She took a deep breath and blew it out. Okay, it was time to calm down and to keep her eyes and ears open. While she figured out how to separate Sebastian from the other shifters, she had to protect her heart. Easy-peasy.
They arrived at Sebastian’s house—mansion—and the property swarmed with people. She gazed at all of them as they drove up the driveway. Men and women, mostly gorgeous and handsome specimens of humanity—shifterhood—they stood in small groups talking. When the car drew alongside each, they faced it and bowed their heads in greeting. Sophia was blown away.
To her surprise, not all were good-looking. Some of the men were big but so not cute, and a few women were plain. She’d jumped to the conclusion previously that they were all perfect, but that wasn’t true. Boy, were they big though.
“I don’t remember this many people working in the house,” she said.
“These are the elite.”
“Elite?”
“Those of my people with the potential to be leaders and protectors of the main family.”
“You’re the main family, I’m assuming.”
He took her hand when the car stopped and helped her climb out. “And you, Sophia. You may have heard me mention that I need to arrange for Guard for you.”
“I don’t want anyone watching me twenty-four seven. I can take care of myself. Thanks.”
“Not acceptable.”
She put a hand on her hip. “Excuse me?”
He touched the small of her back, propelling her toward the house. “We’ll talk when we’re alone.”
She tried to stop, but he wouldn’t allow her to. “We can talk now.”
He pushed his next words out with a clenched jaw. “You can give me your opinion and protest all you like when we are alone.”
Sebastian looked away from her to Alex but said nothing. Alex nodded and said, “Got it. I’ll get them together and send them in.”
Sophia forgot her anger at his high-handedness for a second. She knew damn well Sebastian didn’t say anything out loud, but it seemed like he and Alex had a conversation. Maybe Alex just guessed what Sebastian wanted, or they talked about it earlier.
Her curiosity and confusion distracted her enough that she ended up in the bedroom she had shared with Sebastian on their wedding night before she knew she was climbing the stairs to the mansion’s second floor. The door shut behind Sebastian as he left, and she found herself alone.
“What happened to we can discuss it in private?”
She sighed and stood there looking around the gigantic bedroom. The place was the lap of luxury, so unlike her previous apartment. She had felt so proud of herself when she rented it eight years ago because the rent was a step up from what she was used to paying and in a nicer neighborhood. She’d improved her credit and saved to be able to handle it the first year. After that she had gotten a raise and pinched her pennies because she didn’t have formal training to push her into a higher income bracket. Sebastian’s king size storage bed with a butterscotch finish and cute drawers in the footboard alone made her furnishings look like a joke.
When he first brought her to his place, she didn’t think she could be comfortable with so many rooms. She still felt like that, but now she realized Sebastian wasn’t being vain as a single man by living in a mansion. His men, the ones he called Guards must also live with him since they stayed around him night and day.
“I’m not sure how long I can deal with this.”
When something thumped outside the door, she slapped a hand over her mouth. No more thinking out loud. Who knew how far away the shifters could be and still hear her words.
She strode over to the door and opened it. The woman from the other night stood there with her hand poised in the air as if she were about to knock. She frowned at Sophia. “I have your luggage.”
“Thanks.” Okay, here was one person who openly disliked her. At least the woman was honest. Sophia would keep her distance, and they could stay out of each other’s way. She moved to pick up the nearest suitcase, but the woman slapped her hand aside and grabbed it herself. Sophia’s own dislike grew. “I can get that.”
“I have my orders, and you’re not going to get in the way of them. Please move.”
“Wow, you added please to it. So polite.” Sarcasm dripped from Sophia’s words. “Let’s see how well you can do by telling me your name.”
The woman flushed, and her eyes, which were brown when she arrived, changed to a yellow tint. “It’s Ava.”
“Oh, nice to meet you, Ava, and thanks for helping me with my bags.” The false friendliness wasn’t missed on the shifter. She pressed her lips together and edged past Sophia to carry the bags into the room. Once she was done, she didn’t waste time hanging around but disappeared down the hall. Sophia shut the door and collapsed onto the bed.
First rule: don’t tick off the female shifters. Probably not wise.
Sophia’s next goal was to go exploring the mansion and look for an empty room that would suit her better than sharing with Sebastian. He was stubborn, but so was she. There would be no falling for his seduction while she was here. Of course, that would be difficult because it was seduction she needed to use to lure him away from the others.
A tinge of guilt touched her. Was what she planned wrong? The shifters were people, weren’t they? She recalled all the information Jack shared before she agreed to call Sebastian to pick her up. He had said shifters were good at imitating people. That was their lure, but they were beasts.
“Magical beasts, if you want to call them that,” Jack had said. “But make no mistake about it, they think humans are inferior. In a shifter’s eyes, they are the top of the food chain.”
She shivered when he said that. “They eat people?”
He took his time answering, which drove her insane. “Not usually.”
