because there were things I needed to say. Needed to come clean about. “I’m sorry too.”
He raised his brows, cocking his head.
“For what?”
“Sneaking into your territory. Not announcing my presence.”
“Yeah,” he said, a muscle in his neck tightening. “After what those pups told me, I’m starting to understand why.”
I blinked. “What did those… pups… tell you?”
Gray sighed. “They were surprised when I told them you were staying here, and somehow that single statement of mine led to them telling me that shifters kept mages as…” He swallowed, body tensing, anger rising.
“Property.” He spat the word out, disdain tainting the word.
“They made it seem like it’s a common occurrence. ”
“Because it is,” I whispered, meeting his eyes for maybe the first time ever.
His irises were dark, almost black and ablaze, a fire burning in them.
Last time, I’d thought his rage was directed at me, and maybe it had been, but this time…
I could almost let myself be convinced he was angry for me, not at me. Almost.
Gray growled. “Not here,” he said, jaw clenched. “Definitely not here.”
I believed him. At least part of me did. Part of me relaxed upon hearing his words, having him confirm what I hadn’t dared to hope.
Another voice was screaming at me to be careful. That they’d sneak up on me, betray me if I let my guard down.
“I don’t understand why you snuck onto my pack lands in the first place, though,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be easier to stay far away from shifters?”
And here we were again, at a point where I had to admit to bringing trouble to their door. Where I’d find out at what point Gray would decide I wasn’t worth the effort and kick me out.
“Because there’s a pack of wolves who’ve been hunting me for six months now.” I raised my chin, staring at him defiantly. “They followed me all the way here from Southern California.”
He growled, his eyes flashing.
“Those intruders?” he spat in fury, hands balling into fists. He came a step closer, but this time I didn’t shrink back; I didn’t try melting against the wall.
“Yes. I’m sorry they’re a hassle to you.”
He huffed. “We can manage. And now that we know what they’re after…” A dangerous glint flickered in his eyes, and his lips pulled back in a menacing snarl that would’ve terrified me even twelve hours ago. “The kid gloves we’ve been treating them with come off.”
I swallowed, nerves and excitement warring in my stomach until it let out a growl. I quickly pressed a hand to it and tried shoving the hunger gnawing at my guts away. Now was not the time. At all.
Gray laughed.
“Hungry?” he said, raising a brow at me. “You look like you could use a meal or ten.”
Oh, I wanted to snark back, but I didn’t. He was the Alpha, and I was… I had no idea. Not a prisoner, though, and that was more than I’d dared hope for.
“It’s okay for you to be hungry, you know?
” he said, eyes turning softer, even though his aura was still in turmoil, emotions high within him.
“I mean it, you need to eat. I can bring breakfast to your room, or if you’re up for it, you can come downstairs with me.
I could show you our packhouse. Prove to you that the first impression we made isn’t who we are as a pack. ”
I hesitated.
This room was safe. A controlled environment. There were only so many people who could fit inside at once, and no one could get into this room undetected.
Downstairs… I knew packhouses. I knew how they worked.
Knew how crowded they could be, wolves coming at you from all directions, auras and emotions high, the volume overpowering until I was so busy sorting through everything that I missed the important stuff.
An attack. Someone tripping me to make fun of the clumsy mage.
In the end, my stomach decided by letting out another rumble, another wave of cramps hitting me.
“Fine,” I said, my voice betraying the fake confidence I’d been going for. I raised another shield a couple of inches around me, one that should keep people from being able to reach me.
Gray smiled as if he were a kid at Christmas.
“I have to warn you, though,” he said as he opened the door. “My pack is like a big family. A very big, very loud, and very nosy one.”
Was it too late to change my mind?