Page 21 of Shattered Fears

CHAPTER NINE

“I’m nervous.” Isobel tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It was the errant bit that always refused to do as it was told when she had her hair pulled back. For what seemed like the hundredth time, she checked the outfit she was wearing: a long skirt and blouse, which was neat and tidy. She hadn’t felt this nervous in a long time. Zain picked her up shortly after her father had dropped her at work. She hadn’t told the senator she’d taken the day off to be with her boyfriend because, well, she didn’t want him to know she was seeing Zain again. Not yet, there’d be too many questions, and she wasn’t in a position to answer them, yet, without trembling and probably falling apart with nerves. “Remind me: there's Kas – polar bear, Brayden – snow leopard, Emma and Scott – lions, Tyler – wolf, Teagan – wild dog, Katia – half lion and half tiger, Jane – human, Jessica – witch, and Selene – who can transform into any animal she’s touched before. Am I right?”

She spent most of last night going over the list of people in the pack that Zain had told her he was a part of. It was all very confusing to her. He called them his family, now, but it seemed an alien concept to her since they were all such different species. It was also really frightening at the moment because she was standing outside the front door of the Glacial Blood pack’s home, waiting for Zain to take her in to meet them, once she had finished her delaying tactics.

“Yes, plus Zahara and Morocco, they’re Emma and Scott’s twins.” Zain leaned casually against the door frame and watched her. He knew exactly what she was doing; she could tell by the amused grin on his face.

“Zahara and Morocco. Twin lion cubs.” She paused and looked at him. “Do they look like lions or babies?”

“Babies. We can’t shift until we’re a bit older, normally at puberty. Makes it less likely they’ll turn into a cub and trot off into trouble when they shouldn’t.”

“Jane’s a human. Why is she here again?”

“She’s Brayden’s mother. Her husband was a snow leopard, but he died when Brayden was younger. Jane looks after us all as a mother, though.”

She slumped against the other side of the door.

“They’re going to hate me when they find out who I am.”

“They won’t. They’ll love you as much as I do.”

“They’ll probably chuck you out of the pack for bringing me here. I’m endangering them. I should leave. I need to forget who is who.”

Zain pushed off his side of the door frame and came over to her. He pressed a kiss to her lips as she continued to ramble on about the danger and getting people into trouble. It silenced her in an instant, and she melted into his touch.

“You're going to have to stop over-analyzing this. If I thought there was any danger to either you or the pack, then I wouldn’t bring you here. Everyone is going to be safe. We’ll sit down and have honey sandwiches.”

Isobel couldn’t help the chuckle that left her.

“Are you still obsessed with honey sandwiches?”

Zain rolled his eyes.

“You’ve no idea. Now, come on. Let’s go in.”

Zain pushed the front door open, and they entered the house with their hands joined together.

“Kas,” he called out.

“In the lounge,” a deep voice replied in a blunt tone.

“He doesn’t sound happy,” she murmured almost silently to Zain.

“No, it’s just Kas. He always sounds like that,” Zain replied in decibels of a similar level.

“I can hear you,” came from the lounge, which was followed by the sound of feminine giggling. A growl shook the house, and the laughter silenced pretty quickly. She could understand why.

“He heard me?” she whispered again.

“Er..yeah..we have good hearing. Really good. They’ve probably all been listening to the conversation we had on the porch.”

Isobel felt her skin blush bright red.

“Now, I’m convinced they’re going to hate me.” she lamented. Zain pulled her to him.

“Trust me.” He pressed his lips against hers, and her vision blurred at the edges with the need to have him inside her again, which would have been preferable to meeting all his friends. The kiss did the job and relaxed her, though.

“Okay.” She relaxed into his arms.

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