Chapter 30 30
I looked at him. What the heck was his problem? Why was he being so inquisitive, digging into my family’s past with the subtlety of a shovel? It was too much, coming from a man everyone whispered about as a ghost, a shadow who supposedly kept to himself. He was acting more like a detective, or a predator circling something that smelled interesting.
I didn’t have the answers he wanted. I only had the vague stories I’d been told. So I gave him the most conclusive, shut-down response I could muster. I met his gaze and said, flatly, “They’re my parents. I believe what they tell me. That’s all there is to it.”
He held my stare for a beat longer, then finally, mercifully, looked away, picking up his fork as if the topic bored him. The dismissal should have felt like a victory, but it just left me feeling more unsettled.
Mandy jumped into the awkward silence. “But, Arielle, how will you really manage? Even three hours is a long commute every day to Seal College and back. That’s… a lot.”
“I’ll manage,” I repeated, the words sounding hollow even to me. How? I had no concrete plan. Maybe a grudging permission from my mother to get an apartment near the college? The idea seemed as likely as my wolf suddenly awakening.
She nodded, but her face was thoughtful. Then her eyes lit up with an idea, and she glanced quickly at her uncle before blurting it out. “Or… you could move closer to the college! You could come live here! In Dead Moon!”
I blinked. “Here?”
“Yes!” she said, warming to the idea. “The pack’s eastern border is only about thirty minutes from the college gates. It would be perfect! You could have a room here, and we could go to class together every day!”
“No,” I said, the refusal instant and absolute. The thought of living under the same roof as him, of being a permanent guest in this cold, sleek house where he watched me with those knowing eyes… it sent a jolt of pure panic through me. “I won’t. There are other, better options.”
I said it firmly, and then I couldn’t help but throw a look his way, expecting to see irritation or that cold displeasure. Instead, I saw it again—that tiny, annoying, triumphant smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. As if my vehement refusal was exactly what he’d expected, and maybe even what he wanted.
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After dinner, which felt like it lasted a lifetime, I was desperate to leave. I wanted to be home, in my own room, away from his unsettling presence and Mandy’s well-meaning but impossible suggestions. If I left now, with Sheila’s lead-footed driving and clear roads, I could make it back to Fang Storm well before the 10 p.m. curfew.
I was almost at the front door, my hand reaching for the handle, when Mandy called out, “Wait! I have something for you! Give me one minute!” She turned and dashed back upstairs, her footsteps echoing.
I sighed, shifting my weight, wanting to be gone. That’s when I felt him behind me. I didn’t hear him approach; I just felt the air change, grow heavier.
“Your pack is hours away,” his voice came, low and close to my ear. “I’ll have a driver take you. It’s no trouble.”
I kept my back to him, pulling out my phone to check for Sheila’s reply to my text. She’d texted, ‘B there in 5 mins.’
“No, thank you,” I said, my voice carefully polite. “I have a friend waiting already. She’s picking me up.”
I finally turned to face him. He was standing too close, as usual, his arms crossed over his chest. I lifted my gaze, forcing myself to meet his eyes. “And I don’t know if you had some… motive for asking Mandy to invite me to dinner. But I want to make one thing clear. I don’t want to cross paths with you again.”
One of his eyebrows arched, just a fraction. “Oh? If that’s truly the case, you could have refused the invitation. Or…” He took a single, deliberate step closer, closing the small distance I’d tried to maintain. His voice dropped to a murmur meant only for me. “…did you badly want to see me again? To steal another kiss? A better one, perhaps?”
My reaction was pure, unguarded shock. My eyes widened, and I took an involuntary step back, my shoulder hitting the cool wood of the door. “What?”
He didn’t retreat. If anything, he leaned in slightly, his gaze dropping to my mouth for a heartbeat before returning to my eyes. “Eyes don’t lie, you know,” he said, his tone almost conversational, as if discussing the weather. “So why do yours seem to give away a… deeper desire?”