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This time, his deep growl was pure threat, and he had no intention of listening to whatever she had to say next. The rejection had been clear.
The sun was rising, and soon the frustrating vampire would be in danger. Though he was seething, he’d never allow harm to come to her if he could prevent it. Riaz didn’t look at her when he brushed past to return to his bike. He tromped through the sparsely wooded area, knowing the blood-sucker had no choice but to follow whether she liked it or not.
On the ride back to the den, she sat as far away from him as possible, only lightly gripping his waist and perching so far behind that he’d have thought her in danger of falling off. His wolf was howling beneath his skin, and each time he thought back to her rejection, his already aggressive animal perceived it as a slight.
As soon as the bike was parked beneath the den, she disappeared in a flash of speed. Good riddance.
Gruff and growly, he marched up the stairs to find four betas awaiting his return. When he approached without the vampire, Ava raised a single golden eyebrow. “Did you leave Lady Nosferatu in Vegas?”
Riaz simply bared his teeth, shoving his phone at her. “Cortana got what she needed. Where are we with the wildfires?”
“We’re still in the safe zone. Estes Park isn’t being asked to evacuate yet.”
“Good.”
Without another word, his wolf bounded out of his skin, shaking his coat to settle it. Riaz caught perplexed expressions rolling over his beta’s faces before he trotted off towards the great hall. He turned heads as he passed sleepy packmates in the halls, stunned silence following in his wake.
Riaz didn’t care.
The vein-drainer was undeniably in her own chambers for the sun, and there was no way he’d return to his quarters alone. Instead, he chose the path of least resistance.
If he slept in the great hall, pack members would join him, gravitating to him as they sought the comfort and security of their alpha.
Circling over the plush carpeting near the fireless hearth, he curled into a wolfy ball, tail over his nose. It took less than ten seconds for another to join him, then another, and another. Soon, the entire carpeted area turned into a puppy pile, snuggled tightly together in their fur.
Riaz went to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The comb flipped between idle fingers, the well-worn eggshell exterior chipped with time and use. Familiar, the weight was a comforting token in her hand. She exhaled silently, finding reassurance in examining the smooth ridges and the prongs that were broken and thinned. Spiderwebbed cracks split what little paint remained, and no matter how many times she had it restored, it eventually returned to its ratty appearance.
Cortana’s lips tightened in a white line. So many things had taken place since she’d been gifted this comb. She’d become immortal, seen the ages come and go, and the woman she’d once been had transformed into someone honed in fire, like the finest steel.
Of course, she’d also taken the life of the one who’d given it to her.
When they’d returned to the den this morning, Cortana had sped off to her quarters without looking back. There, she’d paced around the room like a caged animal, her mind reeling with every repercussion that’d Riaz’s mating instinct would have.
The ramifications would muddy her life and her position in her House. The pack wouldn’t be able to survive in New York, so she’d be the one expected to throw away everything that made her who she was and leave her people. Over and over, she’d been told that if a bond was denied, both parties would suffer. The possibility made a visceral ache hollow out her chest, her heart thumping a painful tune.
What if he couldn’t let her go when she wanted to leave? What if she didn’t want to leave?
These questions and a thousand more had made her mind fuzzy with the possibilities. He’d been honest with her last night, and she’d thrown it back in his face with a load of spite and skepticism. To make matters worse, what she’d said had clearly insulted him in more ways than one.
Though the sun was tolling the bell for sleep, her focus had shifted, needing to apologize to Riaz for her abysmal behavior.
She found him, sleeping in the center of a wolfy sea in the great hall. Snores reverberated, cuteness abounded, and the big mahogany wolf in the center slept soundly. It made sense. Riaz never wanted to sleep alone—why, she still hadn’t discovered—so he’d taken to the hall where he knew the others would keep him company in their fur forms.
Her heart leapt with the realization that he hadn’t returned to Renata.
Soundlessly, she’d retreated to her quarters and called her sire. Cortana was late in updating Drake with the recent developments, given the chaos of the past couple of days. Only two rings sounded before he picked up.
Something calmed in her heart when she spoke with him, the deep baritone reassuring her. After the business update, their conversation had drifted to other topics, namely her asking for a favor from his wife. As a fire Elemental, she was singularly able to attend to Riaz’s wildfire problem.
Toni had been ecstatic. Drake, less so.
While they spoke, Drake had clearly sensed something was amiss, but he didn’t push when she’d stonewalled him. Now wasn’t the time to cry and complain to her sire about infuriating, deliciously sexy werewolves who made her feel alive and frustrated her beyond her limits. Or about how the arrogant, big-headed, sinfully delectable man—fates, he was delicious—had perplexed her to the point that she felt useless. Yes, blubbering like a baby was hardly professional. Hanging up, she had surrendered to the dead sleep of her people.
The following night, Cortana still hid in her quarters several hours past sunset. It was partially due to the painstaking care she was taking to finish the charges for the manufacturing facility. Most of it was because she simply didn’t want to face Riaz.
