Page 157 of Haze

“Good afternoon,” I greet her, planting a kiss on her lips.

Lena’s stomach growls, and her hand flies to cover it.

“Good afternoon to you too,” I say with a laugh, moving my hand to meet hers.

The way I fucked her comes back to me. If only breeding her was that easy. She’d be so fat and happy.

I kiss her forehead. “I’ll go hunt down some food.”

“Okay, but can you start in the fridge because I’m not really in the mood to eat bunny rabbits.” Lena smiles and sits up.

“If I must.” I give her one last squeeze before heading to the main portion of the house.

My mate’s family is already in the kitchen with Lauren, their housekeeper, and a woman I don’t recognize.

Thalia is quick to introduce us. “Finn, this is Henri Greene. Her technical title is pack publicist, but I think that’s a vast understatement for what she does.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Henri.” I incline my head toward her.

“Pleasure is mine. I was hoping we could go over how to best spin your previous employment with the press.” Henri gives me a tense smile.

This really isn’t optional, so I’ll have to try.

“I was hoping we could discuss dinner plans for the evening first.” I look around at them all with a kind smile. “It hasn’t exactly been explained how things around here work for food or meals.”

“Oh Lord.” Lauren laughs, pointing a spatula at me. “If you figure it out, would you let me know?”

“That’s on his list.” Cade looks at Lauren with a sharp raise of his eyebrows.

“Oh.” Lauren holds the O shape with her mouth.

Apparently everyone knows I’m taking over for Deacon tomorrow.

I turn my attention back to Henri. She smiles.

“I think it’s best if we do everything we can to not discuss my past. I’m assuming you’ve figured out who I am.” I run my hand through my beard.

Henri nods. “I don’t know if we’re able to completely avoid the topic. Until we can’t, saying nothing about it is the best plan. Ideally, you and Lena won’t be having discussions with the press without it being a preplanned interview.”

“No interviews.” I press hard into my wolf, leaving the statement short of an Alpha command.

Cade clears his throat. I draw a deep breath and hang my head. Yeah. Probably not appropriate.

I try rephrasing. “I would rather we not put Lena in that situation unless it’s impossible to avoid.”

“She’s Pack Alpha Female. At some point, she’ll need to talk to the press and make more regular public appearances. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but the fact of the matter is, she is a necessity to the education element of Cade’s campaign,” Henri argues. She’s firm and stands her ground.

I admire her spirit, but my answer is still the same. “It’ll be a while before she’s ready for anything like that.”

“I don’t understand.” Henri raises an eyebrow.

Interesting. I turn to look at Cade, giving him the same expression Henri gave me.

“She doesn’t know.” Cade confirms my suspicion is correct.

My little mate is so good at hiding herself and her wolf away from her pack that someone with access to their entire lives doesn’t know who, what, she is.

With a nod of my head, I go with the answer I hope will satisfy whatever curiosity I’ve sparked with Henri. “As her mate and given the complications this school term has given her, I think it’ll be a while before Lena is ready to face any more complications.”

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