Ava buckled herself in, trying to ignore Hunter like he was ignoring her. The male was infuriating.
“You’re staring.”
“Yeah, I am. What is your problem?”
His brows rose, but he kept his eyes on the road. “I don’t have a problem.”
“Like fu—” She stopped herself, peering over her shoulder at Grace. “Like hell you don’t,” she hissed. “You’ve been an asshole all morning and then that outburst in Target? What was that?”
Yeah, she was calling him out on his shit.
His mouth shut with an audible click. “She’s not your daughter.”
“ I know she’s not my daughter,” she snarled in reply. “I was trying to do something nice to say thank you for letting me stay. What makes you think I want to sweep in and play happy families with you?”
His eyes flashed yellow. “You wouldn’t be the first female to try.”
She snorted—actually snorted. “Believe it or not, Hunter, all I want to do is go home. I have no interest in staying here any longer than I have to.”
“All the more reason to not try and insert yourself in our lives. I don’t want Grace getting used to someone only for them to ghost us the next day.”
Chapter Five
Hunter chewed the inside of his cheek, fighting with his self-control. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, hearing the leather creaking under the pressure. He didn’t like the way he was feeling, and he knew Grace would be able to sense it too. He just had to get back to the packhouse and get away from Ava. She seemed to bring out the worst in him.
He made the trip back in fifteen minutes, pulling into the driveway of the house. Although nothing seemed out of place, the tension hanging in the air was almost tangible.
“What’s wrong?” Ava asked.
He turned to see her staring hard out the windscreen. Could she…?
“I don’t know,” he replied, bringing the car to a stop and unbuckling his belt. “Wait in the car.” He got out, slamming the door shut.
Casey appeared at the front door. “I was just about to call you.” She held up her phone and wiggled it for visual confirmation.
“What’s happening?”
“Rhett and Indi have come to visit you.”
He stopped dead. “The Helheim alpha and his mate?”
His sister nodded.
“Why?”
Casey shrugged, smiling a little. “I don’t know. That’s why you’re alpha.”
“Right,” he grunted in reply. He glanced back at the car, seeing Ava getting out on the passenger side. Turning back to Casey, he said, “Are they in my office?”
“Yeah.”
Blowing out a breath, he started toward the house. “Tell Mom to keep an eye on Grace for me.”
“Oh, I can do that,” she offered.
“Are you sure?” he asked, studying her carefully. Although it had been more than two years since Saxon’s death—the male she’d identified as her mate—and the end of her torture and imprisonment, there were still a lot of wounds she hid. He’d often seen her writing in a journal, working through her feelings and emotions; she was far from getting back to the person she was.
“Please,” she said, rolling her eyes. “She’s my favorite niece.”
“She’s your only niece.”
“And whose fault is that?” she replied with a smirk.
“Don’t start. Mom has been on my case too.”
She gave him a look that said she knew exactly what their mother had been saying.
“Can you get her some lunch? I should be back to put her down for a nap.”
Casey tipped an imaginary hat to him and walked down the steps of the porch.
* * *
Ava popped open the rear door and stared at the three-point harness holding Grace hostage.
“Now, how am I supposed to…” she muttered to herself.
“Just press the red button,” someone said from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to find Casey standing there.
“Here, let me show you.” Casey reached around her, placing her thumb in the middle of the red button and pressing it. Grace giggled when Casey tickled her before pushing the straps out of the way and picking her up. Ava’s gaze darted down to Casey’s visible hand, her eyes lingering on the bare nail beds. She’d never asked, nor found out, what had happened to her.
When Casey found her staring, Ava cleared her throat and walked to the trunk to retrieve her new clothes.
“You did some shopping?” Casey asked. “Getting sick of my style?”
“I’m sorry, but yes.”
“You’re not sorry.” She shrugged. “I get it. Okay, let’s get this Gracey-monster something to eat!”
Ava followed the other female to Hunter’s place, her eyes lingering on the front door of the main packhouse.
“He’s a good guy, you know,” Casey said.
Ava wrenched her head around so quickly she thought she may have done some damage. “What?”
She smiled. “I saw you looking where my brother went.”
“I wasn’t!”
“Uh-huh,” Casey replied, opening up the door of Hunter’s cottage. Ava followed her in, shutting the door behind her. Casey put Grace in the highchair and wandered into the kitchen. “So what did you buy?” she called.
Ava placed her bags on the countertop but didn’t pull anything out. She wasn’t the sharing and caring type of girl. “Just some essentials.”
Casey pulled open the fridge. “Underwear.”
“Underwear,” Ava replied. “And some shirts and shorts.”
“Shampoo too, huh? And lotion?”
Ava looked down at her bags, checking to see nothing was showing. “How did you…”
The other female shut the fridge door, some cheese slices and tomatoes balanced in her hands. She placed everything on the countertop, staring at Ava for a moment, her eyes haunted. “I know that’s what I was craving after my imprisonment: the familiar.”
Ava cleared her throat, looking away. “I’m—”
“It’s fine,” Casey replied.
