Hannibal Lector?
Although, granted, she figured Shifters would be more at ease with such an expression, but that didn’t mean she would be too.
She sat up straighter, no longer able to feign ease in a situation where she was unsure of what was going on.
This guy hadn’t just decided to come and talk to her on a whim.There was forethought here, she felt.
“What do you want?”she asked.“And what’s your name?”
He did as she’d wanted to do moments before; bared his teeth.“I’m Jeb.”
The name rang a bell—hadn’t Ryan mentioned a Jeb who hated him?Who wanted to challenge him but couldn’t because he wasn’t strong enough to win, and challenges were to the death?
She bit her lip at the thought, wondering if this Jeb was one and the same with the guy Ryan had talked to Bailey about.
The Wolf cop had been hanging around recently, trying to help out, but as far as she could tell none of the Shifter-affiliated officers were having much luck when it came to figuring out who was targeting the Pride.
“I think you should ask Ryan about the threats if you’d like more information.”
“I already tried that, but as usual, Ryan isn’t interested in being anything other than a dictator.”
Though his words should probably have had fear spiking through her because his dislike for her mate was evident at that moment, it didn’t.If anything, she snickered, because Ryan was not a dictator.
Ryan’s major trouble was, she’d come to learn, his total and utter lack of desire to lead.
Some guys were born to a position they didn’t want, and had to grow into the role to be at ease with it… Ryan was one of those guys.
His physical and mental strength placed him in a job he wasn’t ready for.Emotionally.
And, truth was, she kind of understood.Considering how long these Shifters lived, how long she’d live too now, Ryan was still pretty much in his twenties.
Some guys were ready to rule their particular roost then, but Ryan simply wasn’t.
He didn’t want the responsibility but shouldered it because he had no choice.Only Trip and Marc, who were much older, made it bearable for him.
And El, determining right then and there to help him with the burden rather than add to it, decided she’d start helping Ryan out, too.
She was more comfortable with positions of authority.She’d had to be.It had been saddled on her at an early age too, and her grandfather’s will had made her have far more responsibilities than she’d have liked.But, unlike Ryan, who was still fighting it, she’d accepted she’d never have an easy-going, carefree life.
A snap sounded behind her, and she jolted.The tiny noise was barely anything.Undoubtedly a twig breaking and cracking, but to her, it had the volume of gunfire.
She jerked and spun around trying to find the source of the noise, but when she turned back, she realized Jeb had gone.
Well, that wasn’t creepy, was it?
For whatever reason, he’d decided that doing a disappearing act was better than dealing with whoever was behind her in the woods… which, her nose soon informed her, was Trip.
When he appeared in the clearing, she smiled at him, and the tension around his eyes immediately lessened at the sight.
Whether it was at her smile or the fact he knew where she was, she wasn’t sure.
“You sneaked out,” he accused.
“Needed a breath of fresh air,” she told him, deciding not to get mad.
It wasn’t too hard.She was used to being watched, used to someone keeping her under surveillance, but at home things had always been lax.
Here on Pride land, it wasn’t that way at all.
