Page 28 of Mated to the Enemy
Good.The sooner he grew frustrated, the sooner he would turn back. To safety.
“I told you already. I’m not putting you, or your friends, in danger for any longer. Besides, this way it’ll be easier for you as well. They want me gone.”
The manicured lawns on either side of the road gave way as they left them behind and entered the covered canopy of the forest that encircled the property like a moat. For a second, Jessica wondered if they kept the equivalent of land alligators in the forest.
Land alligators? Really?
“That’s not really fair,” Klaue said after the silence had grown nice and thick. “They would be more inclined to trust you if you should just tell us more about you.”
Jessica finally spun to face him. “You need to stop prying at my secrets, Klaue,” she snapped. “Haven’t I made that clear already?”
She looked up at him with as much force behind her glare as she could muster. It was tough, because she didn’t enjoy being mad at him, no matter how valid the reasoning in her mind. He was just trying to help.
“I’m not talking about your secret,” he said softly, showing no sign that he was affected in the slightest by her outburst or impolite looks.
“Huh? What are you talking about then?” she asked, continuing to walk, but intrigued now.
“Little details.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know. Your last name. What brought you to Plymouth Falls? Things like that. Things that will help the others feel more comfortable trusting you.
Jessica wanted to tell him to piss off. To either drive her to the gates or leave her alone, one or the other. It’s what she should have done, the smart move. But she couldn’t. He was too earnest, too damned cute in his persistence. It was infuriating!
What harm can come by telling him some of your backstory? He already knows your sister is mated to someone in Canis, after all. It’s why they all suspect you of being a spy.
“I got laid off,” she admitted finally. “The factory I worked for is closing, and they were paying people to start leaving. I took the early severance package after a bit of negotiating. Then I decided to take some time off before looking for the next job. I’ve got a bit of a nest-egg saved up, so I would be fine, I decided.”
Klaue was hanging off her every word as she continued to walk into the forest, not yet decided about whether or not she was going to return to the House. That would bear more thought first.
“I came out here. I’ve been to Plymouth Falls before, but not in several years. I missed my sister. We were really close as kids and growing up, but once we started living in different cities, that faded.”
She didn’t mention her own feelings, that she felt Lorran was trying to cut her off from her old life, to rid himself of the Hanes family entirely.
“My last name is Hanes, by the way,” she added, remembering his other question. “Not that it will help you in any way, but there you have it. Any other questions?” She’d meant it to come out cheery, but her current mood twisted the knob on her voice to extreme sarcasm instead.
Klaue glanced at her before she could respond, his eyebrows raised at the caustic tone.
“Sorry,” she said, hunching over slightly. “I meant that to sound normal. Seriously, any other little questions?”
It felt somewhat cathartic to talk to him about her life, she realized, as long as they danced around the events of the past few days.
“Who is your sister mated to? Can you tell me that?”
Jessica almost said no, but realized that if he truly wanted to he could find out, due to Lorran’s position as a Title Holder. “Lorran,” she said slowly. “He’s some sort of bigwig I guess, I don’t really know, I never bothered to care.”
“Lorran?” Klaue said, coming to a halt. “Like, Captain of House Canis, Lorran?ThatLorran?”
“I guess?” she said, feeling kind of silly. Maybe she should have made a bigger deal of finding out what it was her sister’s mate did for his House. “Is he a big deal?”
“In a way,” Klaue said, choking over his words.
“Oh. Well I mean, I only ever knew him as Lorran. Even after my sister was mated to him, we never really talked about what he did. I knew he was some sort of high-up but, well, I didn’t like him and…Klaue? Are you even paying attention to me?”
The shifter had gone quiet, but even more unnerving than that, his body had gone still. He was looking out past her, into the forest ahead.
“Klaue?” she asked again, receiving nothing but a hand across her mouth.
