“N-nothing.” Her voice sounded shaky, too.
“Lyla.” He sank down on his heels in front of her and took her hands. “What’s wrong? What happened? Don’t you trust me to keep you safe? No one’s going to hurt you, Lyla. I promise.”
“No, it’s— It’s not that.” She took a shaky breath and glanced away from his too-handsome, too-earnest face. “I was just wondering about the universal mate thing.” She licked her lips and glanced back into his eyes. His beautiful, kind, ocean-blue eyes.
“That just doesn’t sound good.”
“Oh. That. No, it’s okay. That just means that you don’t have to worry about the bond taking. Whoever you pick, the bond will take. You’ll have protection.” He squeezed her hands. “Okay?”
She nodded and looked away. “So it doesn’t mean… There’s no…” She peeked back at him, “sharing?”
Aaron cleared his throat and stared down at the carpet. “No. No sharing.” He glanced back up at her, his face grim. “Ever. The People don’t— share.”
She blew out a breath. “Okay. Good. That’s good.”
“Lyla, this is going to be okay. You can take your time… Figure out someone who will…” he made a pained face, “suit. I’m right here. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Okay?”
“Okay.” Her voice was small, and she couldn’t quite look at him.
She hated that she was putting him in this position. The fact that he was willing do this for her almost made it worse. Just another reason to regret she couldn’t choose him. She peeked up at him. Could she? Her stomach clenched and she looked away.
“Here, let me get your things. Where are your bags? It’s late. You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
“My bags are across the hall. I thought I would be staying there…”
“Fine. I’ll be right back.”
As Lyla went through her nightly routine, brushing her teeth and putting on moisturizer, she began to feel calmer. She had a strong feeling she was safer here in this pack house than she would be anywhere else. Elizabeth’s words came back to her. She didn’t have to decide anything right now. She could take her time and figure something out.
There might even be some type of spell she could use to protect herself from that other pack. To block her scent, or something. And she needed to get her hands on that prophecy. There might be a way out of this mess after all.
She padded across the room toward the bed. Aaron was already ensconced under the covers, looking unbearably enticing. He had straightened the bedding and turned back the covers on her side. As she slipped between the sheets, she tried not to imagine snuggling up to his warmth. They said goodnight, and Aaron rolled to his side, giving her his back. After everything that had happened, it took her a long time to fall asleep. But Aaron was a warm, solid presence beside her, and eventually she drifted off.
Chapter 12
Aaron could hear Gage and Mari bickering all the way down the stairs. They were in the process of making breakfast, and apparently it wasn’t going well. Or maybe it was just a case of too many chefs in the kitchen.
“Give me that, Gage! I need that milk.”
“Mari, you don’t put milk in eggs, that’s just gross.”
“Of course you put milk in the eggs, I’m making scrambled eggs.”
“I don’t know, your biscuits, yes, those are great, but the rest of your cooking—”
“Oh, just give me that.”
Aaron had reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Mari yank the milk container from Gage’s hands.
“Just go cut the onions, would you? I thought you were going to try to be useful for a change.”
“Hey. I’m very useful. Look at these peppers. Have you ever seen such beautiful chopped peppers? Green and red. Magnifique!”
Mari rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. Grinning really. “Yes, Gage. Your peppers are beautiful. Now if you would only chop the onions, I could start cooking. And maybe we could eat before noon. Oh. Good morning, Aaron.”
Mari’s smile turned ever so slightly brittle, and Aaron felt it in the pit of his stomach. He skirted around her carefully, heading for the coffee pot. “Morning.” He nodded to her. “Morning, Gage.”
“Morning, dude.”
Aaron just managed not to roll his eyes. Lately, Gage was on a dude phase, which should have sounded ridiculous with his accent, but somehow it didn’t. Gage bumped his shoulder gently as Aaron moved past him to get a cup, and the tension in his stomach eased. Gage was a lot more perceptive than he let on.
“I’m gonna go down and check the monitors,” Aaron said as he poured coffee into his mug. “How long ‘til breakfast?”
