“I actually wondered if you wanted to come with me for a few hours. I’m going to Logan and Mia’s house to help, probably do some painting.”
Her lips pursed in thought. “Logan is the one who was shot in the café shooting, right?”
John nodded. “They were in the middle of renovating their house when it happened, so the packs have been pitching in to finish it as a surprise.”
“That’s nice.” She smiled. “Sure, why not. Beats being bored here all day. I’ll be quick.”
John watched her enter her room and exit a moment later with a toiletry bag and some clothes over her arm. She eyed him curiously, and he realized he hadn’t moved. With a shake of his head, John headed into the kitchen to make her some food.
Not sure what she’d eat, he prepared some bread to toast and cut up some fruit, before pouring a glass of OJ for her. He’d already eaten himself but decided she’d be more comfortable eating if he wasn’t stood over her waiting, so he poured himself some OJ and toasted a slice of bread. By the time she exited the bathroom, a cloud of steam billowing out of the door, and the scent of sweet flowers filling his space, John had arranged everything at the breakfast bench with what little condiments he had waiting for her to spread.
Her eyes flickered from the food to him. “Thanks. This is… nice.”
He could sense her nerves, and John couldn’t decide what she was nervous about. He didn’t have much experience with wooing females. They’d normally come to him and were forward in what they wanted. Human females, on the other hand, were a whole different ball game, and when it came to his mate, John wasn’t about to mess up by acting all primal wolf and sending her running. He could be gentle, civil even, at least he’d be trying his hardest to be anyway.
“Do shifters not need as much sleep as humans?” Eva asked after she’d chugged down half her glass of juice.
He frowned. “Why? I guess we can survive longer without it, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need as much sleep as you.”
“I heard you come in at 2:00 a.m. and now you’re up five hours later. That’s not much sleep.”
“You heard me? I was being quiet.”
She shrugged. “The door creaked. I wasn’t asleep.”
Interesting. His wolf pricked his ears; Eva struggled to sleep and ran to clear her head. He’d have to tread carefully to learn her secrets.
“Well, I do need sleep, but at the moment, there’s not much time for it. I suppose I could have slept in this morning instead of helping at Logan’s.” He shrugged. “But I’ll survive. You, on the other hand, aren’t as robust as me. Do you need to go back to bed instead of coming with me?”
She shook her head. “I told you I don’t sleep.” Her eyes lowered. “Haven’t since my mom passed.”
Such pain even as she hid it. He took her hand, unable to resist the primal instincts screaming at him. “I’m sorry you lost your mother, Eva. I can only imagine how hard that must be.”
“It helps to keep busy, so thanks for inviting me along this morning.” Standing, she collected her plate. “Are you ready to go?”
John nodded, following suit and clearing his own plate away and the condiments he’d left out. He waited as Eva laced up her sneakers, then opened the door for her and followed her out. They’d only walked a few paces when Zackary called her name.
“I was just coming to your cabin,” he said, falling into step beside his sister. “How was your first night at Dark Shadow?”
“Too quiet. There’s no noise out here other than the howls of the odd wolf.”
Zackary laughed. “You don’t sleep anyway. Did she keep you awake all night, pacing the room?” the teenager asked John, his grin mischievous.
“He was on patrol,” Eva answered for him.
Zackary glanced at him, then back to his sister. “Well, I gotta dash. I’ve got training this morning. Catcha later, sis. John.”
Pausing, Eva stared after her brother, her expression sad.
“Are you all right?” John murmured.
She shook her head as if dislodging her thoughts. “Yeah… he just seems too happy.”
They began walking again. “Being happy is bad?”
“No. Of course not. I want my brother to be happy. He just seems overly so, as if he’s hiding what’s really beneath.” She rubbed her face. “Ignore me. It’s probably just lack of sleep and the fact I can’t seem to not worry about him. After Mom died, my father was so sad there was only me left to watch out for Zac. He took her death hard, and I threw myself into looking after him.”
John listened to her quiet, sad words, understanding why she didn’t sleep and look after herself properly. Eva never had time to mourn her mother; instead, she’d filled the space her mother left behind, and now that things had changed, she wasn’t sure how to get herself out of the role.
“We’ll keep an eye on him, make sure he’s coping all right,” John promised. The boy was pack, and they watched out for their own.
Together walking through the trees, they came to the open area for parked cars. John checked the roster to be sure he wasn’t taking a vehicle assigned to an outside watch, before guiding Eva to a black SUV and nodding for her to get in.
He had three hours spare to spend with her. Painting a house probably wasn’t the most romantic move, but with war looming on the horizon and a lockdown on everything but essential travel, John was working with what he had. With any luck, they’d have the house to themselves. Either way, John was just pleased to be spending time with her at last. He’d put so much effort into blocking out his pull toward her and keeping his emotions in check that now he was acknowledging they existed, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
And though things were uncertain, and a battle needed to be won, John was excited about the future, and the possibilities his and Eva’s bonding could bring.
