Page 78 of UNAwere

‘He didn’t care whether he got you or your sister,’ Jude continues. ‘Your sister was first choice, but…’ He stops and shakes his head.

‘My sister is basically still a child.’

He makes a noise of agreement. ‘I pointed that out to Alpha Warner many times. Twenty is too young.’

‘He… didn’t care?’ I edge into the question. Mainly because I know Jude respects his alpha. I don’t want to come across as disrespectful, but I also want to know more about the man I’m being bonded to.

‘Like I said the other day. He’s a businessman. This is just business.’

‘So there won’t be dinner dates and time set aside to plait each other’s hair?’ I make a disappointed sound that’s dripping with sarcasm. ‘Such a shame.’

‘Why are you okay with going through with this? Why don’t you seem to care that you’re being bonded to a man you hardly know? In a place you don’t know, with people you’ve never met?’

I raise my brows. Jude’s never asked me so many questions at once. He’s never pried or tried to delve deep into my past, my psyche.

‘I don’t know. I’m in my thirties. I had a job I liked, but I didn’t think I’d ever really get any further than just… being stagnant. And I didn’t want Maeve to go.’

‘You’re so far from stagnant, Sybbie.’ Jude shakes his head. ‘You’re… a force.’

Something in my chest lightens, and I bite my bottom lip, blinking out at the flow of traffic ahead of us.

‘Well, you know, there were other things,’ I say, trying to sound nonchalant when I am actually very chalant. ‘I was doing it for Nolan. My pack. I want to try to bring a more open mind to the Primrose Weres. It would be cool if they could be more accommodating to the idea of sharing their territory with humans. We know we can breed with them – there are plenty of hybrids out there – and we get along great.’

‘I think that would be hard to get past Warner.’

I throw a smile at him. ‘Okay, but have you met me? I’m a delight. He’ll take one look at me and be on his knees.’

I say it as a joke, but the expression that falls across Jude’s face makes me feel like I’ve told him the world is ending in approximately seventeen minutes.

‘Um, yeah…’ I clear my throat, glancing to my lap.

Jude lets out a breath but doesn’t say anything else. And that’s that. The normalcy that was between us a few days ago, which arose just now, vanishes once again.

Our stop for dinner is at a service station that has a small restaurant attached to it.

Jude fills up the car and then parks in one of the spots outside the restaurant, and we both get out. I stretch, my butt numb from sitting for so long. Jude walks with me up the footpath, his arm brushing mine, and I ignore the way my body responds to touching him.

Craving. Heat. A rightness that feels familiar.

He opens the door for me, and I thank him before stepping in. We head to where a sign tells us to wait for a table. One of the waitresses sees us and smiles, her eyes on Jude. She’s pretty, with long brown hair worn high and a fringe that frames her heart-shaped face. Her eyes slide to me, and her smile doesn’t falter.

‘Hey there,’ she says. ‘Looking for a table?’

‘Please,’ Jude says, voice low.

‘Right this way!’

She guides us through the restaurant to a booth in the back. I catch sight of a man sitting in a booth near us, by himself and with a cap lying on the table next to his plate. He eyes me, and there’s a look on his face that makes me shiver.

Jude moves in close. I feel his hand go to the small of my back, and I swear if he were in his wolf form, his hackles would be raised.

He sits me down, furthest from where the man is, and then takes the seat opposite me with a grunt. I glance over at the man – I have a clear line of sight to him, and I can tell he’s looking at me through his peripherals while he pretends to peruse the pies on the counter. Jude’s gaze flashes to my face, and when he sees me eyeing the man, he grunts again.

‘Leave it.’

‘Who is it?’ I ask, still staring.

‘Ex-Karver.’