Page 79 of Stargazer

“Shut up,” I shoved him in the chest, but as I did so, I saw his gaze drift towards Celeste upon his perusal of the clearing, who was now sparring with Bleu. Like all the Knights, the male was dangerously irresistible.

Something akin to jealousy flashed across the Beta’s own features at the sight. Only for a microsecond. Then he seemed to shake it off and continued to scan the others who were training, as if it had never happened. But I had seen it.

“Green isn’t your colour either, Zan,” I taunted.

He gave me a shit-eating grin. “I look amazing in green.”

Picking up on what I was implying about his feelings towards my sister, and then appreciating Zander’s quick-witted comeback, Kit and Billie giggled. In fact, Kitana egged him on, suggesting he show Bleu how it’s done.

As if finally realising we were there, Griff focused his wrath on us, slowly turning in our direction with a withering glare.

“If you ladies are done chatting, do you want to deign the others with your presence?”

His crossed arms bulged, drawing my attention. My stare trailed upwards, taking in his arched dark brow and the unstyled hair that flopped over his forehead, damp with sweat from being out in the heat for hours.

Breathtaking. He was breathtaking. And he was strong and bold and skilled. He was charismatic and confident and intense. He was hypnotic.

Why wouldn’t Winter try her luck? She had been gone for a while, off on missions, and now she was here. And he was here. And they were both titled, official Gray Knights.

It made sense. Like him and Sienna had made sense.

But him and I?

Just because I was still making my decision didn’t mean he had to wait around. He didn’t have to wait for me at all.

He jerked his chin towards the other hunters working on weapon training off to the side. To be fair, none of them had taken a break as long as ours, so he had a point.

Watching me like he was waiting for me to challenge him, surprise mixed with what looked like desire flitted across those strong features when I said, “Yes, Captain,” and got up to my feet, dusting off my gym shorts.

The Gray heir was right.

We had lots to do and so much to still learn to be prepared and ready for whatever was coming.

So we trained.

And then went back to HQ and dialled in to multiple Knight meetings with Thea and the others, before finally taking a few precious hours to ourselves to rest, refuel and recover.

CHAPTER 28

VENUS

When nightfall hit, Griffin and I made our way back to the pack house to pick up the Beta for our patrol. This was our usual little unit, the three of us. Although occasionally when Carter was not around, I swapped out to join Kit or Billie on theirs with whichever wolf was on lookout with them.

I had brought a book to loan Sky, so I told Griffin I’d just be a minute when we arrived, heading in to locate her and let Zander know we were ready to leave.

Descending the stairs a few minutes later, after successfully leaving Sky to dig into her new read, I saw the Beta in the kitchen and noticed that Griff was waiting by the door, doing what he did best—leaning against it as the perfect picture of boredom while scrolling on his phone.

“Zan, you ready for patrol?” I asked over my shoulder as I headed towards the front door and the Knight guarding it.

“Actually, I have a date tonight,” he replied, rounding the kitchen bench and following me outside.

“Yeah, because that’s important,” Griff scoffed.

The Beta winked. “What can I say, I’m a wanted man.”

“Hard to believe.”

We walked towards the Jeep and Zander trailed, even though it seemed he had no plans on joining us.

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