Then it’s my turn to burst out laughing. Heidi reaches around and nabs one of my hoodies from the back seat and pulls it on. I brush the hair off her face, tugging the hood up to hide her away from the world. She twists away to put on her seat belt, but I stop her by cupping her face and leaning close.
“I’m not a cheater, Heidi. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
She closes the distance between us, resting her forehead against mine. And we stay there for a moment, simply breathing each other in.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask.
She goes to sit back in her seat but stops to stare into my eyes, “I still want an explanation, Kai.”
“And you’ll get one,” I promise.
Am I an asshole for searching out Ayden’s eyes when I walk around to my side of the car? Too fucking right, I am. But I think since he showed up just now, he needs reminding that Heidi is under my pack’s care, and he can go shove a cactus up his ass if he thinks different.
By the time we hit the third set of lights, she is out. I adjust the sun visor so the sun doesn’t hit her in the eyes. For the first time in forever, I drive without the radio on. Her little snores are enough.
Rounding the turn off to the house we’re using, I slow the car and pop the top open for her. The air out here is fresh and entirely different to living in the middle of the city.
I want to take her home instead of bringing her here. I really wasn’t trying to coerce her into trusting me, I need her too. Because as much as I’m sure she thinks coming with me is a huge risk, bringing her into our lives is just as big. And before we get to that point, we’ve got some pretty huge hurdles to clear.
The first one is going to be blatantly obvious the second she meets the members of my pack. I know she’s read the information I provided about Pack Alastor already, but the second we pull to a stop she’s going to come face to face with a pretty huge lie. There are a million reasons why we need to do it this way. The bigger hurdle is going to be Ramses.
Driving through the security gate, I slow enough to watch the gate close behind us. All around here the properties are surrounded by eight-foot fences, and that was one of the reasons we chose this house. Our level of security appears mundane and that’s what the Alpha Council saw, but then again, they only saw what we showed them.
A small noise like a sigh before Heidi makes a huge growly stretch pulls my focus back to her.
“How was your nap?” I ask, rubbing her leg.
“God, tequila in the morning is not a good idea.”
I chuckle. “I can’t even smell the stuff. Too many nights getting drunk on that shit has left me with too many bad memories.”
Sitting up, she pushes back the hood and lets the breeze blow over her face. “So, first up you look amazing in my clothes. Secondly, your electronics might glitch out here. We’re in the middle of a dead zone, but we’ve got satellite phones and normal old school dial ups if you want to call anyone.”
“Wow, really?” She swings around to look at me, her eyes wide in surprise.
I nod my head before grabbing her hand. “Are you nervous meeting my pack?”
“Yes,” she admits with a soft laugh.
“Well, they’re nervous about meeting you too.”
And then I’m pulling up out the front of the bungalow. It’s as standard as they come, but it’s in good condition. The grey slate roof slopes down and is extended to give us a generous front porch and a back porch, not that you can see it from the front. The white paint around the windows probably needs redoing as does the dove grey exterior.
“I know it’s not what you’re used to, Heidi,” I start, already feeling like I need to apologise.
“Don’t do that,” she snips immediately. “Don’t compare.”
“It’s hard not to,” I admit.
“Well, if I have an issue, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay.”
“Besides, you’ve seen my place at Unity, and compared to that, this is a palace.”
Of course, I never accounted for my brothers’ impatience. And before we get out of the car, and much like we agreed not to, the front door opens wide. Without a care in the fucking world, my dipshit brothers, who look identical to me, step out.
“What are they?” she whispers frantically. Not taking her eyes off Ramses and Darius.
