Page 9 of The Alpha's Silent Mate

As I drag the soft brush across one lid, my one opened eye connects with Shay, who still observes me, looking more relaxed than I’ve seen him before.

It’s probably because you haven’t tried to run away again.

An entire week has passed since he told me not to, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped thinking about it.

Shay must know it too, or at least strongly suspect it, because the moment I even think about stepping outside, Ana is waiting to escort me where I want to go. Or Ewan is there, his eyes fixed on me, asking if there’s anything I need.

And of course, Shay is there more than anyone else. Well, as much as he can be with more and more strangers spotted on the outer fringes of Wolfkeep. Strangers who melt away the moment he sends his enforcers to investigate.

To calm the growing tension in the courtyard, Shay organized a gathering with dancing and drinking and a band made up of the most talented musicians in the pack. It was also an opportunity to introduce me to everyone because as Shay’s mate, that makes me Luna, the highest-ranked female in the pack.

After two months spent hiding under my bed, it was long past time I showed my face.

So, Ana did my makeup and curled my hair. Shay took my hand, told me I was beautiful, and led the way through the courtyard to a large stone room he called the hall.

And I got my first real glimpse of the Clayfell pack.

I sat at the biggest table beside Shay, and I felt all the pack’s attention on me.

Hundreds. There must have been hundreds of them, and I never knew it.

My family’s pack was so small. Just fifty. That’s when my fear began to ease. It was easy to believe that Shay’s pack would keep me safe, so I stopped looking for more opportunities to run away—because how could I not be, in a pack of hundreds?

When Shay asked me to dance, and then the other men did too, I smiled and nodded. And kept on nodding until I thought the soles of my feet would wear away by the end of the night.

If I’d known the gathering would last from late evening, when the sky was still a rich inky blue, into a bright early morning, and that I’d spend most of it dancing, I would’ve stopped nodding much sooner than I did.

Shay’s hands close around my arms when I finish with the eyeshadow and return it to the counter. This time, I don’t startle or jump. I just look up.

His reflection smiles at me. “No dancing for hours.”

I raise my eyebrow. It draws a wider smile from him, which he buries when he kisses my hair. “It’s not my fault that I have the most beautiful mate in the pack, and all the men want to dance with her.”

A familiar hardness bumps my lower back, but I don’t comment on it. Neither does Shay. My body warms more each time it happens, but since Shay never mentions the scent of my arousal, I try not to react to the obvious sign of his.

He doesn’t look at other women when I’m around, and I’ve never heard anyone else say he had a girlfriend or lover before he found me. But he must have. As I take in his straight sloped nose, strong jaw, and kissable lips, it hits me again that someone as handsome as Shay would never be single for long.

A smile touches his lips. “What are you thinking, pup? Your expression has me curious.”

You’d be able to spot my blush from space. That’s how bright I get. I grab my hairbrush and duck around Shay so I can finish getting ready somewhere that he can’t see my face.

But his hands grip my hips, halting me. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

No, I can’t.

Not about the thoughts that have slowly been invading my brain, and certainly not about the dreams that I have more nights than not.

I shake my head.

His breath tickles my throat when he speaks. “If it’s—”

“Shay, quit hounding the girl and leave her to dress,” Ana interrupts.

“The girl is my beautiful mate, and I am not hounding her,” he grumbles. But despite his protest, a dimple creases his right cheek and his eyes are playful as he walks me out of the bathroom into the bedroom, where Ana waits with a cloth-wrapped dress.

The second her gaze lands on Shay, she shoos him toward the door outside. “Go. I saw Ewan heading next door with a coat for you.”

Frowning, I turn to peer over my shoulder.

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