In the end, Jack had said the shifters wouldn’t eat a person, but the way he said it made her feel like he was lying. Did he say they wouldn’t only to soothe her fears so she could go back to Sebastian? She was nobody’s fool. Jack didn’t care about her. He wanted to do his job, and that was to kill all shifters. She wasn’t even sure he would keep his promise not to hurt Sebastian. After all, Sebastian was the strongest of them all from what Jack said. It didn’t make sense to keep him alive.
“If it comes to that, I’ll….” She chewed her bottom lip. Right then she loved Sebastian enough to do whatever it took to prevent him getting hurt. But who knew what further truths she would find out about the man who had lied to her from the start of their relationship.
She rose from the bed to go check out the mansion, but before she reached the door, it opened. There in the entry stood her husband. She stumbled back a few steps, and in an instant her breath grew ragged.
“Sebastian, I told you I want my own room.”
He shut the door and strode toward her. The bed lay at her back. There was nowhere else to go unless she ran around it. This wasn’t the time to look like a cowardly fool. Not to mention his saying her fear stirred them up.
Totally not human, but is he pretending to look this good? Is this magic or a trick of the eye that makes me think he’s a man?
Sebastian reached her and extended a hand to her waist. He drew her close, and the strength to resist abandoned her. She could do nothing but fall against his chest. An ache she could only describe as a craving came over her.
It’s not real.
“I love you, Sophia.”
She sagged into him. He’d always displayed incredible strength. On their wedding night, he had raised her into his arms to carry her to this very bed like she wasn’t the chunky thing she knew herself to be.
“You always say that. You throw around love like it doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means everything.”
How in the hairy hell was she supposed to combat a man who told her daily that he loved her? This wasn’t fair. She searched her mind for a solution, something to put distance between them—if not physically t
hen emotionally.
“Your men don’t like me, and don’t lie and say they do because I don’t have to smell it to know it. They don’t.”
He shook his head. “No more lies. They’ll come around.”
“What if they don’t?”
“They will.”
“You make it sound like you’ll force them to like me, and I’m pretty sure you can’t do that. I mean an order can only go so far.”
His expression softened. Her heartbeat accelerated. “You are beautiful and sexy and intelligent. What’s not to like?”
“I’m mouthy, stubborn, and independent.”
He chuckled. “Perfect.”
“Sebastian.”
“Baby, you have to give it time.”
Time, he said. If she gave it too much time, she might be lulled into accepting all this, and she couldn’t let that happen. “Sebastian, you said no more lies, right? So tell me. Do you feel like humans are inferior to your kind?”
One side of his nose curved upward like the question turned him off, but he seemed to consider how he would answer. The very fact that he had to think about it let her know Jack was probably right. She’d hoped Jack’s aversion to shifters was the reason he thought what he did about them. No such luck.
“We are more enhanced,” he said with caution. “That doesn’t mean your people have no value or that you aren’t important to me. You in particular, Sophia.”
She glared at him. “In other words, yes.”
“I don’t want to argue with you. Can you accept that I will always protect you and love you? I will give my life for you without a second thought.”
“But if it wasn’t about me. If it was a choice between a little human girl and a grown shifter, whose life would you save?”
“Sophia, that’s not fair.”
“It should be an easy answer.”
“You don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” She pulled out of his arms and turned away. “I want my own room.”
He moved behind her and enfolded her in his embrace again. His warm breath heated her neck. “We are from different worlds, and we have different thought processes. You must understand mine has certain rules.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re my wife, my mate. I will do whatever it takes.”
There was finality in his words, and she knew it was no more use in talking to him. He’d had enough of the conversation. The problem was she didn’t know if he meant he would do whatever it took to keep her by seducing and loving her, or something else—something more dangerous.
Chapter 4
The party was underway by the time Sophia made her appearance. She called it a party to alleviate the stress of knowing why everyone was there. The room she strode into was wall-to-wall shifter. They all appeared to be normal everyday people, but she was beginning to see the common traits. Big muscles, broad shoulders, handsome, beautiful, they looked good for the most part. She wondered briefly if all the goodness included intelligence but hadn’t interacted with them enough to be sure.
Tonight she wore a sleeveless gown with a jewel-encrusted bodice and a high neckline. The material at the bust gave the impression of being sheer while the lower half of the dress was a silky smooth teal. She considered the split that ended mid-thigh to be a bit daring with her chunky thighs, but she looked pretty damn good and went with it. Just before their wedding Sebastian took her shopping and told her the sky was the limit. Hell, she wouldn’t turn him down. After all, at the time she was a happy woman in love, considering herself to be the luckiest on the planet to have a sexy rich man who was even more in love with her. She hadn’t felt guilty about accepting his gifts.
Maybe I’m selfish and self-centered.
The one adjective that didn’t describe her was brave. Her stomach knotted when the crowd of men and women quieted as she entered the room. Every head swung to look at her. The expressions were varied, some eager, others annoyed, and still more gave the impression they felt she didn’t belong there.
I feel the same way. Trust me.
She was a little mouse that wandered in to a cat convention, but before she lost her nerve and made a break for it, Sebastian appeared at her side smiling. He guided her hand to his mouth and flipped it palm up before pressing his lips to her skin. A shiver raced down her spine.
