Page 104 of UNAwere

‘Do geese see god.’

Warner’s brows knit together. ‘What are you…?’

‘It’s a word or phrase that can be spelt the same backwards as it can forwards.’ Jude’s voice surprises me so much, I suck in a small breath. But then I beam at him, nodding, and he glances at me, his eyes on my mouth. They quickly shift to Warner when the alpha turns in his chair to regard him.

‘I didn’t take you for a nerd, Briggs,’ Warner says.

‘What’s wrong with nerds?’ I ask, offended on my behalf.

Warner squints at me, nose scrunching slightly. ‘You’re not a nerd, are you?’

‘I mean, kinda…?’

He huffs.

‘What?’ I ask, frowning.

He shakes his head. ‘I keep forgetting that I don’t have to be attracted to you to go through with this. Sometimes it takes me a moment to stop and force myself to forget about feelings.’

‘Oh.’

Jude drops his arms and steps forward, fists clenching, and my eyes widen slightly. By the look on his face, I think he’s going to kill his alpha. But then the door opens, and the tension drops, and I let out a breath of relief when I see Jude pause, his chest rising and falling at an alarming rate. He looks up, and his eyes seem to meet with someone across the room.

When I peer over my shoulder, a woman with black hair and gold-black eyes is staring at him. And the expression she wears is a warning only an older sister could give her younger brother.

‘Hannah,’ Warner says. ‘You’re late.’

‘Yeah, well, if you had three kids who need to get to school, Layton, you’d understand that time moves to their will and no one else’s,’ she says.

I grin. I’ve always admired women who don’t bow and scrape to every whim of their alphas.

She cocks a brow at Jude. ‘You look exhausted.’

‘Big trip,’ is all he says.

Her eyes slide to me, and her mouth softens. ‘You must be Sybbie. I’m Hannah.’

I smile and stand. ‘It’s great to meet you.’

‘You too.’ She folds her arms across her chest. She’s built like her brother, tall and solid. And I admire the flex of muscles in her bare arms. ‘Can I start?’

‘You can,’ Warner says.

She nods. ‘Come on, Sybbie. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.’

I follow her out, feeling Jude’s eyes now trying to bore a hole into my back. But I don’t turn and meet his gaze. Hannah steps aside and lets me leave first. When she turns to peer back into the room, I see her throw another one of those looks back at her brother. But then she closes the door and turns to me.

‘Come on, you.’

I follow her down the corridor. We’re upstairs, and certain parts of it break off to a mezzanine that looks down into the lower area of the house. She leads me downstairs, and I realise we’re heading back towards my room when I see the abstract paintings again. Hannah walks silently, even wearing boots, and I can hear the swish of her jeans. She turns us into the little sitting area outside my room and gestures to the lounges.

‘Take a seat.’

‘I feel like I’m sitting down for a therapy session,’ I murmur, collapsing onto a plush lounge that seems to swallow me.

She snorts. ‘You kind of are… That, or you’ll need therapy after this.’

I grin. ‘That bad?’