“Doubtful.” I smiled at her. “Not a lot of pretty faces around here.”
Dear gods, was I flirting?
Cade looked at me, and I felt my cheeks flame up. This was Remy’s fault. He’d significantly underplayed just how gorgeous his friend was, and I’d always been so awkward around women I found attractive. It was something Samara and Cali had relentlessly teased me over.
“I’ll let Bastian and Ryker know we’re going to have dinner together tonight so they can meet you, Selene,” Cade finally said. “Warrick is elsewhere, but you’ll meet him eventually.”
Her polite mask didn’t even slightly crack at the mention of the most violent member of the Alpha pack. “Dinner would be lovely.”
I glanced at Cade to find him still watching me with amusement. I could practically hear the laughter in his voice over how easily I blushed yet again. “I’ll see what I can scrounge up for food while you’re showing Selene to her quarters.”
Since I’d returned, we hadn’t been doing dinners together and had instead been raiding the kitchen whenever we were hungry. I tried not to wince at the idea of Cade cooking, but clearly I failed because he rolled his eyes.
“I won’t set anything on fire.” He paused. “This time.”
“Come on.” I gave Selene a close-lipped smile as I grabbed my books from the table. “Your room is next to mine.”
We left Cade’s study and walked down the hallway side by side. Selene looked at the walls as we made our way. “No murals or artwork here?”
“No. Apparently, the Fae who built this place weren’t fans of art.” Maybe if I ever met the Unseelie Princes in person, I could ask them about it. “The Alphas have done a good job of tearing down walls throughout the place, so the views are pretty nice. Your room has a balcony. And an attached bathing chamber. But if you don’t like it, there is plenty of space and we can find you something else. The third floor has the library but is otherwise mostly empty. Warrick’s room is up there, but he’s rarely here . . .” I trailed off when I realized I was rambling.
“I’m sure the room will be fine,” Selene assured me. “Really, I’m not fussy. Just looking forward to cleaning up and resting for a bit.”
“Of course—wait.” I stopped in my tracks, and Selene slid to a graceful stop. “We should go get your things so you have fresh clothes to change into. Did you leave them by the main entrance?”
“There’s no need. I was in my panther form most of the way here so I didn’t bring anything.” She plucked at the simple grey cloak draped over the plain brown dress she wore. “I borrowed these from an outpost a ways back, but I can clean them to wear later.”
“Oh.” I puzzled over what to say. Remy had made it clear Selene hadn’t been in a good spot, which was why he’d arranged for her to join the Alpha pack. And she’d risked traveling here on her own rather than waiting for Alexis, which I didn’t really blame her for. “The Alphas got a bunch of dresses for me to wear when I first arrived, but I don’t actually like wearing dresses, so I can give those to you. They should fit okay.”
Selene was a few inches shorter than me and quite a bit curvier, but the dresses had been big on me anyway and the fabric was stretchy so she’d probably look amazing in them. Not that I was at all looking forward to seeing her in them later.
Stop, I scolded myself. I would be leaving the Alpha pack, so I absolutely couldn’t start anything with Selene, assuming she would even be interested in me. I already had to deal with Ryker; I didn’t need to further complicate my life.
“Thank you,” Selene said.
I nodded briskly, and we started walking again. Silence stretched between us, but it wasn’t uncomfortable so I didn’t try to fill it. I’d promised Remy I would help Selene get settled here because she needed a safe place to land. Until I figured out where to look for the crest, I wasn’t going anywhere, so I’d make sure she was comfortable here until then.
After that, it would be up to Selene to make her own way.
“Here we are,” I announced when we arrived at the door just before mine. “My room is there, and Ryker’s is across the hall.”
Selene glanced at both doors, her eyebrows raised slightly, but she didn’t question why three of us had rooms so close to each other when there was plenty of space in the castle. I opened the door and stepped back to allow her entry, when a familiar scent hit me.
“Shit,” I cursed and quickly followed her into the room, even though my intent had been to leave her to get settled.
“Everything alright?” Selene gave me a curious look as I clutched my books to my chest, leaning against the door like I was holding back a hoard.
“Everything is fine.” A tight smile flashed across my face before I pushed off against the door. “Is this room acceptable?”
“Yes,” she said slowly, her gaze jumping between me and the door.
“Great. Mind if I leave these here?” I held the books up, and when she nodded, I set them on the table next to the door. “I’m going to relax in my room a bit before dinner, but I’ll drop off those dresses before then. There are towels and a robe in the washroom.”
I quickly walked across the room and out onto the balcony that was identical to mine. Wordlessly, Selene followed me out and watched as I leapt up onto the railing and took a running start before clearing the fifteen-foot gap to mine and rolling as I landed.
Springing to my feet, I turned around and gave Selene a wave, which she returned with a wry grin. My smugness at avoiding Ryker a little while longer faded as another scent drifted to me.
Moons fucking damn it.
