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After an hour, I’m satisfied with my work, so I move on to unzipping the blue satin dress and shimmying it over my head and down my body. The silver shoes she loaned me go nicely with the color, too, and they add a little height. This way, when I inevitably face off with Wilde, I won’t have to crane my neck to look up at him.
Though there is something exciting about feeling small and defenseless against him.
There she goes again, my wolf. Is this ever going to calm down? How does anybody function day-to-day while they’re dealing with this?
Before I know it, the clock reads five minutes to seven. I had so much time to get ready, and now I’m running around, doing last-minute touch-ups on my makeup, spraying my hair one more time. There I was, ignored for so long, and now I have to handle knowing everybody’s going to be looking at me. It’s like jumping into an ice-cold pool on a scorching day. A total shock to the system.
The second shock: a knock at my door.
“Be right there!” I call out, expecting my sister, or maybe Sasha. The entire pack is expected at this event.
It isn’t until I’m in the process of opening the door that I realize there’s another possibility. It could be Wilde—and yes, my wolf howls in my head, picking up a familiar scent. It’s too late for me to close the door again, and besides, I can’t hide out in here all night. Plus, I went through too much trouble to look good. I throw my shoulders back as the door swings open, lifting my chin, prepared to face him. To fight him.
“Forrest.” Finding him here instead of his brother is like a breath of fresh air. I’d swear the back of my neck stings. Where Wilde marked me. Reminding me that Forrest doesn’t own me. Wilde does.
He winces a little before chuckling. “Are you disappointed?”
“Surprised,” I blurt out.
“I can see how that would be true, too.” He takes a step back, giving my hungry eyes the chance to take in the full sight of him. He’s wearing a dark suit, the collar of his white shirt popped open, and he smells… he smells like I want to bury my face in his neck and never come back. And I’m supposed to spend an entire evening around him without giving away my wolf’s craving?
“I thought I could walk you to the banquet. I’ve been meaning to catch up with you, but…”
“I know you’ve been busy. Everybody’s been busy.”
“Yeah.” His eyes travel over me from head to foot, and my wolf is just about ready to burst free at the sight of his flared nostrils, the way his eyes narrow, and the tightening of his jaw.
I don’t owe him or his brother a damn thing. All they’ve done is complicate my life.
I don’t have a choice but to leave with him since I don’t want to be rude. We walk slowly, too, and I can’t ignore the glances he keeps giving me on the way to the elevator. It only runs from the ground floor directly to the top floor, where I live now. Yet another perk.
Finally, when we step inside the car, I have to ask. “Is there something wrong with me? Do I look okay?”
His head snaps back, confusion evident in his rapid blinking. “Pardon?”
“I was just curious. I noticed you looking at me. Is this totally wrong, do you think?” I run my hands over the dress. “I’ve never really had an excuse to—”
“Relax.” The tiny growl that follows the word almost makes my toes curl. “You look fine. Great. Hot.”
“Thank you.” He rejected us, don’t forget that. My wolf is not in the mood to hear it, but she needs to. We both do. Or else I’m going to end up making a big mistake right here in this elevator car.
It isn’t until we’re outside that he finally mentions the elephant between us. “There was a lot going on that night. All at once.”
I don’t bother playing dumb and asking what night he’s talking about. “That’s true. There was a lot going on.”
“I mean, you ripped that bastard’s throat out. Good job, by the way.”
“Be careful you don’t say anything like that in front of Daniel or my father,” I warn. “Nobody’s exactly celebrating what I did. It would look like you were glad a member of another pack died.”
“Of course. I didn’t mean it that way. I was impressed with you, that’s all. And I wasn’t paying attention to anything else.”
Is that supposed to be an apology? Now isn’t exactly the time to demand one, halfway to the meeting hall where plenty of wolves are already headed inside. I’m not going to make a scene.
“It’s not the first time I wasn’t good enough—I’m used to it by now,” I mutter.