“No telling, with chef-of-the-future here.” He indicated Mari with a flick of his shoulder, his hands still busy chopping. “I reviewed the feed from last night first thing. Du rien. And no alarms last night, either. Lucas ran the perimeter this morning before he left and didn’t catch any unwelcome scents. But go ahead and fiddle with your babé, I know you want to. I’ll call you if, and when, these milky eggs are ever baked.”
“Gage, you cook scrambled eggs. You don’t bake them.”
“Yes, Mari. That is what I’m worried about. Your baking is fine. Your cooking…”
“Do you have those onions chopped yet?”
“Oh, yes. They are chopped. You see how beautiful?” Gage held the chopping board up for Mari’s inspection, the French in his accent markedly stronger.
Aaron shook his head and left them to it, heading down the basement stairs. He had a couple of adjustments he wanted to check, but mostly he just needed to get his mind off Lyla. Lyla, who was still sleeping when he left the room after his shower. Warm, and so peaceful looking, curled on her side under his covers—and smelling divine.
He’d been woken early that morning by a text from Lucas letting him know he was taking Jesse and Dean back out on the hunt for Aster. Thank the Maiden. Lyla, lying beside him, hadn’t stirred. With the Mont-Tremblant pack sniffing around, Lucas had left Gage to help with security, which Aaron figured was the lesser of two—or maybe he should say three—evils.
He didn’t like the way Dean had been watching Lyla last night. A little like he was examining a new and exotic species, and a little like he wouldn’t mind getting a closer look. Much closer.
Aaron ground his teeth and continued reviewing the new algorithm. He wanted to try one more sequence. The occasional fox was still tripping the alarm, but he was pretty sure he could eliminate that with a sizing profile, although it was tricky, because he had to take distance into account…
It was at least twenty minutes later when Gage called him for breakfast.
“Is Lyla joining us, do you think?” Mari paused in the act of pulling down plates from the cabinet.
Aaron scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not sure. She was asleep when I left her.”
“Do you think she’s still asleep?”
“Umm…”
“You did tell her she’s free to come downstairs, right? Last night, she seemed to think she was confined to quarters.”
“I think I mentioned that… sort of,” Aaron mumbled, feeling heat climb up his neck. Had he mentioned it? He rubbed a hand over his face.
“Dude. That’s cold. Go get your girl.”
Aaron glared at Gage, but as usual, it had no effect. He glanced at Mari, feeling the heat spread over his cheeks. He was almost positive Mari hadn’t heard his words, but she must have been taking her cue from Gage. She was definitely giving him a look of disapproval. Not something he ever wanted to see. At least Lucas wasn’t here…
“Hurry up, Aaron. Go get her. I don’t want the eggs to get cold.” She glanced at Gage and made a face. “Someone will use it as an excuse to criticize my cooking.”
“Right,” Aaron said, and got the hell out of there.
* **
Breakfast was a stilted affair, Lyla tight-lipped and quiet, Mari still smelling faintly of disapproval, and Gag
e taking it all in like he was watching a tennis match. When Aaron went up to get her, Lyla had just been emerging from the bathroom, freshly showered—only the slightest hint of Aaron’s scent still clinging to her—and fully dressed. To add insult to injury. But she agreed to come down and have breakfast, so he counted that as a win. It was when she started insisting that she had to go open the hardware store that things started going south.
“Lyla, have you forgotten who’s out there? After yesterday, they may have sent for reinforcements. I can’t keep you safe, guard the pack house and monitor the perimeter with only me, Gage, and Cray.” Gage shifted in his chair, but wisely kept his mouth shut.
“So what, I’m just supposed to abandon my shop? I can’t afford to do that. I have a business to run.”
“Well, it’s going to be pretty hard to do that from Canada after those thugs drag you back to their Alpha by your hair!”
