Chapter 11 Weight Of Restraint
ZANE'S POV
It had been three whole days since I’d last set foot near her cabin, and Fenris was relentless about it.
To him, my avoidance was a personal failure, and he made sure to remind me of that at every opportunity.
She ran the east perimeter this morning,
he said, while I was supposed to be buried in border reports. With Sloane.
“Good for them.” I replied back.
You could have been there, you know.
“I’m working.”
You’ve read that same page four times.
I sighed and set the report down. He wasn’t wrong, I had indeed read the same page four times, but the words just wouldn’t stick.
My mind just kept drifting back to her, and that single moment she had laughed, her guard slipping for just three seconds before she pulled it back up.
Fenris was clearly unimpressed with my progress.
I left the desk and wandered over to the window. My room was on the second floor of the main lodge, and I had a view of the east wing.
From here, I could see the path that connected the east cabin to the main compound.
There she is, Fenris said, his tone dripping with satisfaction, like he’d been waiting for this moment.
She was crossing the path below, heading toward the lodge with her hands tucked into her pockets and her chin down.
Her hair was pulled back today, and she was wearing that oversized grey sweater.
Then she looked up and I instinctively stepped back from the window.
Smooth, Fenris teased.
“Shut up.”
I found reasons to be near the east wing that afternoon.
Perfectly good reasons by the way, I had a boundary check to do and a chat with Caspian that could’ve happened anywhere but just so happened to take place on the path by her cabin.
I wasn’t lurking, I told myself. I was the Alpha heir, just handling some routine business in my own territory.
Yeah, you’re definitely lurking, Fenris chimed in.
Caspian shot me a look that pretty much echoed Fenris’s sentiment without saying a word. He had a knack for that.
“How’s she settling in?” I asked, trying to keep things casual.
“Fine,” he replied, pausing for a moment. “Sloane’s been with her most of the day. The pack is mostly leaving her alone.” He hesitated again. “Jax hasn’t been around.”
That last bit wasn’t just casual chit-chat. I turned to him, my curiosity piqued.
“Where is he?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Caspian said, keeping his tone steady. “He checks in, joins us for meals, but he’s been sneaking out of the compound in the evenings without saying where he’s going.”
Jax sneaking out just three days after Davina arrived, especially with Grayson’s scouts still patrolling our borders? Not great.
“Keep an eye on him,” I instructed.
Caspian nodded and walked off, leaving me standing on the path outside her cabin. I told myself I wasn’t going to knock on the door but of course, I knocked.
She opened the door with a look that clearly showed she’d been expecting someone else. “Oh. It’s you.”
“Were you expecting someone?”
“Sloane was supposed to bring tea.” She leaned against the doorframe. “You don’t have tea.”
“Nope, no tea here,” I confirmed.
She paused, and I could tell I’d interrupted whatever she’d been up to.
There was a book lying open but face down on the bed behind her.
“How’s your arm?” I asked.
She flexed it experimentally, trying to hide a wince but failing. “Fine.”
“You’re wincing.”
“I said it’s fine.”
I held her gaze and she looked back at me.
That stubbornness of hers was one of the things that made Fenris pace circles in my chest.
“We’ll be training tomorrow morning,” I said. “Earlier this time… before the compound wakes up.”
Her expression changed. “Why earlier?”
“Because I know you’ll learn better without an audience.”
She went quiet for a moment, clearly debating whether to agree or argue just for the sake of it and I watched her settle on agreement.
“Fine,” she said. “How early?”
“Six.”
“That’s inhumane.”
“Okay, six-thirty then.”
She pointed a finger at me. “That's still six anyway.”
“Six-thirty,” I repeated, keeping my face as neutral as possible.
She left the doorframe and turned back into the cabin, leaving the door open, and I lingered in the doorway.
"Zane."
"Mm."
She picked up her book without even glancing my way. "Why are you really here? And don’t just say it’s about my arm or training."
I took a moment to soak in the scene, her standing there in that cozy oversized sweater, with a book in her hand, looking so beautiful.
Tell her, Fenris nudged in my mind.
No way.
Just tell her something.
I leaned against the doorframe, trying to play it cool. "Caspian mentioned you’ve been running the east perimeter with Sloane in the mornings."
She turned a page, barely looking up. "Sloane runs, I just survive."
"Hey, you’re adapting."
"I’m enduring," she shot back, finally glancing at me. "There’s a difference."
"Is there?"
For a brief moment, we locked eyes, and I could see something flicker in her expression, something complex that vanished before I could grasp it. Then she returned her focus to her book.
"Six-thirty," she said, not looking up. "Bring coffee."
I went away from the doorframe, a grin creeping onto my face. "I’ll bring coffee."
As I made my way back down the path to the main lodge, Fenris was annoyingly quiet, which was his way of being smug. Honestly, it was more irritating than if he’d just said something outright.
You’re smiling, he finally remarked as I reached the stairs.
I wasn’t smiling.
I straightened my face and tried to dive back into the border reports as I got to my room, but I found myself reading the same page for the fifth time.