Page 15 of Ruthless Alpha
He was right, because of course he was. If Rosie really hated it here, then I should send her to another island I trusted. Lapine was out for obvious reasons, but Leo would make sure she came to no harm on Argent, and Julia would surely change her mind about witches pretty quickly if I left Rosie on Ferris. She’d be happier, and I’d be less stressed, yet the idea bothered me. I didn’t like the thought of sending her away.
“I guess,” I replied, without enthusiasm, and the radio let out another buzz of static.
“Bro, what is your problem? You want to fuck her or something?”
I hesitated too long before speaking, trying to think of a way around the truth, but Jace was too quick for me.
“Oh,” he said. “Oh, you do.”
“It’s not—I want to make sure she stays safe,” I protested lamely. He wasn’twrong,but he wasn’t entirely right either.
“And…” Jace prompted.
“And she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I admitted, because there was no way I was getting away with denying it.
“There we go.”
“And she’s eighteen,” I added, because I might as well lay it all out on the table at this point. Jace would notice how young she was when he arrived.
“Ah,” he said. “And you feel like a creepy old man about it.”
“I’m thirty-three, Jace.”
“Seriously?” he said. Even through the crackle of the radio, I could hear the smile in his voice. “God, you’re basically the crypt keeper.”
“Fuck off,” I replied, without rancor. Jace was only twenty-five—he was never going to understand why I felt so uncomfortable. If Rosie had been my mate, it would be different—there’s no arguing with fate, after all—but she was just another female, one who should have passed beneath my notice. To feel the way I felt about her when she was so vulnerable and so lost and so, so young made me feel dirty.
I couldn’t vocalize any of this, but luckily, I didn’t have to, because Jace’s quick mind had already moved on.
“Look, if you want her to feel comfortable on Ensign, you have to make her an Ensign woman,” he was saying. “Your females can all fight, right?”
That was one of the first changes I’d made to Ensign life, and I was still surprised I got away with it. Their training wasn’t as extensive as the males got, but it was enough to help them stand their ground against a male who had decided he wanted more than she was willing to give. I’d been expecting a challenge over it—society on Ensign hadn’t changed a whole lot over the past century—but I’d managed to convince the ornery males thatany opposition was indicative of their own inability to beat a female in a fight.
The females I’d spoken to seemed to appreciate it, but I knew life for them was still dangerous. They still moved in groups or relied on fathers and mates to escort them around the island. One day, I might be brave enough to push for real reform—to take on half the males on the island when they inevitably challenged me over it—but for now, a little combat training would have to do.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Then teach her,” Jace declared, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. “If she knows how to defend herself, she might feel more comfortable around all you bloodthirsty assholes.”
My instinct told me to brush him off: there was no way Rosie would allow me to train her, and even if I tried, it would take weeks to get her to stop fleeing or freezing at the first sign of danger. If I could manage it, though, we might really get somewhere.
“That’s—not a bad idea, actually,” I said. I’d have to start with a few less traditional methods, but it was worth a shot, at least. “Thanks, Jace.”
“Good luck. See you soon. Over and out.”
The radio clicked off, and I was left to deal with my problems alone again. Jace’s idea was really good, and I was already mentally running through different training methods that might work. The problem was convincing Rosie to give it a try.
Judging by her behavior so far, if I asked her to accompany me down to the basement alone, she would assumeI was about to murder her in cold blood. The assumption hurt, but I understood it. If the male who was supposed to care for her on her own island was violent (and I was almost certain that he was), then she would expect far worse from the Alpha of Ensign.
It had been two days since Rosie and I had last spoken. Of course, I had tried to engage her in conversation over meals, but I’d received little in response, and I knew now not to push it—if only because I valued my crockery. In the time between, she’d scuttled around the house doing various chores that left my house so spotless that I felt bad simply for inhabiting it.
At that moment, I could hear her in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast. Dishes rattled in the sink and pots clanged as she put them back in their places. I watched her work for a little while, the errant curls of her blonde hair refusing to stay out of her face, no matter how tightly she tried to pull her hair back into a bun or a braid. The effort of her work had flushed her sweet face a delicate pink, and I couldn’t help admiring the strength that lay beneath her softness. She might be scared of me, but she was stubborn enough to stand her ground when we argued. I respected that, even if I hated everything she had to say.
“Rosie?” I ventured. She didn’t jump, so she must have known I was there.
“Do you need something?” she asked, prim and polite, her eyes not quite meeting mine.
“No. I just wondered if—if learning to fight might make you feel a little more comfortable here,” I explained. “Our females can all stand up for themselves if they need to, and if you’re going to stay here, then you should really get some training. We could do it here, just the two of us.” I didn’t miss the way she frowned at the thought of staying on Ensign, and maybeJace was right—maybe she would be happier on Argent or Ferris—but I would never forgive myself if I didn’t at leasttryto make her happy here.