She looked at her hands. It seemed as if the nails had been ripped off. “What happened to you, Casey?”
She glanced down. “Something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.” She moved to get the bread, putting together a sandwich for Grace, who was happily sitting in her highchair, waiting.
“Casey—”
Casey was staring hard at the counter, her hands still balled into fists. “Don’t,” she snarled softly. “Don’t pity me.”
Ava nodded. “Of course. Well, I’m going to put these clothes away.” Picking up her bags, she walked into her room, upending the bag and removing the tags. In the tallboy, she folded and placed her clothes inside, once more mentally counting down the days until she could return to Seattle.
Heaving a sigh, she headed back downstairs and took a seat on the couch. If she were at home, she’d be kicking back with a glass of wine and watching some Netflix. She eyed Hunter’s TV, doubting it had the capability. In the kitchen, she could see Casey sitting in front of Grace’s chair, talking and laughing. She looked so carefree now, but she must’ve gone through something terrible as well.
“Do you want something to eat?” the other woman called.
Ava stood up. “I’ll make myself something.” In the kitchen, she put together a cheese and tomato sandwich, pulling out a seat at the small four-seater table.
“So how do you like it here?” Casey asked, taking a bite of her own sandwich.
“I need to get back home, Casey. I have my job to think about, and I need to figure out how to be a werewolf in the city.”
“I still don’t think you should go back.”
“Why?”
“Well, how’s your control? Are you having any issues suppressing your wolf’s instincts?”
Was she?
“No, I don’t think so.”
Casey frowned. “Ever feel like you’re losing your grip
on your own thoughts?”
Only when it comes to your brother. “No.”
“Can you feel your wolf peering out through your eyes sometimes?”
Ava shrugged. “Sometimes, but it’s never a strong push; it’s more like she’s curious.”
“Huh,” Casey replied.
“Huh?”
“Well, every bitten wolf I’ve met has had that problem, well, except for one.”
“Who was that?”
“Alex D’Angelo. He joined the Helheim Pack about two years ago.”
“What’s his story?”
Casey picked up Grace’s leftover crusts, piling them onto her plate. “Actually, his story was a lot like yours. He was bitten while he was out hunting. He survived the fever and when my brothers and I found him, he was only hours away from his first shift.”
She swallowed. “Do you think we were bitten by the same wolf?”
Casey thought about that for a moment before saying, “No, I don’t think so. I think a lone wolf got you. It’s not unheard of for someone to accidentally get bitten, survive but then stay in their wolf form. It’s easier to survive that way. It’s easier to let their instincts become your instincts.”
“Well, I need to get back. I have patients. I have a life.” Ava let Casey digest those words before saying, “How much longer do I have to wait?”
“Two more weeks, tops, but Hunter will need to make the final assessment.”
Ava wiped the crumbs from her fingers. “Assessment? What kind of assessment?”
“He’ll just test you to see if your wolf is submissive to an alpha or not.”
Submissive. Well, she knew she was submissive to Patricia. She’d felt that, but Hunter? “What happens if I’m not submissive to an alpha?”
Casey stood up, taking her and Grace’s plates into the kitchen. “If you’re not submissive, then you may be expelled or…”
“Or, what?”
Casey turned to look at her, the gravity of the words she was about to speak heavy in her eyes. “Executed.”
Executed? “Seriously?”
“Hunter wouldn’t stand for an unsubmissive wolf in the pack.”
“But I wouldn’t be in the pack,” she countered. “I’ll be back in Seattle.”
The female shook her head. “Hunter wouldn’t let you return back to Seattle unless he was sure you would be submissive to the new alpha.”
Ava ignored the desire to get out of her seat. “Hunter isn’t my goddamn—”
“Goddamn what?” Hunter asked, stepping into the kitchen.
Ava turned her eyes to him, her mouth clicking shut. She knew what battles to fight.
“Casey?” he asked, turning to his sister.
Casey smiled casually. “I have no idea.”
Hunter grunted, his fierce expression softening when he looked at Grace. “Did she eat well?”
“A whole sandwich,” Casey replied. “I’m going to get out of here if you don’t need me.”
“You’re good. Thanks, Case.”
Touching him on the shoulder as she passed, she said, “Anytime, bro. We females have to stick together.” She winked at Ava behind her brother’s back then disappeared.
She wasn’t sure what to make of Casey. On one hand, she was thankful to the woman for covering her ass just then. On the other hand, she was blunt and opinionated. Ava liked it.
“How was Casey? Was she nice to you?” Hunter asked.
“Yes.”
He frowned, picking up Grace and resting her on her hip. “Right. Well, I’m going to put Gracey down for a nap.”
“Fine,” she replied, picking up her plate. Giving him a wide berth, she walked around him to the sink and rinsed off her plate. Her wolf shifted beneath her skin, whining softly. “I might go for a run, actually.”
Turning, she walked from the kitchen, through the living room and out the front door. She’s not going to change into running clothes first? What is she wearing?
“Ava, dear, how are you?”
