VINCENT
I cleared my throat. “If you keep staring at me like I’m chocolate, we’re going to have a problem.”
Cacey’s incredible cyan eyes pinned me where I stood. I didn’t mind in the slightest. Damn, I encouraged her to gawk because all my previous girlfriends had.
“W-what problem?” Her cheeks glowed pink, and I loved the reaction I roused in her. Better her this way than flushed with anger and ready to spear me with her knife.
She took a deep inhale and dashed past me, toward the Christmas tree. She yanked the towel free from the branches and threw it at me. “Put something on and make yourself helpful.” She clenched her fists tightly by her side.
Okay. This wulfkin didn’t like to play, so what would it take to lower her guard? I wrapped the towel around my waist and restored my sense of modesty, then had the tree upright in a second flat. Cacey stood across from me, straightening the decorations. I reattached a bauble with the name Tianna painted in white script across its purple surface.
“You know, the wulfkin pack in Susi are the only ones I’m aware of who celebrate Christmas.” I attempted to ease Cacey into a different conversation. While flirting came as easily as breathing, it seemed wrong to tease her. This was her home with Tianna, and the last thing she’d needed was a stranger knocking on her door.
My wolf recognized the connection between us—primal and raw—but with our human sides, life wasn’t so straightforward. Nothing ever was. My last girlfriend, Laila, dated two other wulfkin while with me, and even now the ache of rejection stung. She’d called to ask if I was interested in still dating her while she remained with the other wulfkin. What fuckin’ world was she living in? The real question was why hadn’t I known what sort of person she was before we dated? My alpha, Marcin, would answer that by saying I dated with my dick, not my head. And maybe at first that was true, but for a while, I believed Laila might be the one. The only fool in that relationship was me. But that was a past I intended to forget. After meeting with the alpha of Susi, Manu, and checking on my parents, I’d enjoy a short vacation in town. No other complications.
Cacey’s soft voice lulled me out of my mind. “Christmas has always fascinated my daughter. Since she first watched a snowman cartoon, she’s been obsessed with the festivities. She’s been begging me to take her to Santa Claus’s house in the North Pole.” Cacey reattached the fallen tinsel to a branch. “I promised her this year we’ll have the best Christmas she’s ever had. I know it’s insane, as the festive season means little to wulfkin, but I’ll do anything for her.”
The twinkle in her eyes was genuine, yet behind her gaze lay something else—sorrow. Cacey and her daughter deserved a happy Christmas, and maybe I could help. Get them a new tree, ask Mom to bake them her famous deer pie. But at the back of my mind, I couldn’t forget the name she’d mentioned earlier with a tremble in her voice.
“Who’s Daan?”
Cacey’s lips thinned. Her gaze lowered as she fidgeted with a shiny, red ornament in the shape of a bell. She gave a wistful sigh. “He’s the alpha of the Denmark pack.” She slid a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. “Sometimes we make stupid mistakes in life. I don’t want to talk about him. He’s ancient history.” Her chin lifted to a defiant angle.
Had Daan harmed her? I’d break his ribs if he showed his face in Susi. In fact, when I got back to Hungary, I’d find him and pay him a special visit. As an alpha, Daan had a responsibility to keep his pack safe.
Her eyes widened, and her gaze jerked toward the kitchen. “Oh shit, the hot chocolate.”
She skirted around me, brushing my arm. My wolf rumbled in my chest. He demanded we take her into our arms, comfort her, and reassure her that no one would ever touch her again.
“I already took it off the stove.” I aligned the star on top of the tree as a sense of calmness threaded through me. The last time I’d felt this way was back home with my parents. Then again, the town of Susi had a way of grounding me.
“Thank you.” She served the steaming chocolate milk into two mugs and set them next to a plate with only one steak. “You should enjoy your meal.”
I stepped up to the counter and cut the raw steak with the knife. Half on my plate, half on Cacey’s. Even though I was ready to eat four of these steaks, I’d rather go hungry than see someone else miss out. “Better eat before that sneaky fox steals it.”
She broke into a chuckle, and her face changed into that of unrestrained mirth. “Can’t believe you brought that thing into my house.”
“Hey, every critter needs a safe place from the storm. And now he has a meal too.” With both of us sitting on stools at the counter, we ate, and somehow the silence now became the enemy. Regardless, I wanted to make it clear to Cacey that she should feel safe in her home. “This is a decent pack in Susi. You and your daughter will be protected. Let me know if Daan shows up, and I’ll take care of him.”
She slowly turned, wearing a strange expression—a blend of joy and confusion. Her eyes kept wandering across my face as if searching for something. “Why do you care? I’m sure Varlac have bigger issues.”
“You distrust us, don’t you?”
She shrugged.
How could I put this in a delicate way without giving a two-hour history lecture of the Varlac family in Hungary? “There’s always at least one rotten soul in every pack. Unfortunately, the Varlac had theirs appointed as emperor. But don’t paint everyone with the same tainted brush because of one wulfkin’s actions.”
