by Riley Storm
Klaue’s hand landed on the small of her back as he ushered her back through the door, the press of his fingers sending tingles shooting through her core.
“Oh, and Klaue?” Natalia called after them.
Jessica turned back as well.
“Yes?”
“I need that dress back in the same condition it’s going out in. No ripping it.”
18
Klaue cursed his awkwardness. Jessica had managed to laugh off Natalia’s comment about the dress, but his big mouth hadn’t made a sound, which was only making things worse. Now Jessica was probably wondering what was going on in his mind that he didn’t brush it aside like it was nothing.
Neither of them had said anything since, and he knew they were both still thinking about it. Why was this so difficult? Either she was his mate, like Kincaid said, or she wasn’t. Klaue found her gorgeous no matter what, and he’d never been so tense around a pretty woman before. What the hell was different about Jess?
She might be a spy.
He hated that, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was accurate. Klaue wanted to like Jess. He wanted to feel comfortable around her and be able to talk and flirt openly. But he couldn’t. Not with the secret that she was holding. As long as the truth was still kept from him, Klaue knew he would never be able to truly trust Jessica Hanes. No matter the baser desires he may feel toward her, which were growing stronger by the minute.
It was a growing struggle to contain himself around her, but it was one Klaue knew he would have to keep up. The rest of his House was probably already judging him for being so close to her, but they didn’t know she was his mate.
And damn those judgmental bastards anyway. None of them have at least made an attempt to get to know Jess or even talk to her. They’ve all just given her the cold shoulder, or in Korred’s case, outright hostility.
“So,” Jessica said as they walked back through the maze of hallways and corridors to his quarters.
“Tomorrow will be fun,” he said. “Ursa weddings are always lively affairs. If there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s put on a damn good party.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Jess said, smiling at him. “I love to dance. I’m absolutely atrocious at it, so I apologize if I crush your feet, but you had better not sit in a chair the entire time.”
Klaue chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Just worry about following along for the formal dances.”
Jess blanched a little. “The formal dances?”
“Yes. You know, scripted moves and such. After all, you are at the House,” he said, waggling his fingers to emphasize the archaic nature of the way he and his family lived.
“Right. Um, are there any youtube videos of these dances? So I can learn ahead of time. I’m not so great with the body control.”
Klaue laughed loudly as they rounded the corner into the hallway that his rooms were off. “Absolutely not. It’s okay, I know how to cheat. We’ll be fine.”
“Um. I’d really rather know them ahead of time,” she protested. “I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”
“You won’t. Half the House doesn’t know them. It’s always a fun time. Trust me, I’ll make you look good.”
Jess giggled, looking up at him through her eyelashes as she blushed slightly. “If you say so.”
“I do.” Klaue’s voice caught in his throat at that sight, and the words came out stilted, sounding far too much like the formal vows he might hear at the wedding tomorrow.
Jess laughed once and looked away. He cursed, waiting for her to look back so he could make a silly face, or do something to defuse the situation, but her attention was focused forward. Klaue frowned as her shoulders stiffened and she stood upright, then followed her gaze.
Taped to his door was a white full-sized envelope with the official insignia of High House Canis on it. Instantly, he knew what was inside. A formal demand from their King, most likely insisting that Jessica be returned to Moonshadow Manor at once. “Post Haste” was the phrase Canis often used.
But that wasn’t the big problem. It was the handwriting scrawled on top of it in big black marker that read, Just send the spy back already!
“Don’t read that,” he growled, the angry sound loud enough to echo down the hallway as he snatched the envelope down, fingers crunching it up into a ball as he took his fury out on the paper. “It’s just some juvenile asshole thinking they’re tough.”
The words were more than likely true, but it was too late, the damage was done and the mood that had been building between the two of them was gone. Jessica retreated inside her secrets, whatever worry it was that dominated her fears coming to the forefront. He could see it on her face, the way it tightened at the reminder of why she was staying with him.
He keyed open the door and pushed it wide for Jessica to enter.
Someone passed by, making a disgusted noise under their breath. Klaue spun.
“What did you say?” he snarled.
The other shifter paused, looking back at him. “I didn’t say anything,” he spat. “I wouldn’t want her to take word back to her masters about more secrets.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Klaue saw Jessica wilt at the accusation of being a spy as yet another chunk of her armor was battered and dented. How much more of this unproven abuse could she take? Klaue decided then that she would no longer shoulder that burden alone. This was his mate, and he would defend her honor until or unless she proved him wrong. That would be his burden to bear.
And this punk was going to carry that message to the other assholes in House Ursa who were judging someone without even talking to her.
Decision made, Klaue closed the distance with the other shifter in a microsecond. He delivered two rapid blows to the man’s stomach, forcing him to keel over. As he bent in half, Klaue slammed his forearm upward, meeting the shifter’s jaw on the way down. Teeth crashed together and the man—his name was Korler, he remembered now—stumbled backward, spitting blood.
