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When she met his gaze she looked tired and worried, “I’m sorry I had to do that but you weren’t listening or taking me seriously. Are you okay?”
Zander shook his head, still unable to find his voice or trust that if he did he wouldn’t scream.
“Do you believe me now?” Zoey asked, one perfect eyebrow arching with what he thought was just a hint of smugness.
This time he nodded and collapsed back to the bench they’d been sitting on.
Zoey came back and sat beside him. They stared out at the horizon together until the sun disappeared from view and the stars began to take shape in the sky. Neither of them spoke for a very long time and he knew Zoey was giving him a chance to collect his thoughts and process what he had seen and what she had told him. Finally, when he felt like he had a handle on his shock, he broke the silence by turning to her.
“Tell me everything.”
Zoey smiled, wide and cheerful again, and nodded, “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter Nine
Maya stood outside Hyde’s Pub, reminding herself that she wasn’t a coward even as her feet itched to run in the other direction.
She was tired and all she wanted was to go back upstairs and sleep since she had barely slept a wink since the night before she left Noir. First, her bike had been destroyed and then once she got to Umbra territory she’d found an even bigger mess. It turned out they had sent the representative, just as promised, but he’d never shown up in Crescent territory and he’d never come home either. He was missing and both packs were wary so she’d had to spend the night, playing middle-man between her brother and the Umbra Pack Alpha. When she finally got back home she’d debriefed with Leo, who was worried about what it all meant but had ultimately told her to go home and let him deal with it. She’d thought she was done dealing with trouble but she’d only arrived home to find she had a bigger issue to deal with.
As soon as she’d walked into the apartment, Nova had told her that Zander Leery was looking for her. He’d come by to talk to her and been disappointed when she wasn’t home. When Nova had told him she was on her way back, he had asked her to relay the message that he would be at the pub whenever Maya got home and that he wanted to talk.
Talking to the man that held her entire future in the palm of his hand was the last thing she wanted to do tonight but she knew she couldn’t avoid him forever. The full moon was coming ever closer. She had to face him, and the important choices he represented, sooner or later. She might as well get it over with.
Maya pulled the door of the bar open and was hit with a rush of cool air and pounding music. The bar was busy and she was half-heartedly glad it wasn’t her night to work. It looked like the locals were getting rowdy so she gave Paul, the Enforcer working the door, a nod of acknowledgement to let him know she was around if he needed help and then headed towards the bar to get a drink.
Her wolf had clocked Zander the moment she stepped through the door but she tried hard to appear unaffected even as her heart sped at the sight of him. It had been too long since she saw him and her plan to keep the bond from strengthening had clearly backfired because now the urge to run to him was so strong it took everything inside of her not to rush to him. Her wolf pawed at her, wanting out, wanting to go to him, and she had to fight the animal to stay in control.
Zander was on a stool at the far end of the crowded bar. There was an empty glass in front of him and another gripped between his big hands. His eyes found her as easily as she had him and heat scorched through her veins even when the voice in the back of her head screamed a warning that told her he knew everything without him having to say a word.
Maya silently cursed. Rafe and Zoey had told him. Not just about what they were or the magic of the world most humans were oblivious to. They’d also told him abouther.
His green eyes narrowed as she moved closer, clearly looking her up and down. His hair stuck up in places, as if he’d run his hands through it a hundred times while he waited for her. His cheeks were flushed and though she couldn’t know for sure if it was the heat of the mating bond or anger, she figured it was probably a little bit of both. After all, she had grown up fully aware of what a bond meant, how it worked, and what the effects felt like and still she wasn’t exactly what you might call excited about the lack of control she had in the whole thing. A man like Zander who had stumbled into all of this blindly must hate the idea of there being something more powerful than his own free will.
She waved her hand, motioning to Laura who was working behind the bar. Her friend gave a wink of acknowledgement to let her know she’d received the drink order and would get to her soon. Laura tipped her head down the length of the bar and Maya looked away. Clearly the bartender knew who Zander was waiting on and it irked her to think of what else he might have told one of the biggest gossips in all of Noir.
When she sidled up next to him she didn’t bother with niceties, “If you’re trying to get drunk enough to believe what Zoey told you, don’t bother. The magic working its way through your system right now won’t let you. Sorry.”
Zander quirked one of his eyebrows, “I’m not trying to get drunk, just passing the time waiting on you. This is my second beer in four hours.”
“You’ve been here for four hours?” Maya blinked.
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Seemed like as good a place as any to wait and Zoey told me you work here sometimes.” He shrugged.
“Not tonight though.” Maya nodded to Laura as she dropped another beer in front of them and then slowly slid away again.
“Because you were out of town helping your brother with pack business.” he said it without any question in his tone so Maya didn’t bother answering, instead she reached for the beer Laura had just put down and pulled it towards her.
He watched as she lifted it to her mouth and downed the amber-colored liquid in a couple of large gulps. When she was done she put it back down on the bar with a thud. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and caught him smirking at her.
“What?”
“Thought you said the mating bond magic wouldn’t let us get drunk?”
“Figured if we’re really going to have this conversation it was well worth a try.”
