Page 19 of Faith and Fury

I can feel her eyes on me. Pressing into me. The longer I don’t answer, the weirder it’ll look, but I’m not sure I can trust myself to speak. Not when, with a single glance, she’s begun to unravel the bleeding heart of me.

“Yeah,” I whisper at last. “Something.”

Faith picks up the marker again, only to stop herself. She sits back in the couch, fixing her gaze to the TV once more.

No longer bristling.

***

Jaxon heads out to run errands, clearly embarrassed by his earlier outburst.

His inner alpha is probably feeling a little called out. I know he’d never force anything on Faith, and I’m sure he knows it too, but the fact remains—it’s only been a day, and he’s already infatuated.

When he gets back, he’s carrying about fifteen pounds of groceries on one arm, and three bags of clothes on the other.

“Can’t keep you in Caleb’s shirts forever,” he mutters, handing Faith the bags.

She accepts with a wary frown.

“It’s okay,” I say gently when she looks at me. “Go ahead.”

With that, she disappears into her room, closing the door behind her. I notice Jaxon staring—not after her, but at me. “Everything okay?” I ask.

“You tell me.”

Heat fills my cheeks as I start to unpack the groceries. “I think Faith is settling in well—or, you know, as well as we can expect.”

“Uh-huh.” He smirks. “She seems to like you.”

“I don’t know about that.” I open up the fridge, willing it to cool me down. “I’m just the smallest. Least threatening.”

As soon as the words come out, I want to take them back, but thankfully Jaxon is unfazed. “Give yourself some credit, man. When I left the den, I still couldn’t catch her scent. But when I got in just now …”

My head snaps up. Faith is so heavily suppressed that not even her pheromones have been coming through. It’s driving my inner alpha crazy.

“What is it?” I demand. “What’s it like?”

Jaxon grins. “You tell me.”

He’s playing with me—riling my alpha up.

And it’s working.

Faith’s door opens. She returns to the kitchen in a pair of low-waisted jeans and a plain black tank-top. Her midriff is exposed. Her arms are lean, but defined. And god, her breasts—

She holds up the notepad. BETTER?

I wrestle my inner alpha back down. What the hell was I thinking, ogling her like that?

“Yeah.” Jaxon’s eyes are glossy. “You look great.”

She quirks an eyebrow at him before slipping away to the living room. The sound of the afternoon news broadcast filters through the den.

I can only hope she doesn’t feel my gaze mapping her perfect body with every stolen glance.

Chapter Twelve

Caleb

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