Page 60 of Grace of a Wolf 1
But if I force an answer out of him, what am I going to do? Hunt the man down? Demand to know why he was visiting? The girl isn't hurt; if I go around tyrannizing everyone who looks at her twice, the rumors will only grow. As if Jack-Eye's nagging isn't enough.
My hands curl into fists as I spin on my heel and stalk away again, cursing myself for being weak enough to go back in the first place. She won't eat with me standing there, and she needs the sustenance. I have to give her space, even if I want to throw open the door and stand there, breathing in her scent for the next hour. Maybe three hours. A day. A week.
Forever?Fenris suggests.
No, damn it. She's human. I killed Brax to uphold our laws; what would it say of me if I followed in his footsteps? I swore to uphold the law when I became King. I said I wouldn't let power define me.
Being mated is a separate issue.
My teeth grind together as I tense my jaw.She isn't our mate, Fenris. She's human.
His tone turns calculating.I see. Tell me, then, how do you feel when you're touching her?
The question stops me cold. My mind flashes back to this earlier—the soft skin of her wrist beneath my fingers, the gentle pulsing of her heart against my thumb. The way her scent surrounded me, letting me breathe freely for the first time since I tackled her onto the forest floor.
Peace. For that brief moment, there was peace in my mind.
Exactly,Fenris purrs, catching the edges of my thoughts. He's like a snake, striking while I'm weak.If you want peace again, you need to get closer to her, not act like a feral beast who's never been around a female. You're scaring her off completely with your bizarre behavior.
"I don't care if she's scared. She won't be around much longer, anyway." Maybe I can stretch out this investigation for a few more days, though. Just enough to get things settled for her in the human world, not because I want to keep her around.
It's for her benefit. Not mine.
Hell—my pack can afford to subsidize an apartment for her. She's a victim, after all. And if she's in the apartment I'm paying for, I can keep an eye on her. Get her a job somewhere I know she'll be safe. Somewhere without other men. Maybe I can convince her she doesn't need to work; I'll send her an allowance… Enough to keep her comfortable. Happy. Safe.
You're an idiot if you think that'll be enough. Just take her with us.
Chapter thirty-one
Caine: A Fool or a King
CAINE
Fenris's response makes me realize what I'm thinking and I groan, driving my fist into the nearest wall again. It's a new habit, developed about ten minutes ago. The plaster crumbles under my knuckles, leaving a crater the size of my hand. "Fuck. You're in my head again."
I most certainly am not,Fenris replies, his voice dripping with disdain.I would never put such idiotic thoughts in your head. My goal has always been to keep the girl with us, in our pack—not set her up in some pathetic human apartment like a kept woman.
The truth in his words stings worse than my knuckles. These thoughts—this obsession with providing for her, protecting her from afar—they're mine alone, turning me into a hypocrite. I killed Brax for breaking our laws, didn't I?
"What the hell is happening to me?" I demand of my wolf, grateful this section of the lodge is empty. Talking to the air isn't uncommon in a pack; we all have arguments with our wolves, and they aren't always confined to our heads. Still, it's not the kind of conversation I want others overhearing.
What's happening is that you're fighting your instincts while pretending it's my influence. It's exhausting to watch.
I press my forehead against the wall with a groan. "She's human, Fenris." If she wasn't, this would all be easier. I still couldn't take her as a mate, but at least it would give me options…
The universe doesn't follow your rigid little rules, Caine.
Blood rushes in my ears as frustration surges. "The laws exist for a reason. Humans and shifters don't mix—they never have."
There are precedents.
"Like Brax?" My mocking laughter echoes through the empty corridor. "His mate ran away. Humans don't belong in a pack."
It's likely her mother was not Brax's fated mate. Or if she was, he treated her so terribly she felt life was better without him. It says more about Brax than it does about her human mother.
"Assumptions," I mutter, but I don't have the heart to say things likemaybe her mom was the problem. I've met Brax. There's no way a human woman was the problem. "It doesn't matter. The girl will return to human society where she belongs, and that's final."
Then why haven't you sent her already?Why obsess over her injuries, her meals, her comfort?
