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“It’s room service,” I say. “I should go get it.”
“Yeah,” she agrees.
I’ve no idea how I manage, but somehow, I get my claws and fangs to retract as I walk toward the door. I even plant a smile on my face as I open it.
“I’ll take it from here, thanks,” I tell the hotel employee, pull the service cart in, and practically close the door in his face.
You could’ve at least tipped him, my wolf comments, but I’m not in the mood to joke.
The smell of food gets my appetite going. I roll the cart into the dining room and leave it halfway between both of us.
“I hope you don’t mind if I serve myself,” I tell her, my back turned toward her as I’m already reaching for the plate and piling it sky-high with bacon, eggs, and sausages. When she doesn’t say anything, I glance over my shoulder at her. “You should try to eat something, too.”
To my surprise, she approaches the cart full of food as soon as I’m back into my chair. She opts for granola, fruit, and yogurt instead. If our situation wasn’t so tense, I’d make a joke about her food preferences.
“What now?” I ask when she sits down. Though I’m cutting my sausage into small pieces, my attention is on her.
“Honestly?” she asks and scoffs. “I have no idea. I’ve never been in a situation like this. Hell, I’ve never even met a wolf before you. This is all new to me.”
“I’ve never met a witch either,” I confess, then add, “Though I did hear a lot of stories about your kind. None of them good.”
“Same,” she admits. Her eyes slowly lift to mine. “You don’t seem like the big bad wolf.”
“I might be big and a wolf, but I’m not bad,” I joke, but it lands flat. I mentally curse myself for even trying. The situation is too tense to be lightened, and I definitely blame my wolf because he was the one who made the first joke. “That was lame. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, it kind of was,” she agrees, her lips slightly lifting. “Who are you? Is your name even Grayden?”
“One way or another, everything I’ve told you has been the truth,” I assure her. “It’s true that I should’ve given you a few more details here and there, but in my defense, I did think you were a human.”
“I guess I wasn’t exactly honest with you either,” she admits, taking a part of the blame. “Should we start being now?”
I nod. “Do you want to start or should I?”
“Could you, please?” she asks, and I could’ve sworn that her voice shook at that last word.
“Sure,” I confirm and take a deep breath. “I’m Prince Grayden Gray, the second-born son of King Gael Gray.”
Helia’s eyes widen, and I can tell that she didn’t expect this to be so bad. To her credit, she doesn’t look away from me and lets me speak without interrupting me.
“You have to believe me when I tell you that I never planned for this to happen,” I continue, forcing myself to push forward no matter what. “I never meant for us to happen. I didn’t even want to go to that stupid bar in the first place, but Wyatt dragged me there because he wanted to get together with this girl, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the curb next to the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. After that, well, you know...”
“Yeah, I guess it’s partly my fault that we didn’t part ways,” Helia admits. “I probably should’ve been more suspicious when you didn’t want to go to the hospital.”
“That should’ve been a red flag,” I agree. “I could’ve been a dangerous criminal, hiding from law enforcement.”
“You are dangerous,” she points out.
“But I’m not a criminal,” I counter. “Nor am I hiding from law enforcement. At least as far as I know it.”
Helia smiles, her icy facade beginning to melt. I’m not sure whether it’s a good sign or not, but I’ll take it.
“Your turn,” I tell her. “We’ll do the question round later.”
“Fair enough,” she agrees and sighs. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Yeah, I feel you,” I mutter. “What a fucking mess.”
“Since you’ve met my coworkers and have been at my workplace, you know for a fact that I am who I said I was. Dr. Helia Payne,” she starts, sounding just as awkward going through the introduction’s bullet points as I did. “My parents were the heads of the New York City’s coven, but they died a year ago. They were hunted down by a group of wolves. I have a twin sister who always showed more interest in running the coven. She took it over, and let’s just say that if she finds out that I’m with a wolf, not even a wolf, but Prince Grayden Grey himself, I’m going to be shunned from my people forever. That is if I’m lucky to be kicked out with my life intact.”