Klaue wasn’t done though, and he closed the distance, ducking a wild right to deliver a vicious hook into Korler’s solar plexus. He kept circling and planted his foot into the shifter’s back and kicked hard. Korler flew forward, collapsing in a heap on the floor as he lost his balance.
Not done with him yet, Klaue walked over, picked him up by the scruff of his neck, shook him violently and then tossed Korler down the hallway.
“Anyone else?” he bellowed, turning to look up and down the hallway.
The few heads that had appeared at hallways or out of doors disappeared. Nobody wanted to argue with a furious Klaue.
Smart move.
Taking several deep breaths to calm himself, he watched as Korler got to his feet and disappeared down a side hallway with one last furious glare in Klaue’s direction. Once the battle lust had faded enough, Klaue pushed open the door to his quarters and walked inside.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “You didn’t need to see that.”
“I didn’t,” Jessica said. “But I heard it through the door.”
“Oh.” He frowned as the look on her face registered. “Why are you giving me that funny look?”
Jessica crossed her arms, biting her lip visibly for several seconds before she spoke. “Why do you keep doing that?”
Klaue hesitated. “Uh, which part, exactly?”
“Defending me.”
He looked away. That was a very good question. Klaue knew why. She was his mate according to the Hunter, and he wasn’t about to let some little upstart nobody just out of his teens bad-mouth her, that was why. But he couldn’t give her that answer. Not without making things even more awkward between them. Klaue wasn’t going to lie to her either.
So he toed the line. “Because so far, you deserve it. You might be a spy, but you haven’t earned hostility, only suspicion.” He snorted. “And if you are a spy, you’re the best I’ve ever seen, because they’ve nearly killed you twice now.”
J
essica smiled tightly. “Are you suspicious of me?”
Klaue sighed, walked over to the mini-fridge he kept near the couches and pulled out a beer. “Want one?”
Jessica looked ready to say no, then changed her mind. “Sure.”
He cracked the bottles open and handed her one before taking a long sip of his. “Truthfully, Jessica, how am I not supposed to be suspicious? We both know you’re hiding something. You’ve done something big, or know some terrible secret, and Canis wants you for it. Bad. It’s not like Canis and Ursa are friendly, or even on speaking terms lately. We hate one another, and while my House isn’t perfect, or even close, we are not as bad as they are. We would never stoop to the levels they have recently.” He clamped down hard on his emotions, but it was useless. There had been too much pain recently, and it showed.
“What are you talking about?” she asked quietly. “What levels have they stooped to?”
Klaue shrugged. There was no harm in telling her. Canis already knew everything, since they’d engineered it, the bastards.
“A few weeks back, there was an uprising in our House. Dozens of shifters turned on each other in an attempt to overthrow the ruling party. It was ugly. The halls were stained with blood and filled with the bodies of men I’d called friends and comrades, many of whom I had to put down myself. Men whom I would never have suspected of being traitors.” He snarled and took another sip.
“What happened?”
“Canis happened,” he spat. “Some of the bastards over there, probably the King himself for all we know, bribed some high-ranking members of Ursa with more power if they would overthrow the King.” He sighed. “So, those high ranking members started spreading propaganda, saying the King was leading the House in the wrong direction, because he wanted better relations between House Canis and House Ursa.”
Jessica gasped.
“Most of the men who followed these assholes thought they were in the right,” he groaned, shaking his head at the memory of it. “They thought they were trying to fix the House, to put it back on its proper path. They nearly succeeded, too.”
“The Queen,” Jessica said. “She rules now.”
He nodded. “Her mate was killed during the fighting, as was the Heir to the House, among many others.”
“I see.” Jessica started chewing on her lip some more.
“Yeah. Then shortly after, one of their other lords, Laurent Canis, started a personal revenge campaign against one of us, attempting to frame Kincaid whom you haven’t met, for treason. And then Canis tried to kill him and his mate.” He breathed out heavily. “Right now is not a good time to be associated with them.”
Jessica slowly nodded, her eyes fixed on something off to the side that only she could see. “Klaue.”
“Yes?” He tried to keep his voice calm, sensing something was happening.
Her words came hesitantly. Cautiously. “I…didn’t do anything.”
Immediately, he clamped down on all emotions, not wanting to let anything sneak through that could scare her or startle Jessica. This had to be difficult enough for her, if the slowness with which she spoke was anything to go by. Whatever was going on, it was big, and he needed to ensure she trusted him fully before she finally told him.
“I understand,” he said once it was clear she wasn’t about to spill the rest of the beans.
Things were going to take time. Whatever it was that Jessica knew, it was big enough that House Canis would openly side with a rogue mage in an attempt to get her back, or kill her. It bothered Klaue that the wolves could be so brazen about it too. Before the uprising, if they’d tried something like that, Ursa and the other minor Houses would have come down on them like a load of bricks.
But Canis was in power now, and they were clearly willing to use any means necessary to keep it that way.
Still, this was progress. She’d opened up to him some more. In time, he felt confident she would trust him enough to share, and then they could figure out a way to deal with it. Together.