She glanced up, her gaze landing on the older woman’s chin on instinct. “Patricia, how are you?” Ava couldn’t understand why she was submissive to his mother but not to Hunter.
“I’m fine, dear. Going somewhere?”
She looked over her shoulder at the cottage. “Just for a run.”
“Escaping one of Hunter’s moods?”
Her head jerked back around. “Is it that obvious?”
The other female laughed gently. “He hasn’t been the easiest male to live with recently. Want to talk about it?”
Ava sat down on the porch step, surprised when Patricia sat down beside her.
“What’s my son done now?”
Ava breathed in deeply through her nose and let it out. “I may have stepped on his toes when we went out shopping today.”
“In what way?”
Glancing in her direction, she stared back at her hands and said, “I picked up an outfit for Grace, thinking it was sweet and she’d look really cute in it.”
Patricia pursed her lips. “I take it that didn’t go down well.”
She shook her head. “He accused me of trying to replace her mother, which is ridiculous!” Patricia only nodded for her to continue. “I kind of gave him a piece of my mind on the way home.”
At this statement, the other woman’s brows rose. “You did?”
“It sounds like this doesn’t happen very often.”
“It doesn’t,” she replied. “Tell me, how did he react?”
“He accused me of trying to wheedle my way into his life, like I was a fucking jersey chaser in college or something.”
“A jersey what, dear?”
Ava shook her head. “A woman who chases after athletes in the hopes of gaining a husband and money.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that, dear.” She paused, then added, “Has Hunter told you about what happened to his mate?”
She shook her head.
“ Perhaps he will, soon. In the meantime, try to be patient with him. You being in his house is doing him good.”
“Is it?”
The older woman patted her knee. “Believe me, I haven’t see him with this much spark in his eyes in a good long time.”
Chapter Six
One week later
Hunter looked up at the mezzanine for the fifth time in five minutes. It had been a week since his and Ava’s disagreement in the car after their shopping expedition. It had been a week of short answers and clear hostility, and even though he’d tried to let his wolf dominate hers, to try and break this tension, he had been unable to make her bend.
He knew the only way to break the stalemate was to apologize to her, to admit that he was out of line. With a soft growl, he looked back at the TV, trying to focus on the show he was forcing himself to binge watch. He was also pretending to enjoy the damn thing. His eyes darted back up to where he knew she was reading. He’d watched her shadow flip the pages against the wall. He’d heard the small sighs of contentment.
He forced his eyes back to the TV.
“Fuck,” he growled, standing up and walking to the stairs. He hesitated at the bottom, his hand clutching at the railing. What was he doing? He couldn’t just barge up there are demand she talk to him…
Yet that was exactly what he was about to do.
“It’s my fucking house,” he grumbled, powering up the treads. When he arrived at the top, Ava turned to look at him, lowering the book to the bed. He took a step closer and saw her wolf shift in her eyes. It was just a split-second change, but he saw it.
“Can I help you?” she asked, her tone clipped.
His wolf bristled, but still he forced himself to take another step closer. “I just wanted to…” He swallowed, the words he wanted to say getting stuck. He never apologized.
“Yes?” she replied expectantly, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. She knew what he was trying to tell her, yet she was making him say it.
Clearing his throat, he tried again. “I
want to apologize for snapping at you the other day. What I said was out of line.”
“Oh? Which part?”
He ground his teeth together. “I know you’re not trying to take over the role of Grace’s mother.”
“I believe you used the word insert.”
He glared at her. She was challenging him, and he could only blame it on the fact that she was a new wolf and had no idea about rank. Nodding, he added, “I didn’t mean to yell at you for looking at that outfit for Grace either.” He gestured to the bed, “May I?”
Crossing her legs beneath her, she said “It’s your house.” He perched himself on the end, twisting his body to face her.
“I want to explain why I reacted the way I did.” When she simply nodded, he sucked in a breath, ready to lay it all out for her. “I’m sure you know by now that my mate died. It was during childbirth. I got this beautiful baby girl at the same time as I watched the life drain from my Natasha’s eyes.”
“That was her name? Natasha?”
He nodded. “After she died, and after the news had spread, I had more than one female turn up on my doorstep, looking to step in and play Mommy to Grace. Because females are so rare among our kind, my mom pressed me to entertain the idea because she thought that was what was best for me.
“I wasn’t ready to move on, though. Natasha was the love of my life.” He fell silent, his mind consumed with memories of Grace’s mom, of the life they’d had together—however brief it was.
“Tell me about her?”
His head jerked up as if it was connected to a string. “What?”
Ava met his gaze. “Tell me about her.”
He swallowed. Hunter hadn’t spoken about her to anyone since she passed. “We met purely by accident. Her father was petitioning to be the alpha of a Canadian pack, going up against the current alpha who’d been found guilty of negligence. They’d visited our packhouse, and my father and hers had had a closed-door discussion, leaving Natasha and me to entertain ourselves.
The Helheim Wolf Pack Novellas: The Complete Collection Page 3
