Page 69 of Aine

Damien turns to see what I’m referring to, his lips pursing as he catches sight of the unique shop. I raise my eyebrows as he tugs us farther down the street instead of answering, a slight frustration filling me at his reluctance to answer my questions.

“Well?” I prod.

Damien sighs, his shoulders slumping forward in the gesture I’ve come to learn means I won. “That was a whorehouse.”

I’ve never heard that term before, but it doesn’t take long for me to realize it’s a brothel. I’ve never been to one before, but the one in my old village was common for Henry to visit while we were married.

I was unaware they could be such public establishments and am surprised people would visit a place where anybody could see them enter and exit. In my old village, it was located on the outskirts of town, hidden between trees to remain private. Most people actively avoided that area unless they were seeking the company of another.

“I’m surprised it’s so centrally located,” I whisper to him. “The humans here must have different values than we did where I was raised.”

Damien only shrugs, his desire to change the subject quite clear. I’m surprised to see how uncomfortable he looks with the topic of conversation, the man usually more than happy to talk about sex. I clench my hand tighter around his as I start to put the pieces together.

“How often do you frequent that place?” I ask.

Damien sucks on his teeth, pretending he didn’t hear me as he begins to tug me farther away from the brothel. I try to stand my ground and remain still, but he pulls until I have no choice but to stumble behind him.

He expertly navigates us around the next corner and pulls me up another identical street. There’s a woman up ahead who wears the same attire as the ones in the brothel: nothing. She looks like me, shorter in stature with wide hazel eyes and thick eyebrows. Her lips are pursed, and as I slide my eyes down her frame, I notice how well toned her muscles are.

Her eyes widen momentarily as she catches sight of Damien.

She glances at our joined hands before sliding her gaze up his body with a knowing smirk. Her dark hair sways around her waist as she glides past us, her body unnecessarily close to Damien’s.

He stares ahead and pretends he doesn’t notice, but I feel his hand stiffen around my own. Feelings of jealousy and annoyance flash through me at the sight of her, but I remind myself I don’t care who or what he does.

I shrug in an attempt to show my indifference. What he does doesn’t concern me. If he wants to visit brothels to waste his time, money, energy, and dignity, that’s his problem. He can be as dirty as he wants. I don’t care.

At least that’s what I tell myself.

Damien breaks the silence. “I’m not proud of my past.”

I ignore him, happy with myself for how good I’ve gotten at doing that, but I can’t seem to keep my face from warming as he ducks and presses his lips to my cheek.

“Where are we staying?” I ask, changing the subject to something that makes my heart beat less painfully in my chest.

Despite my anger, I’m still excited to explore and learn as much about these humans as I possibly can. This place is at least triple the size of the village I grew up in.

Damien lifts our conjoined hands and points to a large brownstone up ahead. It blends in with the other shops, which I find a bit surprising. I anticipated Damien would want to stay at the nicest place here.

“The walls are thick and do a good job blocking out the noises,” he says, answering my unspoken question. “Most beasts stay here.”

I nod.

It must be hard to stay in such a crowded village when you can hear everything happening within a five-block radius. Despite how cool it would be to have some of the strength and senses the beasts possess, superior hearing is one thing I’m grateful to be lacking. I’m a notoriously light sleeper, and if I could hear even half as well as Damien, I doubt I’d ever get good rest.

“Is Freya staying here too?” I ask.

Damien’s lips dip into a slight frown as he nods.

As if fate herself has decided to intervene, Freya’s tall form exits the building just as we move to step inside. She smirks when she spots us, and I instinctively tense as she approaches.

“Damien! You brought your human!” she exclaims, shooting me a wide smile.

I don’t trust her friendly attitude, so I lean into Damien’s side as she moves forward to hug me. Damien seems to sense my discomfort as he wraps an arm around my waist and blocks her advance. He’s the lesser of two evils here.

Freya examines us both from head to toe.

“It took you long enough to arrive. I’ve been waiting for hours now.” Her gaze gradually slides around the street. “Who’s the Alpha you’ve arranged for me to meet?”

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