Klaue wondered if it had something to do with her sister. He didn’t dare bring it up, because that could cause Jess to clam up even further, but that would make a lot of sense. If her sister was in danger, or would be in danger if she shared the secret, then it would take a lot for Jessica to open up to him.
“Hungry?” he asked as his stomach growled, deciding to change the subject, and to try and put her more at ease for the time being.
“Fucking starving,” she said with a little laugh.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough.
“Alright, I’ll ring up the kitchen. We’ll eat in tonight and go to bed early so you can get over to Natalia’s rooms. How does that sound?”
“Delightful,” she agreed.
Klaue made the arrangements and then relaxed. The evening would be easy. He could make it through that without doing anything to worsen the situation. Now, if he could only say the same for the wedding.
Things were about to get very interesting in House Ursa.
19
Looking down at the piece of paper she held, on which Klaue had drawn a crude map, she made the last turn. If she’d followed the directions right, Natalia’s room should be just up here on the right.
Jessica’s stomach was filled with butterflies as she knocked. The entire idea made her uncomfortable, but also strangely accepted. Nobody besides Klaue and the Queen herself had shown Jessica much in the way of courtesy since she’d arrived, so it was a strange feeling indeed to be so welcomed into this woman’s life, and on her wedding day, no less.
But while Nat had seemed nice enough, Jessica didn’t know about the rest of the women. Would they be as polite and open with the situation as well? Or would they treat her like the men had, with a cold shoulder? After all, she wasn’t a part of House Ursa or the wedding party, and yet she’d been invited to join them in getting ready. Plenty of women would be miffed at that, she knew.
The door flung open to reveal a beaming Natalia. “Jess!” she cried, immediately using the short form. “You came. Awesome. Come in, come in.” She yanked on Jessica’s arm, pulling her inside. “Girls, this is Jessica, you know, the one I was telling you about? Klaue’s, um, date.”
Jessica blushed as she heard excited noises from the group within. “It’s not like that,” she tried to protest, but it was cut off when one of them yelled a loud, “Bullshit!”
“That would be Loren,” Natalia said with a grin. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
The first woman to get up and come over as she took off her shoes was a lovely shorter woman with a warm smile and light brown hair already styled up in a beautifully intricate bun. “I’m Haley,” she said cheerfully. “That shit-talker there is Loren, Natalia’s best friend. You can ignore her.”
“Good luck,” the energetic blonde said with a laugh, getting up—and, to Jessica’s surprise—giving her an embrace. “Nice to meet you. Nat has had only good things to say.”
“How much did you manage to tell them?” Jess asked. “I only met you for like half an hour yesterday.”
“Nat is a sucker for romance and hookups,” another woman said drily as she came up. “I’m Michelle. She is obsessed that somebody has to get together at her wedding, and right now, she’s latched on to you. So, from Loren and myself, thank you so fucking much!”
Jessica laughed along with the other girls, surprised at how at ease she felt already. Loren came over to give her a swift embrace and then pushed a tall flute glass filled with what had to be champagne into her hands. “Here, take this as my thank you as well. I may hook up with someone tonight, but Nat’s long used to me doing that, so I think she’s excited at the prospect of playing cupid for someone else.”
“You all suck!” Nat pouted as they all took seats on chairs that had been assembled.
“It’s your wedding day, you idiot. Focus on yourself, and not getting someone else laid,” Loren told her as the rest of them laughed.
Jessica sipped her champagne a
nd couldn’t help but smile to herself. All the fears of her being welcome had vanished in the span of two minutes. It seemed Nat liked to surround herself with similarly caring people.
“I’m not worried about anyone getting laid,” Nat said as the hair stylists came back out of the bathroom and went to work on Michelle next. “But you should have seen how Klaue looked at her.”
Jessica nearly choked on her champagne as Nat pointed at her. “Um. No, she’s just making that up. It’s not like that.”
Nat laughed. “Darling, Klaue is Kirell’s right-hand man. I’m Kirell’s soon-to-be wife.”
Jessica caught the slight hesitation before the word wife. At first, she thought it was nervous jitters, but then realized the other women in the room probably had no idea they were staying with a bunch of bear shifters! She made a mental note not to say or do anything to give that away, glad she’d come to her senses before making an ill-timed comment.
“What’s your point?” she asked cautiously.
“My point is, I know Klaue well. You two have been spending lots of time together. Now you’re going to the wedding with him. So, how is it going with you two?”
Jessica hemmed and hawed some more. “I’m…I’m not here because of that.”
“I know,” Nat said dryly. “You’re here because House Canis, those rascals. Everyone knows.”
“They do?” she asked, surprised.
The other women nodded, and Loren spoke up. “Yeah, Nat told us that you came here from there for whatever reason.”
“Oh. So how come none of you is mad at me?”
Nat and Haley rolled their eyes almost in unison. “Because, Jess, we’re not big dumb men. We can see you’re scared and not here on some secret job for Canis. We know you’re telling the truth.”
“Oh.” She was beginning to feel like a broken record, repeating the same surprised word over and over again.
