“Pack archives. Apparently, there’s a new stack of files the librarian thinks we might find interesting in our search for information on the plot against the Blackwater pack.”
This time, I didn’t even bother trying to hold back my sigh. There was nothing worse than the dusty old pack archives, except perhaps sitting in Jerica’s kitchen.
Chapter 3
Elodie
Our cottage door shut with a soft click behind us, and Galyna spun on me with the speed of the warrior she was.
“What the fuck is going on between you and the second?”
I froze, a rabbit caught in a trap. Any move might tighten the noose around my neck.
“What?” I asked, buying myself a few seconds to think.
My partner and best friend crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing in my direction. She studied me closely, as if the answer might be hidden in the stitching along my tunic’s edge. “Don’t bother being coy. You and I both know what it looks like.”
“Apparently not. What does it look like to you?” I lifted my chin defiantly, resisting the deep-seated urge to fidget under scrutiny. I wouldn’t lie to her, but… I couldn’t tell her.
I just couldn’t bear it.
“He’s acting an awful lot like a possessive alpha male. And you… You’re not putting him in his place. You’re avoiding him like you’ve got something to hide. Did you two sleep together or something?”
“No.” I grimaced, unable to even imagine it.
Okay, that wasn’t quite accurate. Boy howdy, could I imagine it. Valens was a powerful man. Big, thick muscles, and the way he’d so confidently grabbed my hand on my sword, well… I had no doubts he’d take charge in the bedroom.
That shouldn’t sound as good as it does.
My wolf rumbled her approval in my chest, and my heart sank.
She had stayed silent when he called me his mate. And I was clinging to that by my fingertips. Just because hethoughtI was his mate didn’t make it gospel.
My wolf had to accept his wolf.
I shook my head, needing to deal with the situation in front of me. My partner, who absolutely could not know about this potential entanglement. She’d be duty bound to report it to the head priestess immediately, and I could get pulled from this detail and called back to the enclave. I thought of what was to come, the impending war, and vowed I’d do whatever it took to protect this pack.
Even keep secrets from my partner.I shoved aside the twinge of guilt brought on by the thought. It was the best thing for everyone.
“Uh-huh.” Her lips twisted with obvious suspicion. “You know I don’t care. The chastity laws are basically a thing of the past at this point, and even if they weren’t, I’m no snitch. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Galyna companionably slapped me on the shoulder, yawning as she walked past me. “I’m going to hit the showers. It’s been a long-ass night, and an even longer morning.”
“That it has.” My words were just lip service, simple gratitude that she’d written the strangeness off as a one-night stand gone awkward. But how long would that last if he kept hovering, kept pushing?
I needed to get him alone, where we could have a conversation about exactly what was—and, more importantly,wasn’t—going to happen between us.
The shower spray turned on in the back of the cabin, and I slipped out the front door. Galyna was a sound sleeper, and nothing sent her under faster than a long, hot shower. As long as I got back before she woke up, she’d never even notice I was gone.
Valens was in the last place I expected to find him, hidden among teetering stacks of books and papers, sneezing from the dust.
And pissed off, if the tight hunch of his shoulders was any indication.
I cleared my throat, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy startling him. He jerked at the sudden noise in the quiet space, turquoise eyes softening slightly at the corners when he spotted me.
“Well, this task just got a hell of a lot better.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not staying. We just need to have a conversation.”
