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If I let myself go there, I was also worried about my future. How long was I going to be stuck here?
I pushed the thoughts away as I crept down the stairs. Zoe had said as long as I didn’t leave, I was free to explore. Right now, my only goal was some dinner. I hadn’t paid much attention to the house before, but now, in the quiet of the night, I felt like I could look around.
My bedroom was on the second floor. There were two other closed doors and one open door. The open door was the bathroom I had risked using once while I was waiting for Luke to go to bed. One of the closed doors was probably Luke’s room, but I hadn’t risked peeking in either of them.
I aimed for the staircase and quietly crept down, wincing every time I hit a creaky spot. Thankfully, the doors stayed closed.
The main floor had a living room, a glass door that led to an office, a large kitchen, and a dining room. There were two closed doors, but I didn’t risk opening them now. They probably led to a bathroom or closet.
Everything was cozy and well loved. A large leather couch was piled high with homemade quilts like the one on my bed. A huge rug took up most of the space on the floor. There were spots where it was worn down a bit, like it had been in the home for decades or longer. It felt like a home for a family, not just a place for a single broody alpha to dwell.
I wondered if this was his childhood home and then I wondered if he’d had a happy childhood. A little rush of warmth at the thought of a young Luke running around the house filled my chest. I pushed it away. Having any kind of sympathy or softness for him wasn’t going to help me get out of here any quicker. Just because we were stuck together for now didn’t mean that I needed to like him.
A nightlight glowed in the kitchen, giving me enough light to rummage through the pantry before deciding to try the fridge. To my surprise, there was a takeout container clearly labeled with my name sitting on a bare shelf. Aside from a few condiments and some cans of beer that I was pretty sure hadn’t been sold in years, the fridge was empty.
Reminding myself that if he killed me, he’d also die, I grabbed the box and closed the fridge. After finding a fork, I indulged in some decent cold noodles, then found my way back to bed.
* * *
A knock soundedon my door. I groaned and tossed aside the covers before peeking at the clock. It was six in the morning. If this was the time they all got up in this house, we were going to have some issues. After years of working till at least midnight, I rarely fell asleep before three in the morning. This was way too early.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“I’m coming,” I called, nearly tripping during my less than graceful exit from my bed.
To my surprise, Zoe was waiting on the other side of the door. Some of the tension I was feeling eased. For some reason, I felt more comfortable around her than I probably should. Especially considering the fact that she’d been inside my head. “What’s up?”
“I found your friend,” she said.
That woke me up. I straightened and felt the remaining fog of sleep vanish. “And?”
“She’s okay,” Zoe said. “They have her running the bar, it looks like. Word is that you ran off to be with some secret lover.”
I wrinkled my nose. “So that’s how they’re spinning it. It would explain why I turned Owen down.”
Her brow furrowed in silent question.
“Owen. Big brute of a shifter. Also, unfortunately my ex. Asked me to marry him the same night your alpha stole me away,” I said.
“That’s a lot,” she said.
That urge to let myself see Zoe as a friend returned, and I forced it away. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” she argued. “But you will be.”
“Is there anything else?” I was relieved that Jasmine was safe and if she was running the bar, that meant Mary would be taken care of. It was the best I could hope for while I was trapped in this odd limbo.
“I’ve got some things to take care of today, but if you want company, we can do something later,” she offered.
“Don’t worry about me,” I said.
She nodded, then left me standing in the room alone. I stood there for a moment as I watched her disappear down the stairs, then I saw the door across from me open and Luke stepped out. He was in a pair of running shorts and nothing else. My eyes widened as I took in his bare chest and washboard abs.Fuck. He was a work of art. I told myself I should look away; instead, I let my gaze drop lower, then back up, taking in every glorious inch of him. When I settled on his face, he was smirking at me with a knowing, cocky expression.
My cheeks heated. I was so busted checking him out. Like a shy teenager, I stepped into my room and closed the door. Leaning against it, I had to actually catch my breath. My heart was racing, my face flush, tingles dancing across my skin. The only thing I could think of was him without those shorts, walking toward me with the intention of tearing my clothes from me.
With his teeth.
I squeezed my eyes closed and pressed my palms into my eyelids. Something was very wrong with me. Where had that even come from? I was not the ‘fantasize about strange men’ type.
