Page 22 of Wulf's Pack
I push my way into the kitchen and take a seat at the table. I’d offer to help, but it looks like they’ve got everything covered.
A startled yelp has all of us turning around. Skylar is standing in the entry to the kitchen, clutching her chest, while our clan brother, Illren, stands too close behind her. The damn faerie has personal space issues and is sneaky as hell. Illren is a fae assassin. A ruthless one. He’d give me nightmares if he weren’t the most loyal killer on the planet. He’s a psycho, but he’s our psycho.
“Illren.” I groan. “Do you always have to creep up on people like that? You scared the shit out of her.”
Illren ignores me. “Hello, little sister,” he murmurs to Skylar in his quiet, slightly chilling voice.
She sucks in a gasp. I jump up from my chair and pull Skylar away from Illren before he gives her a heart attack. I don’t mean to pull her close, but before I know it, we’re toe-to-toe, staring at each other. I gulp. “Hi.”
She blushes. “Hi.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thank you.”
My hand lifts of its own volition, and I push her hair back behind her ear. She bites her lip and looks up at me with her big, blue eyes, and my mouth goes dry. I want to taste her. I want to pull her into my arms and drown her in a kiss that would curl her toes.
A throat clears behind us, breaking us apart. I pull in a deep breath through my nose and take a quick step back. I’m surprised at myself. She had me completely enthralled.
Skylar’s eyes widen when Illren smiles at her. The man is terrifying without trying. He has long, silky black hair pulledback, showing off pointed ears and ethereal violet eyes. He has a sort of graceful look about him, but it’s a deadly grace. The man has a darkness to him that usually has people’s survival instincts going haywire. You can just sense the danger the man poses.
He's looking at Skylar with intelligent, calculating eyes, cataloguing every detail about her. I slip my arm around her and pull her close to my side. Her small hand clings to my shirt as if she needs me to calm her nerves. “Skylar, this is Illren.”
Illren lifts his hand, and Skylar flinches. I release a soft warning growl, but Illren continues to ignore me. He pauses and quirks an eyebrow at Skylar. “You’re a jumpy little thing.”
I grind my teeth.
“No, you’re just that terrifying,” Nora quips. “Quit terrorizing her, and come sit down. Breakfast is ready.”
Illren shoots Nora a bored look, as if he disagrees with the terrorizing thing. He reaches toward Skylar again, and she places her trembling hand in his. He bows low and presses his forehead to the back of her hand. Skylar glances at me, shocked, but all I can do is shrug. Illren does what he wants, and usually you just have to go with it.
When Illren lifts out of his bow, he looks at Skylar with an intense gaze. “You have nothing to fear from me, little sister.”
As dangerous as this man obviously is, there’s no lie in his words, and strangely enough, Skylar gives him a shy smile back as if she likes being referred to as “little sister.” I’m definitely going to have to consider moving us into the den. She needs a family. She’s probably never had one. At least not a good one, if her parents were willing to sell her off.
“All right, introductions are out of the way,” Rook says, pulling out a chair for Nora. “Let’s eat this breakfast before it all gets cold.”
When I hold out a chair for Skylar, she smiles at me and sits. She covers a yawn with a fist and asks, “What time is it?”
“1 p.m.” I take the seat beside her. “With the club being open so late and the FUA open 24 hours, we’re all on a sort of swing-shift schedule. Typically, we’re up around noon and go to bed around 4 a.m.”
“It also helps us accommodate Parker a little since he’s completely nocturnal,” Nora adds. “We’d never get to spend any quality time with him otherwise, and he gets a bit lonely. Vampires are very social, but he’s not in a vampire clan, so we do what we can to make sure he gets family time.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you all.”
Nora shrugs. “He’s family.”
Everyone takes their seats and starts grabbing food. I hold up a scoop of eggs and give Skylar a questioning look. She nods, so I drop the spoonful of eggs onto her plate. On her other side, Rook sets two pancakes on her plate as well. She looks a little bemused at being served, and her eyes gloss over.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, worried we’ve somehow offended her.
She swallows. “I’m fine,” she says, but her voice is thick and raspy. Everyone stops eating to look at her. Their concern seems to tip her over the edge, and moisture gathers in her eyes. “I’ve never been treated with such kindness,” she admits. “It’s a little overwhelming.”
When I stiffen at this, she pats my leg as if I’m the one who needs comfort. “I’m free now. I’m with you.”
That calms me. I nudge her arm with my elbow. “Eat. We need to put some meat on your bones.”
She blushes, but digs into her food. My wolf is satisfied, happy to be taking care of her.