Chapter 6
Eva
Eva was instantly jealous of Logan and Mia from the moment she walked into the house. She could feel the echoes of history throughout the rooms, the old-world charm calling to her heart. This was the type of home she wanted. Set back seemingly in the middle of nowhere with a big porch to sit out on in the summer evenings, and creaky wooden floors battered but polished, the whole place just made her want to sigh.
John watched her as she wandered around the rooms. Even without looking at him, she could sense his gaze studying her. It was as if he wanted to see into her mind and sift through the thoughts trapped in there. Ignoring him as best as she could, Eva finished exploring and returned to the main room where dust cloths covered the floors and furniture, and tubs of paint sat ready for someone to use.
She picked up a roller, handed it to him, then collected her own. The house was empty apart from them, and Eva was keen to get straight to work instead of lingering with the unspoken questions John kept locked inside.
She was thankful Katalina had warned her about John; otherwise, she might have found the way he silently watched her more unnerving than it already was. Shifters were a strange mixture of human and animal traits. It had taken her a week to really notice, or maybe they’d taken a week to feel comfortable enough to be natural with her. Whichever it was, the longer she spent with the wolves, the more she wondered how anyone could look at them and think they were ordinary. Even the way they moved screamed supernatural with the effortless grace and the predatorlike way they prowled across the room. Every male she’d encountered entered a room as if he thought he was the deadliest creature there, and he probably was, but it wasn’t just the males who acted that way. There were just as many females as deadly or deadlier than the males. She’d watch them training only once and walked away half in awe and half terrified. It was hard not to feel inferior watching men and women sparring each other as if they were all trained lethal assassins.
She’d been painting for an hour when her shoulder gave a painful stab, which she could no longer ignore. When she’d first set out for a run this morning, h
er entire body had screamed at her to stop, but she’d pushed through anyway. Kept putting one foot in front of the other no matter how much it hurt physically or mentally. If she’d stopped, everything she’d been avoiding since her mother had been buried would come crashing over her in a wave of suffocating emotion.
“You’re in pain,” John said. He closed the two steps between them and took the roller from her hand. “Take a break.”
“I’m fine,” she said. The statement so often fell from her lips it didn’t feel like a lie anymore.
He growled. The sound was nothing human, and accompanied by the flicker of human to wolf eyes, Eva took a startled step back, her heart leaping to life.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, his eyes closing for a moment too long. When they opened again, she saw the gray-blue eyes of the man, not the yellow-gold of his wolf. “I’m not used to keeping myself in check. It just slipped out. But, Eva, it’s clear you’re in pain, most likely from the attack yesterday. If it hurts, rest. Don’t damage yourself further.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “I’ll rest for ten.”
Seemingly satisfied, he returned to his painting while Eva watched. As she did, she rotated her shoulder and stretched her neck from side to side. Her shoulder and neck hadn’t even hurt yesterday.
John glanced at her twice before putting his roller down and approaching. “Turn around,” he ordered.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I can’t watch anymore.”
So enlightening. He turned her around himself when she didn’t obey. A protest was on her lips but morphed into a groan as his fingers deftly found the knots in her muscles. Her head fell forward, her hair swept out of the way as he moved it aside. She should have been reacting to his hands on her, she should have at least grumbled, but the man worked with such efficiency that Eva wasn’t sure she ever wanted him to stop. His fingers were warm across her skin, skillfully melting her bones from the inside out. He made his way down her back, working under her right shoulder blade.
Eva let out a breathy moan. God, that feels good.
“Do you like that?” John whispered, his breath near her ear.
Heat blazed across her cheeks, a nod the only way she could answer. It had been so long since a man had touched her. The last time she’d had a boyfriend was when her mother had been healthy. When she’d become sick, everything else had been pushed into the not-important pile. Dating and a social life just didn’t seem a priority when faced with the likelihood of losing a parent before you’d even graduated from college.
John made his way over to her left side, kneading at her sore muscles and turning them to jelly. His hand ran down her arm, moving the limb to better reach a sore spot, and with each brush across her skin, Eva began to melt in a whole other way. Anticipation and need stirred deep within her. Awaking after a too-long sleep, she fidgeted, no longer thinking about her sore body but her pleasure-deprived one.
“Does that feel better?” John murmured, sliding his hands to her wrists and stepping so close behind her, she could feel heat coming off him.
If Eva were a wolf, she imagined she would have closed the inch between them and sank into his hold, tipping up her head to gaze into his eyes and convey all the things she desired with one look. But Eva wasn’t that bold. She was a human, playing in a wolf’s world, and whether Katalina said he liked her or not, Eva wasn’t brave enough to make the first move. She wasn’t sure she was brave enough to make the second or third either. If she was honest with herself, John terrified her—in a good way, but he terrified her all the same.
He shifted, his chest brushing her back before his lips landed on the shoulder he’d just effectively worked to mush. A sigh escaped her, electricity skating across her skin.
“Evaline,” he breathed, and though she’d told him not to use that name and it had hurt the first time he’d said it, today, the way the syllables fell off his tongue sent a thrill through her.
A knock echoed through the house, followed a second later by boots on the floorboards. Eva jumped away as a man rounded the corner and paused, his gaze traveling between them both.
“Hey, John,” he said hesitantly. “I have a few hours spare and thought I’d come finish the last of the cabinets.
