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AUDREY
I was still flipfloppingbetween telling Bishop about my birthday and hoping for some kind of celebration or keeping my mouth shut so I wouldn’t be disappointed when we reached the first building at the outskirts of town.
A lanky man about my age, maybe a little younger, stepped out of the shadows, stopping us.
“You’re back!” he gasped. Then his wide green eyes swept around us and narrowed with worry. “Where are Cyrus and Knox?”
“They’re fine,” Bishop assured him. “Taking care of some business before the betas swarm us. Are you our welcome party?”
“Sort of. Deacon set up extra watches since there was a grimalkin attack and told us to keep an eye out for you. You’ve been gone so long, I was starting to get worried, but now you’re back,” he replied. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
I shot a glance at Bishop. I didn’t know how to answer that and wasn’t the wolf in charge. It wasn’t my place to say anything.
Bishop shook his head. “Unfortunately, no.”
“Well, that sucks.” The young man huffed, his gaze jumping to me, his expression brightening. “At least you look better than the last time I saw you,” he said as he held out his hand. “I’m Zavier.”
I reached to shake it, but Bishop released a low, dangerous growl along with a snap of power, and I jerked my hand back, my pulse pounding. Merrick used to growl like that. Just before he’d punish me.
I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, but it had to be something about shaking Zavier’s hand, which reminded me that I couldn’t assume things in this realm were the same as mine. For all I knew, I was now off limits for every other man because I was mate bonded.
Except that didn’t make sense, especially since the guys had told me they’d have sent me to the heat clinic to have sex with strangers which was a lot more intimate than shaking someone’s hand.
Zavier’s eyebrows jumped up beneath the hair flopping over his forehead, showing he was just as surprised by Bishop’s reaction as I was. Then his gaze dropped to his feet and he took a step back. “Forgive me, alpha. I didn’t realize—”
“No,” Bishop said, his power vanishing. “Forgive me. It’s been a difficult few weeks.”
“I mean there’s gossip about Cyrus and the outsider, but I—” Zavier began. “I mean I thought— But of course you both can—” His face turned bright red and I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry.
If Zavier was a gossip, everyone was going to know before tomorrow morning that Bishop was interested in me. Which was true, but I didn’t know how public he wanted to be about us, especially if it came out that I was also Knox’s mate.
Except that shouldn’t be a problem because he’d already told me that monogamy wasn’t a requirement for wolves in this realm.
Cyrus on the other hand was going to be pissed that people were still talking about anusthat didn’t exist. We’d been gone almost a month and whatever he’d said before we’d left hadn’t been enough to squash the rumors.
“The outsider’s name is Audrey,” Bishop replied, saving Zavier from any more incomplete sentences. “And she’s no longer an outsider. She’s pack.” He placed a possessive hand on my shoulder and a whisper of power slipped his control.
Zavier bobbed his head and shifted back another step. “Understood, alpha. Welcome to the Stonehaven pack, Audrey.”
His tone was overly formal, and his gaze focused on my right ear as if I were an alpha and he didn’t want to make eye contact and challenge me.
Swell. I could see other members of the pack being pissed that a shifter who couldn’t even shift was being treated like an alpha. I could only pray that Zavier wasn’t a gossip and he wouldn’t tell everyone how he thought they should behave around me.
I also prayed that Bishop got ahold of himself. I didn’t even know what had set him off. It wasn’t like Zavier had been rude to me.
Two guys a few feet up the street spotted Bishop and waved. He nodded in response, placed a hand on my lower back, and urged me forward up the busy main street and away from Zavier and the awkwardness.
More people looked at us and nodded, smiled, or waved but thankfully didn’t approach. I was too tired and sore to put on a brave face around strangers and was suddenly uncertain about where I stood with Bishop.
“So, ah… What was that about?” I asked once we were far enough away from Zavier. I tried to keep my voice steady but couldn’t help the sliver of fear creeping into it. Bishop had seemed so relaxed and kind, and I’d never seen him throw his alpha power around like that.
Of course, that was a reminder that I barely knew him. I’d only been in Stonehaven a few days before it had just been the four of us walking through the wilderness. For all I knew, he had all the undesirable alpha traits and I just hadn’t seen them yet.
“Sorry,” he mumbled as he palmed the back of his neck and looked sheepish. “He was checking you out and I just got… angry.”
Angry? I bit the inside of my cheek to stay silent. It was best to keep my mouth shut. Looking embarrassed for overreacting was the behavior I’d expect from Bishop. But being angry for no reason wasn’t like him. I’d been in that conversation, too, and Zavier hadn’t been checking me out. Who’d want to check out someone like me? That kind of response was more like Knox.
My pulse stuttered.