Mari made a choking sound, and Aaron realized he’d been yelling. Dog’s breath. But the idea of Lyla out there, vulnerable—
“Lyla, Aaron has a point,” Gage put in. “I mean, there are three of them that we know about.” He indicated Aaron with a jerk of his chin. “Even the hulk, here, barely managed to fight them off. And we don’t want to run the risk of having them trail you back here.” Mari went white, and Gage hurried on. “That’s just not safe. Or wise. This you must agree with, yes?”
Lyla huffed out a sigh, but did finally have to admit that he was right. She wasn’t happy about it though.
Aaron’s brothers arrived just past noon, and he heaved a sigh of relief. Finally. Reinforcements. There was the general excitement of introductions, followed closely by the arrival of Cray and Elizabeth. Unfortunately, his initial sense of respite didn’t last. His brothers knew Gage and Cray, of course, but the women were all new to them. The way Zeke and Eli were eyeing Mari was something he hadn’t anticipated. He’d have to drag them aside and explain things, pronto. Boaz, as usual, was too cool to tip his hand, but Aaron planned to have a word with him anyway.
And then there was Lyla. His scent was barely discernible on her now, but that wasn’t the real problem. He figured his brothers would naturally be more sensitive to his scent. Even so, he’d caught one or two speculative glances he didn’t like. He’d definitely be having a talk with his brothers. The real problem, though, was Lyla herself.
“It’s perfect. You have to admit it,” she said for the second time. Or was it the third? “You can’t just leave them out there looking for me. Eventually, they will discover you all here,” she indicating the pack house and the group clustered around her with a wave of her hand. “And that would be bad.” She turned her gaze to Gage. “Am I right, or am I right?”
He could kill Gage for letting that fact slip. Boaz looked stoic, his face giving nothing away, but Eli was nodding, and Zeke looked downright eager. Gage, at least, had the grace to look uncomfortable. Cray just looked grim. Elizabeth clung to his elbow and watched carefully, but for once, didn’t venture an opinion. That might be a first. Mari looked worried—and smelled worse—of anxiety bordering on fear. Dog’s teeth.
“There is no way you are going out there to try to draw them out. Absolutely not. Too dangerous,” he repeated, for at least the third time. She had the bright idea of opening her shop and setting a trap at the same time.
Lyla regarded him with narrowed eyes, and then turned her attention to Cray. “What do you think?”
Cray cleared his throat and shot Aaron a quick glance. Cray’s mouth tightened. He glanced down at Elizabeth, who was still uncharacteristically quiet, and finally back at Lyla. “I think Aaron’s right.”
Aaron heaved out a silent breath.
“But, you’re right too. They are a danger to the whole pack out there, nosing around looking for you.” His eyes flicked to Mari, then Elizabeth, then back to Lyla. “It would be much better for everyone if Marten never finds out we’re here.” He raised his eyes to Aaron’s, holding his gaze steadily. “If we can eliminate the threat—”
“Out of the question. No f—”
“I think we need to call Lucas,” Gage cut in.
Cray nodded in agreement, still holding Aaron’s gaze.
There was a short, pregnant silence.
“Maiden’s blood!” Aaron exploded, kicking savagely at one of the kitchen stools. It flew over, landing with a crash.
No one said a word. No one even seemed to move. Aaron kicked over another stool on his way down to the basement, but it didn’t help. Cray and Gage trailed him down the stairs. With Mari here at the pack house, he knew exactly how this conversation would go. Lyla would get her way. And Aaron was going to lose-his-mind.
* **
Three days later, Lyla was ready to lose her mind. That, or kill Aaron. Or maybe both. She’d gone to work each day accompanied by at least two of Aaron’s brothers, as well as Aaron himself. After half a day of him prowling around her shop and glaring at her customers, she’d had to banish him to the parking lot. Or wherever else they were staking out the shop. She didn’t ask for details. But Aaron still insisted that someone be in the store with her at all times, and Lyla was about ready to rip out her hair.
Boaz, the oldest after Aaron, was cool and aloof, poking around her shelves and occasionally asking her questions that she couldn’t answer—like why she didn’t stock number five lug nuts—while she tried to work on her irises composition. She had no idea what number five lug nuts were. When it came to hardware, she carried what her grandfather had stocked and ordered more when she needed to.