Eva looked between the two men, unable to read John’s expression.
“I’m doing the same,” John replied. “Evan, this is Eva, Zackary’s sister.”
“Ah, right. It’s good to finally meet you.” He tensed to step, then glanced at John and stopped himself. “Well, I’ll be in the kitchen. I reckon we’ll have those two home in a couple of days.”
“Hopefully. Hey, how’s Cass?” John asked.
Evan’s laughter carried from the other room. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
John joined in with the laughter, causing Eva to feel like she was missing an inside joke, but then he explained seconds later. “Evan’s mate, Cassady, is eight months pregnant and fed up of him hovering.”
“Oh, right.” Eva smiled.
Over the next few hours, the house filled with people Eva knew and didn’t know. Every person she hadn’t met before came to say hello, but none came too close, almost as if John was giving off stay-away signals she was unaware of. Maybe he was. Maybe wolves communicated in ways she didn’t understand. She just knew it was irritating because she’d have quite liked to have some real conversations instead of a simple “Hello, my name is… nice to meet you.”
Whatever had passed between them in those moments before Evan had arrived seemed to have died a quick death. John kept his distance the entire time they were in the house and shortly left after, he dropped her back off at his cabin. She was left wondering if she’d imagined the ghost of a kiss on her shoulder. Had it been so long that she was now dreaming up touches to feed her parched soul?
Whichever it was, Eva wasn’t going to hang around in his cabin and mope. It was time to track her father down and drag him away from his obsessive building mission. The work was more or less done anyway. He had no excuse for not seeing her after she’d been attacked, and the five-minute phone call he’d given her was not enough.
***
“Dad,” Eva called. It had taken her twenty minutes to track him down with the help of two people. She eventually found him in Cassady and Evan’s cabin, installing some more storage.
“Oh, hey, honey,” he said absently, only briefly looking up from his position on the floor, half in a cupboard.
Eva rolled her eyes, a thread of annoyance lacing her next words. “I’m fine, thanks for asking. Not shook up or injured from the attempted kidnapping at all. Don’t worry.”
He froze, then slowly unfolded himself from the cupboard and stood upright. Guilt laced his features. “I’m sorry, Eva. I should have come to see you.”
“You should have,” she confirmed, hand on hip. “Someone tried to take me. You get that, don’t you?”
“I know, I know, but they didn’t get you. The pack protected you, and they’ll keep protecting you, so please don’t worry, honey.”
Anger flared its ugly head. A combination of all the suppressed rage she’d been keeping locked inside for months and fresh annoyance at her father’s recent words. “Really, you’re going to praise the packs? Do you realize it was because of them I was nearly kidnapped? Them and this crazy life is the reason I’m now bound to the forest.”
“Um, well, err,” he spluttered, rubbing his head. “It’s not that bad here. I quite enjoy it and your brother well… he’s doing marvelously.”
Sighing, Eva attempted to let go of some of the feelings driving her. There was a part of her that blamed the packs, but she shouldn’t be angry; she and her family had come to them. The packs had let them into their world when Bass and Jackson could have quite easily turned them away. Zackary wasn’t the pack's problem, yet they’d accepted him as their own.
You’re pack now….
Her cheeks heated with embarrassment; she wasn’t being fair. She was allowing her emotion
s to get the better of her, and acting irrationally, but knowing that didn’t help her mood. “I know he is. I know. It’s just… I’m not sure I belong here, Dad, and now I’m trapped. And the worst of it is you and Zac aren’t even bothered. In fact, you’re happy.”
“I’m busy, Eva. For the first time since your mother… I have direction. I still miss her, I still hurt, I’m just… busy.”
Tears blurred her vision, her father’s sad, heartbreaking words reminding her how much she missed and hurt too. Eva wasn’t even sure she’d fully embraced the pain her mother’s death had brought. She hadn’t stopped to feel, and now her father and brother didn’t need her as much, she was left with time on her hands. Time where emotions she’d kept buried started to break free, like the spark of fire threatening to become an inferno if she couldn’t find a way to put it out.
“I miss her too, Dad, so, so much. I’m sorry, ignore me. I’m….” What am I? Eva didn’t have the words to explain the complexity of her emotions. Struggling didn’t seem a powerful enough word. She was on edge, balancing a fine line between surviving and falling forever.
“Mourning,” her father finished for her, putting his arms around her. “And I’ve been busy letting you take care of us and not seen how much pain you’re in.”
Sniffing, Eva fought back her tears. “I feel like you and Zac don’t need me anymore,” she answered thickly.
“Oh, Eva, that’s not true. We’ll always need you, but maybe we shouldn’t have been needing you in the way we did.” Pulling back, he studied her face. “It’s not your job to look after us, Ev. It’s mine.”
Smiling weakly, she replied, “You’d just lost your wife. It was kinda hard to be a parent.”
His mouth thinned. “Yes, but you’d lost your mom, and I shouldn’t have let you pick up the slack, but it’s okay now, Eva. I’m okay. Zac’s okay.”
Wolf Queen (A New Dawn Novel Book 6) Page 5
