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“Liz? No, well yes. She’s just shy. I thought this job might bring her out of her shell, but I’m starting to think I’m just torturing her.” Her gaze lingers on the girl's back then she turns and frowns. “Maybe I should find something else for her to do?”
Across from us, a younger wolf, maybe in his mid-twenties, pulls out a chair and sits. This must be her beta. Tall with a shock of curly red hair, he’s confident, smiling as he shakes my hand. I sense no malice from him as he gives me a once over.
“Joseph, this is Ethan. Ethan, this is my Beta, Joseph, and his mate, Shauna…” Joseph pulls out the chair beside him for his heavily pregnant mate. She leans briefly into his side, her blonde hair resting against his arm, then slides into her seat. Her bump is massive, their pup must be due soon. It makes me think of Hayley and Leila and I feel a pang of homesickness.
“Congratulations,” I say, waiting for her to lift her head so I can get a read on her. When she does, a chill runs down my spine. I’ve never been on the receiving end of such a malevolent look; she doesn’t respond, merely nods, and fixes her napkin in her lap.
“Welcome, Ethan. Lucia has told us a lot about you.” Joseph holds his mate’s hand under the table while she continues to stare at her plate. With a sigh, he presses a kiss to her temple. “Toby was Shauna’s brother. This is… hard. It’s not personal but some of the wolves here are struggling to accept someone from Grey Ridge into the fold.”
His mate flinches, briefly looking at Lucia, then returning her stare to the crisp linens. From the silence that’s fallen behind me, I can tell the rest of the pack has heard Joseph’s words and are waiting to hear my response.
“Toby attacked them first…” Lucia begins, about to implore Shauna to be open-minded, but I shake my head. His sister doesn’t want to hear that he deserved it.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Toby might have been an evil man, but his sister obviously loved him. I’m not sorry he’s dead, but I can empathise with her pain and feel sympathy for what his family are going through. Swivelling in my seat, I turn to the hundred or so wolves in the dining hall. “I won’t pretend that I liked Toby or what he did, but the death of an alpha is always hard. It’s humbling that you’re allowing me to come here to try to heal the rift between our packs.”
There are a few nods, but mostly blank faces stare back at me. It’s what I expected. I don’t even know how much they know of what happened prior to Toby’s death. Do they know he tried to screw our pack in a business deal? That he tried to kill our luna and her family? And, when that failed, he went after the alpha’s daughter. Are they aware he was killed after trying to murder more than one member of our pack?
The food arrives and breaks the awkward silence that has descended around us.
“It’ll get easier. Once everyone sees how great you are, they’ll love you as much as I do.” Lucia gives me a reassuring nod as she picks up her wine. I copy her numbly, stuck on her use of the word “love”. Belle’s smiling face appears in my mind and I feel sick with guilt. What would she think if she could see me now? What if the tables were turned and it was Belle sitting across from a man who just casually threw out the L word… and she didn’t take the opportunity to tell him she had found her fated mate?
Before the jealousy that begins to consume me takes over, Lucia rises to her feet, smoothing down her elegant wool dress. She smiles softly at me, holding my eye as she raises her glass.
“To fresh starts.” Lucia’s toast is repeated in reluctant grumbles around the room, and a chorus of clinks fills the room as everyone returns to their meals. They may be polite in the presence of their luna, but her pack seems about as happy about me being here as I feel about it.
9
ETHAN
The meal drags on and on. Course after course, dessert, coffee and then after dinner drinks.
My skin itches to return to my room and check my phone. Belle might have sent me a message. She was staying another night in the cabin on her own. What if something happened to her and she’s been trying to contact me? I need to hear her voice. A surreptitious look at my watch has me stifling a groan. This is bad. She probably won’t even be up if I call.
As our server clears the plates, I’m tempted to stand up and help. I find it interesting that the top wolves sit apart here and are waited on, whereas in Grey Ridge, everyone serves themselves and sits where they want.
“Let’s grab a drink in the drawing room,” Lucia suggests, resting her hand on my wrist. “Joseph, can you come back and join us, just for a little while?”
Shauna struggles to her feet and waves away her mate, who hovers over her, ready to help if needed. He looks at her, torn, then back at Lucia who watches him expectantly, but Shauna rolls her eyes, irritated by his fussing. It’s a look I remember Hayley giving Cooper.
“I’m pregnant, not sick. Go, and there’s no need to hurry back. I’ll be fast asleep in about five minutes. This is way past my bedtime.” She gives me one last frosty glare and walks slowly from the room.
“I’m just going to say goodnight to Daddy and I’ll be back. Joseph, can you show Ethan the way?” Lucia excuses herself and weaves through the tables toward the hallway, stopping to speak with someone at nearly every table she passes. Judging by the concerned glances in my direction, I can guess what the topic of the conversations is.
“They’ll come around. Even Shauna will, eventually.” Joseph makes a face and I laugh, despite the tense atmosphere as he leads me to a quiet room off the main foyer. Mahogany bookshelves fill two walls and the decor is rich colours and luxurious fabrics.
“I admire your optimism, but, to be honest, as long as I’m not causing trouble for Lucia, it doesn’t bother me.”
“Really? But if you’re here to take my job, it’s going to be difficult if nobody trusts you.” He moves to a drinks cart and pours two glasses of whiskey; pausing to see whether I want ice he hands one to me, no trace of anger or disappointment in his tone. “Sit, make yourself at home,” he gestures to the overstuffed sofa beside the roaring fire.
“I’m not here for your job.” Joseph is the only person I’ve met so far who hasn’t hated me on sight. The last thing I want is to give him a reason to turn on me.
“I know. It’s temporary.”
Freezing with the glass to my lips, I scramble to work out how he knows I’m not planning to stay for long. He laughs when he sees my panic. “It’s pretty obvious how much Lucia likes you. I presume you’ll be helping her once you mate. To be honest, it suits me to take a break with a pup on the way. When you’re Alpha, I’ll step back in.”
Joseph’s laughter is even louder now, mistaking my silence for shock that he’s figured it all out so quickly.
“I won’t tell anyone it’s more than just sex. Nobody here would blame Lucia for wanting some adult company, but there are a lot of people here who supported Toby, even after he lost it. They won’t take kindly to him being forgotten so quickly.”
