Chapter 66 He followed me

Chapter 66 He followed me
Zoe's POV

I felt it before I saw it.

That feeling on the back of your neck. The one that tells you the air behind you has changed.

That something is moving in the same direction you are moving and it is not a coincidence.

I walked faster.

The lantern swung in my hand. Shadows jumping on the walls around me.

The feeling didn't go away.

I turned at the next corner and pressed myself flat against the stone wall. Held my breath.

Waited.

A shadow. Moving along the ground. Getting closer.

My heart was loud.

I gripped the lantern tighter and made myself as small as possible against the wall. Waiting for whoever it was to come around the corner and show themselves.

Then a hand came out of the dark from the opposite side and grabbed my arm.

I spun. Mouth open to scream.

"Easy tigress."

Benjamin.

I let out the breath so hard my shoulders dropped with it.

"What is wrong with you." I hissed. "You almost—"

"Shhhh." He pressed one finger to his lips. His eyes were sharp. Alert. None of his usual amusement. "Don't move. Don't speak."

"Benjamin what is—"

"I said shhhh." He put his hand on my shoulder and turned me slowly. Pointed through the gap between the buildings. To the road that ran alongside Natasha's end of the pack.

I looked.

And went completely still.

A figure. Tall. Moving carefully along the road. Staying close to the walls. Watching every doorway.

Jeremy.

"Was that..." I whispered.

"The one following you?" Benjamin said quietly beside my ear. "Yes."

I stared.

"He followed me." I said. More to myself than to him.

"He's been behind you since the inn." Benjamin said. Simple. Like he had known the whole time.

"How long have you been watching."
"Long enough." He said.

We stood there in the gap between the buildings. Pressed into the shadow. Watching Jeremy move along the road. Slow. Careful.

Like a man who was trying very hard not to be seen.

"Why." I breathed. "Why is he following me."

"Because that is what Jeremy does." Benjamin said. His voice was low but the edge in it was sharp. "He is suspicious of everyone around him. Every move. Every breath. Every person who steps slightly outside what he expects." He paused. "And anyone he decides is a threat. Anyone he decides is hiding something. He takes them down. Fast. Clean. No questions." He tilted his head. "He has a lot of secrets of his own you see. And people with secrets are always the most dangerous ones to be around. Because they see secrets everywhere they look."

I said nothing.

I was still watching Jeremy.

He had slowed down now. Right outside Natasha's building. He stood there for a moment. Looking at the door.

My stomach dropped.

"No." I whispered.

"Hm." Benjamin said beside me.

Jeremy pushed the door open and went inside.
I counted in my head without meaning to. One. Two. Ten. Thirty.

The door opened again.

Jeremy came back out.

He stood outside for a moment. Looked both ways down the road. Then turned and walked back the way he came.

Back toward the pack house.

Back past our hiding spot.

Close enough that I could hear his footsteps on the ground.

I held my breath until they faded.

Then went silence.

I let the breath out slowly.

Benjamin turned to look at me.

We looked at each other for a long moment.

"Well." He said finally. That dark easy smile coming back now that the tension had passed. "That was interesting." He tilted his head. "Now." His eyes settled on mine. Patient. Waiting. "What exactly are you doing out here at this hour Zoe?"

Zoe? Oh!!!! I forgot for a minute it's Benjamin. That he knows all my secrets.

I looked at him.

At that face that never missed anything. Those eyes that were already halfway to the answer before I even opened my mouth.

I needed a lie.

A good one. Fast. Something that would hold up under those eyes.

I stared at him.

Thinking.

Hoping something would come.

Nothing came.