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“Don’t take it personally. It’s more the other women than you.”
Well, that was something. She didn’t seem to hate me as completely as she had at first sight.
“How was your day?” she asked, surprising me even more.
“As you probably know, I had to miss dinner due to another council meeting. Some council members believe Branson is gearing up for a fight.”
Kayden’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“It appears an influx of wolves from other packs have defected to the Southeastern Coastal pack. Mostly those in the roles of soldiers and enforcers.” I held my breath, waiting to see how she’d respond.
Kayden snorted. “That sounds about right. I wasn’t aware he was adding to his ranks, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Branson doesn’t like to fight alone.”
“From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t like to fight at all.”
She angled her head, the moonlight bouncing off the strands of silvery-white hair. “You’d be right about that, too. The thing with Branson is that he doesn’t like to fight his own battles. He surrounds himself with a large inner circle of devotees willing to die in service to him.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how he manages to inspire that kind of loyalty.”
She paused, going somewhere in her mind as she stared off into the distance. After a few seconds, she blinked and shook her head. “That’s how it was with Nico—my brother. He had climbed the ranks to just below the beta. He joined the inner circle almost as soon as Branson became alpha. I never understood it. But I’d tend to agree with you that Branson is building a small army. It would be dangerous to let this go unchecked.”
My thoughts exactly. Kayden’s opinions fell in line with mine when it came to dealing with Branson. We simply couldn’t ignore the threat. Knowing she wouldn’t oppose me was an immense relief.
At some point during the conversation, we’d managed to move closer to each other, though I don’t think either of us was aware of it until now. Without thinking, I reached out and rested my hand on hers.
Kayden glanced at me in surprise, but she didn’t remove her hand. For a moment, we simply stared at each other, and I couldn’t remember ever feeling such a pull toward someone. The desire to kiss her came out of nowhere. I nearly gave in to the urge to lean in, test the waters and see how she’d react, but reason took hold. We were making progress. She didn’t seem to hate me as much. The last thing I wanted was to go back to that, so I quickly changed the subject.
“It sounds like you and your brother were pretty close?”
Immediately, she jerked her hand away from mine, crossed her arms over her chest, and pursed her lips.Shit.
Just when I was making progress, I brought up the one thing that reminded her of why she didn’t want to be here.
Kayden stood and turned away. “I need to get back to my room.”
On instinct, my hand darted out to grab her arm. “Wait.”
That electricity I’d felt in the air returned full force at the contact, shooting up my arm and warming my blood.
Kayden spun around, glaring first at my hand and then at me before jerking her arm free. “I’ll be fine.” Her voice was strained, and her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
“Kayden, I’m sorry—”
“I’mfine,” she repeated, turning away once more. “Goodnight, Holden.”
I watched as she jogged back up to the estate, wanting to kick myself. Usually, I didn’t have to work that hard around women. With Kayden, it was a different story. If I wanted her to give me a chance, she would make me work for it.
The challenge had my wolf coming to life inside me, clearly excited at the prospect of the chase.
Easy, I told him. What was I even thinking? Something about this woman got under my skin.
Garrett’s question from earlier about me having any favorites floated through my mind. There was no denying it. I felt drawn to Kayden in a way I didn’t with the other girls. But things were simply too complicated with her. I needed a mate who could hold her own in my world. Kayden was a wildcard.
With a sigh, I headed back inside and made my way up to the fourth floor, where all the private quarters of the alpha’s family and inner circle were housed.
Garrett’s suite of rooms was in a separate hallway from mine. I rapped three times on his door before checking the knob. It was unlocked, so I made my way inside. If he’d had company, it would be locked.
“Hey there,” he called out with a grin as I shut the door behind me. He was seated on a large leather sectional, his feet propped up on some pillows, a glass of whiskey in his hands. “I was wondering if you were stopping by. It’s pretty late.”
“Yeah, I ran into Kayden on the grounds.”