“You look ravishing, baby.” His desire was apparent. She’d managed to put him off the last few days. While he still refused to change her room, he didn’t force himself on her either. The last few mornings she woke wondering if he came to bed at all.
“Thank you. Are they all here to welcome me?”
“Somewhat. This party is to choose your Guard, and I have a couple of openings for mine.”
“Sebastian, I told you I don’t need anyone hanging around me all the time.”
He faced the group. “All of them are elite and well-trained. All will give their life for yours.”
The stubborn arrogant bastard wasn’t listening to her.
“Come on. Let me introduce you to everyone.”
She stayed put and tried again. “I’m a chibi in the middle of this crowd.”
He wrinkled his brow. “What is a chibi?”
Someone nearby snorted, and she looked around to find it was Ava. She must have overheard. What’s more, she seemed to know already what a chibi was. Sophia refused to let the knowledge make her like the woman.
“Never mind,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
The names flew in one ear and out the other as Sebastian introduced her around. Someone offered her a drink, and she downed half the glass to give herself a small boost to deal with them all.
“And you know Ava,” Sebastian said when they arrived at her little group. “Alex is her brother.”
Sophia looked from one sibling to the other and saw the resemblance. Both had flaming red hair and brown eyes. After the incident in the car, Alex was more careful about hiding what he felt about her, but she didn’t assume his feelings had improved. Like sister like brother, she supposed.
A man approached Sebastian and whispered something in his ear. Alex went on alert, so she gathered the whispering was for her benefit. Sebastian nodded to him and turned to kiss her cheek.
“I’ll be right back, baby. I have to attend to some other business.” He glanced at Ava. “Look after her.”
“Of course.” Ava raised her glass to her lips, but her gaze followed Sebastian until he disappeared from the room.
“You’re in love with my husband,” Sophia said flatly.
Rage burned in Ava’s eyes, and her cheeks pinked. “I highly respect my alpha, just like we all do. You wouldn’t understand that the way you talk to him all the time.”
Sophia took another sip of her drink and shrugged. “I speak my mind. Sebastian appreciated that trait from the first day I met him.”
“Call it what you want, but it amounts to treason.”
Sophia choked. “Treason? You can’t be serious. I’m not like y’all.”
“And you never will be. You’re only human.”
“That’s supposed to be an insult? Fail.”
Ava took a step closer to her but stepped back just as quickly. The entire room had gone silent. Every person watched them, but no one sought to end the argument. Sophia peeked at the women to her right and noted an expression of triumph in the expression of one.
“Well, we know one person who won’t be considered for Guard,” the woman said loudly.
Ava flushed to the roots of her flaming hair. She straightened and tried to look sorry. “I apologize if I stepped out of line.”
“If you did?” Sophia laughed. “Whatever.”
Sebastian returned, and everyone rushed to pretend to be lost in conversations with friends. He cleared his throat, and silence prevailed a second time. He faced them all.
“Sophia and I are going to interview across the hall. I’ll call in groups of you and narrow
down who will be the next members of my Guard and who will make up hers.”
A ripple of excitement passed through the crowd. Sebastian pressed a hand at her lower back to lead her from the room. He called over his shoulder to Ava, and she followed. When they got to the room, which Sophia had noted earlier was a sitting room, Michael and Tom were already there. Alex walked with them.
Sophia stopped just inside the door and held a hand up in front of Ava before she could enter. “Hold on. Why is she coming? Is she one of your Guard?”
“No, she’s not. She’ll be the first member of yours.”
Sophia shut the door in Ava’s face and heard the woman’s cry of outrage. She ignored it to turn to her husband. “I thought you said we are going to be interviewing for our Guard. How are you choosing my first one?”
“Trust me, Sophia. Ava is an excellent fighter and fiercely loyal.”
“To you maybe, but I get the feeling she’d push me in front of a bus if she could get away with it.”
Alex didn’t like that opinion, but she wasn’t talking to him. She put her hands on her hips and craned her neck to glare up at Sebastian. He wasn’t getting away with forcing her to accept Ava. She didn’t care if the woman was an Olympic medalist in shifter gymnastics.
“Outside,” Sebastian ordered his men.
The men didn’t move. “Sir, we can’t—” Alex began.
“That’s an order or are you looking to be replaced, Alex?”
The shifter looked from Sebastian to Sophia. Her husband’s countenance darkened.
“Alex, are you insinuating that I have to be protected from my wife? Or that I can’t protect myself should she get notions?”
Alex colored. “Of course not. Guys, let’s go.”
They shuffled out of the room, and Sebastian shut the door behind them. He paused watching her, but she spun away and put distance between them. For a few minutes neither of them spoke. She tried to get her emotions together. Was this the opportunity she was looking for, getting him alone? No, not with all those shifters at the house. The hunters might have a hard time dealing with them, and it wasn’t like she could whip out her phone right there with Sebastian so close and call Jack. The plan was starting to sound shaky at best.
Married to the Wolf Page 3
