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Shewouldbe ashamed.
“You know my mother?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
He ticked his jaw, hair falling in his face as he continued to study me.
“What do you want with Cormac Grey?” he asked after a moment of silence.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “She just…when she was attacked, she told me to find him and his academy. I don’t know why. I’ve never heard of him before.”
“Hmm.”
After another moment, he pulled himself off of me. He didn’t offer me a hand to help me up, nor did he offer anything to eat or drink. Instead, he looked me up and down, probably to assess once again if he thought I was some kind of threat.
“Do you see this blade?” he asked instead, pulling out his sword from its sheath. “I’ve killed one thousand and eleven so far with this blade. I can make room for one thousand and twelve. I don’t care who you are. If you do anything I deem as threatening, I won’t hesitate to release your soul from your body. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” I said, putting my arms up haphazardly. “What do you take as threatening, just to ensure I don’t do it.”
“For one, smartass comments.” He pointed the sword towards me. “Turn around and head straight. I’ll tell you how to get to the academy.”
“How can I even trust you?” I asked, doing as he told me to do. I kept my eyes on the ground as I proceeded to step forward. I was still exhausted, but my encounter with this man gave me a burst of energy I hoped would last as long as I needed it to. I didn’t want to do something embarrassing, like trip over myself and end up in the mud. “What if you take advantage of me?”
“Of a scrawny little girl like you?” He scoffed. “I’m not that desperate.”
“No, but you are that rude,” I snapped before I could stop myself. I froze, unsure if that constituted a smartass comment or a threat. Either way, I needed to remind myself not to get myself into any trouble. “And who are you anyway? What’s your name?”
He gave me another long look, and I was certain he wasn’t going to answer. Instead, he glanced down at me, once again taking in my body. Not in a lustful way. Not in a way that made me feel uncomfortable or exposed. But in a way that made him feel better about who and what I was. As though he were assessing a threat and knowing that it wasn’t actually a threat. I wasn’t sure if I would’ve been more offended if he had tried to use me like some sort of prop for the male gaze.
“My name is Kent Byron,” he said. “Alpha of the Earth pack.”
“An Alpha?” I couldn’t help my surprise. “ Aren’t you supposed to be hiding away in one of the many houses the packs own? Why are you outside of your fortress you’ve built? Isn’t that a great risk for an Alpha?”
There was a flicker of a smile across his lips before it vanished completely.
“You know of me, I take it,” he said. “Now tell me about you.”
“I’ve already told you everything.”
Without warning, he leaned in close. His nose nearly brushed the strands of my hair that hung in my profile. He inhaled deeply and then pulled back. I hated to admit it, but his nearness paralyzed me.
“Human,” he said. “I can’t let you in on a name – yours or Master Grey’s.”
“Please.” I was glad that I didn’t sound like I was begging. I caught his eye and tilted my chin down. “Don’t let me in, fine. But can you please go to Master Grey and let him know my mother sent me to him? Maybe you don’t know who I am or who my mother was, but he must.“
There was no way my mother would send me here unless she was certain I would find some kind of solace.
“I’m sure you understand I can’t just leave you here unattended,” he said. The more he spoke, the more I realized that the low gravel that made up his voice was natural. “You may be a human, but you are still a threat.”
“The great Earth Alpha considers me a threat?” I lifted my brows, trying to ignore the pride that swelled in my chest despite everything. “I'm honored.”
“Hmm.”
His gaze lingered before he tilted his head to the side, his face up towards the sky. Without warning, he let out a long whistle. I nearly flinched at the sharp noise. Birds in the surrounding trees shift into the sky in a flurry of feathers. Kent didn’t take his piercing gaze off of me.
In less than a moment, another man emerged from the trees. He, too, was tall and built, but his dark auburn hair fell into his face, midnight blue eyes piercing and intense. He, too, wore leather but the sleeves on his shirt were ripped, revealing his arms and the muscles that lived under his flash.
“Who’s the girl?” he asked in a low mumble.
“Says her name is Freya Foster, and her mother sent her to Master Grey,” Kent said, eyes still on me. It was like he believed I would simply vanish in front of him. As though I possessed any kind of magic.