She’d added things like more gardening supplies and stuff like that—but lug nuts? And she couldn’t quite ignore the slight hint of censure in his questions, no matter how hard she tried. She had a feeling that had more to do with his disapproval of her being a witch, and tangled up with his brother, than anything else.
At least Zeke and Eli were cheerful and inquisitive whenever it was their turn to babysit. But their endless questions about everything from what it was like to be a human, to what it was like to be a witch, to what she was doing with that glass cutter, were driving her crazy. And naturally, there had been no sign of her attackers, not so much as a hint of their scent.
Nothing recent, anyway. Aaron had just about had a cow that first day when he picked up their scent inside the store. When he found out they’d bought the ax from her—well, she wasn’t going to think about that. Didn’t it figure she felt guilty? It wasn’t like she’d wanted them in her store, let alone encouraged them to buy an ax and use it on him.
But for the past three days, all had been quiet.
And it had taken her all three of those days to talk Aaron into letting her go back to her house to pick up some stuff. Which she desperately needed. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Aaron sitting in the driver’s seat next to her. His disapproval was clear in every line of his body. He was wearing a light blue tee-shirt that somehow emphasized the intensity in his blue eyes. And hugged his body in a very distracting way. It wasn’t exactly tight, but it wasn’t hiding anything either.
The past few days had been difficult in more ways than one. Because every night when Aaron got ready for bed—coming out of the bathroom with his chest bare and slipping into bed wearing only soft flannel pajama bottoms, and every morning when he threw back the covers and she watched him march to the bathroom—she became more aware of his body. Of how fit he was, how big, and male, and right there he was. And it was driving her crazy. She did not want to feel this way about him. Had decided she couldn’t feel this way about him, and still—
“We are not taking any more time here than absolutely necessary. You get in, grab your stuff, and get out. Got it?”
Lyla grimaced and nodded. Bossy and domineering. That’s why she couldn’t—didn’t—feel that way about him. But he’s doing it to keep you safe, a little voice chided her. She bit her lip and stared out the window. The familiar scenery flowed past, looking both innocuous and newly sinister. Like it could b
e hiding any manner of horrors just beneath the surface.
Zeke and Boaz were already at the house, having checked out the surroundings thoroughly before Aaron would agree to let her stop off on the way back to the pack house. He was ridiculous about safety, insisting on driving around aimlessly for at least half an hour each night before heading home, both to throw off anyone trying to tail them and to wear away any scent trace that might linger on the tires and prevent tracking that way. And honestly, Lyla was grateful to him for that. Which just seemed to make things worse.
They came to a stop beside the familiar white farmhouse, and Lyla felt a pang of regret. She missed her cute little house. Her last tie to her grandfather. She’d been eleven the last time she’d visited him. He was her father’s father, and after her parents died Aunt Zoe wouldn’t let her come. But she remembered him, his overalls, his grey prickly whiskers and how he was always making birdhouses. They were all over the yard, some painted in bright colors, and others blending into the scenery. She still had one in robin’s egg blue that he’d given her as a girl.
When she’d first moved in, she’d found papers relating to a custody battle she’d never known about. She shook her head and glanced around at the yard, cheerful birdhouses decorating nearly every tree and bush. How different would her life have been if he’d won? She sighed.
Will I ever feel safe here again?
Lyla opened her door and jumped out before Aaron could come around and help her. She’d had just about enough of him during the silent drive from the shop. It wasn’t like she’d asked for any of this. She scooted around the back of the car and raced for the front porch before Aaron had a chance to regroup. He’d naturally thought they would go in the back door, since it was closer to the driveway.
But she wanted to go in the front and experience the full welcoming effect of stepping into the living room, and she wouldn’t put it past Aaron to wrestle the keys out of her hand and go in first. She just needed a moment or two to indulge in that sense of peace that always enveloped her when she first came home, to see if that would still happen, and if he went in first, she’d never be able to tell.
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