Cacey narrowed her eyes, studying me as if searching for that loose thread to pick.
I lowered my gaze, away from the judgment every Varlac received. Having to explain myself, to defend the ruling clan. “If I were the monster you think I am, I would have arrested you the moment you punched me.”
Her breath hitched, and when she finally spoke, she stared at me, unblinking, as if I were a television and not a wulfkin to be interacted with. “You might do that once the storm runs its course.”
“You have my word.” I pacified her as the conversation was getting old quick and resembled a circus act—me rehashing the same story. Reassuring others that I wouldn’t harm them, that they didn’t need to hold their breath around me, that I wasn’t looking for any excuse to detain them. “I’m here to visit my family and have no intention of hurting you. I appreciate you for taking me into your home and feeding me.”
Softness washed behind her eyes, along with a hint of something else. She ran a finger over the lip of the mug cupped in her hand. The silence that followed softened our moods. It seemed as if I had shared a meal with a friend and the uneasiness between strangers was evaporating.
She climbed off the stool. “Let’s go sit on the couch. It’s more comfortable.”
The crackle of the fire and the humming drone of the dryer in the distance was a soft, repetitive tune.
We sat at opposite ends of the couch. I took a long sip of the hot chocolate. At once, a flavor boost of chocolate, cinnamon, and something else, something bitter, danced across my tongue.
“Whoa, it’s strong.” Cacey glanced at me, her lower lip caught between her teeth. “Think I ruined it. Too much mixture.”
“Nah.” I swallowed another mouthful of the sugary milk. “Nowhere as bad as my first attempt at making a cup of coffee. It’s good.”
“On the bright side, it’ll keep us extra toasty.” She sat cross-legged, glancing my way, sipping on her drink. Was she considering the best way to grill me to make sure I didn’t murder her in her sleep? Or picturing me ripping her clothes off, bending her over the arm of the couch, and taking her from behind? The latter was on my mind.
Outside, the blizzard howled, and the tree branches occasionally scraped across the roof. “Back home, we hold wrestling matches during snowstorms. The wulfkin get restless being stuck inside, so it makes for light entertainment.”
“Wrestling, hey? Is oil or jelly involved?” The corners of her mouth tugged upward.
Laughter rolled through my chest and burst free. “I can just picture it now. My alpha rolling around in strawberry jelly. Would never happen, but I might propose it during the next storm.”
“So, you’re second-in-command, you said. Do you ever want to be alpha of your own territory?”
The last remnants of hot chocolate washed down my throat, leaving me too warm. “I’m already an alpha of a small pack, but would love to have my own piece of land one day. Isn’t that every wulfkin’s dream?”
“Not mine.”
“Being an alpha means having responsibility for other wulfkin and keeping them safe. Always putting them first. By the way you care for Tianna, you’d make an incredible leader.”
I stood, and she handed me her cup, her thumb caressing my fingers. A single jolt of electricity zapped through me. She flinched, as did my wolf, who pressed against my insides, urging me to get a move on with Cacey already.
She wiggled her cup in my hand. “D . . . do you mind filling me up?”
My gaze locked on those red lips, certain they’d taste sweeter than this brew. Damn, speaking of filling her . . . Tone it down, man, and put it back in your pants. If I had pants, I would.
Outside, a gust of wind broke the silence as I returned with full cups.
“My ex is an alpha,” she said. “He’s a perfect example of why not everyone is suited to the job.”
“Daan?” Back on the couch, I downed half my drink, while Cacey finished hers in record time and wore a giddy grin.
“Yeah, he’s a jerk.” She blew a long breath upward, sending strands of hair billowing into a wave across her brow. “But I won’t talk about him, so stop asking.”
“I can keep you safe from him.” I inched closer, embracing the inferno building within me. Why was it so hot? Inside my head, heat waves rippled. I studied Cacey’s wicked smile, the gentle slope of her shoulders.
Slowly, she reached out and touched my knee. Her fingers were matchsticks, fueling the blaze.
“Something about you makes me want to trust you.” Using my thigh for leverage, she pushed herself to her feet and headed for the kitchen.
I set my mug on the floor near my feet, missing her hand against my skin. Where did she go? I cranked my head around and spotted Cacey gulping back the rest of the brew straight from the pot.
“Isn’t that hot?”
She lowered the saucepan, sporting a white mustache, grinning. “Not at all.” Then she broke into an uncontrollable giggle, and before I knew it, I was standing next to her. When had I moved? Didn’t matter with a gorgeous wulfkin whose voice had my hair standing on end for all the right reasons.
Even though my brain told me to sit back down, remember who I was, right then, I could barely remember my name, let alone logic. The earlier electric charge sparked deep in my gut and radiated within me.
My wolf hungered for a mouthful of the morsel before us. And with the way Cacey stared at me, a savagery in her eyes as her laughter eased off, she might mirror my thoughts.
Despite the muddled fog in my head, a strong urge soared through me. My wolf stirred awake. He demanded that we had to keep Cacey safe and protected at any cost. She was ours.