Page 13 of Bane of Hate and Silver (Primordial Inheritance #1)

He confused her. Considering the game of cat and mouse she had played with his pack mates earlier in the week, she assumed he had orders from his Alpha.

But he hadn’t made any moves to pick up his phone to report her whereabouts or home location since he and Tai had arrived.

As the ride stretched on, it looked like he didn’t have any intention to.

At least not immediately. Jules remained stiff and silent at his side.

They had left Aboit and were heading for Fort Miles, the nearest large city. The car pulled up in front of an elite Italian restaurant. “Tai, no,” Monica began.

“You love this place,” Tai said.

“When my dad buys,” she snapped.

“Come on,” Tai said. “I’ve got reservations and everything.”

Monica sighed. “I love you.”

“Happy anniversary,” Tai replied while exiting the car. Luca followed suit. While Monica waited patiently for Tai to get her door. Jules waited until the right moment to open her own door. With perfect timing she whacked the werewolf with the door and stepped out.

“Ouch,” Luca said. “Was that really…”

“Yes, it was absolutely necessary,” Jules cut him off and finished the statement for him, once again ignoring the hand he’d outstretched toward her.

“Aren’t you a violent little corpse?” His whisper was low, meant only for her ears.

“You have no idea,” she said under her breath as well.

“No,” he admitted. “But I’m starting to think it will be fun to find out.”

“For me, maybe,” she smirked, stopping and looking up at him through her eyelashes. He studied her lips, so she bit the lower one ever so slightly.

“Oh, I think I’d enjoy it too,” Luca said, motioning for her to move towards the door but not brushing her skin in any way.

Jules went ahead of him as he held the door open for them all. She didn’t like having the massive wolf at her back, but it couldn’t really be helped.

“Do we have a reservation tonight?” The hostess asked, glancing over the party with a pasted on smile. She got to Luca and her fake smile turned flirtatious. “Sir?” She added as an afterthought.

Jules had the ridiculously possessive impulse to reach forward and take Luca’s arm, but it was a preposterous thought, so she ignored it.

“Cain, four,” Luca said to the hostess.

Jules gasped audibly. The similarities already had her thinking it could be true but having it confirmed made her feel strange.

Luca glanced down at her and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. He was a descendant of Stephen’s family line. Jules scowled. There was no killing him now. Luca seemed to read her mind, because he chuckled at her annoyed expression.

The hostess showed the two couples to a table on the balcony overlooking the dance floor. While setting the menus down she brushed Luca’s hand, obviously not an accident. Jules picked up her menu, again purposefully ignoring the interaction.

“These reservations are nearly impossible to get.” Monica began casually as she perused her own menu. “How did you get it?”

“I know the chef,” Luca admitted.

A werewolf chef. Great.

Almost immediately a waitress came to take their orders. “For you miss?” She asked Jules. “Um… I’m not feeling well,” Jules said. “I’ll just have some water.” She had been so busy fighting off baffling thoughts about Luca that she had neglected to think up a reasonable excuse for not eating.

“I’m buying.” Luca smirked at her. “So, you’re eating.” A glint of a smile appeared on his lips.

She would wager that he knew full well she didn’t eat human food. “No,” she whispered harshly.

“Well, then…” Luca studied the menu for a few seconds. “She’ll have the shrimp. You like shrimp, right Honey?” He nudged his menu at Jules, playfully mocking her.

She glowered at him and Luca smiled, then he looked back toward the waitress.

“I’ll have the steak and tell the Chef that Luca said he wants his steak the way we like it.” He winked at the waitress. “He’ll know what I mean,” he assured her. “Thank you.”

The waitress looked skeptical but smiled at him.

“How do you both like it?” Monica asked as the waitress left a few minutes later.

“Just rare,” he replied, shrugging.

“Reminiscent of a fresh kill that way?” Jules said, her voice inaudible to even the closest humans.

Luca’s eyes widened. He glanced nervously at Tai, then back again.

“Oops,” Jules said quietly, lacking any remorse.

When their meal arrived, Jules stared at her plate. What was she going to do with such a massive amount of smelly little sea creatures? She glared at Luca, wanting to imbed her fangs into his throat.

Throughout the course of the meal, some of the shrimp disappeared as she dropped them one by one into the napkin on her lap.

Luckily, Monica, who was sitting beside her, was all too used to the little ways in which Jules disposed of human food.

Eating the food in front of her was not an option.

She’d tried once long ago and spent the night with her head hung over the chamber pot.

Luca seemed to be studying her carefully from across the table while keeping a steady stream of conversation going with Monica and Tai.

“Are you alright, Jules?” Monica asked, leaning over to speak in Jules’s ear.

“I’m fine.” Jules tried to smile reassuringly. “I just need to powder my nose.”

Monica made a face, reminding her that it was an outdated term.

Jules shrugged. Luca’s presence had thrown her completely off her game. This whole situation was very unsettling. As she stood, Jules slid her napkin in front of her and turned to leave the table. She heard Luca chuckle lightly and scowled.

Walking into a stall in the bathroom, she dumped the little creatures into the toilet and flushed them away. Checking that the restroom was still empty, Jules paused in front of the mirror and leaned on the sink. She didn’t bother looking up at her reflection-less form.

Her chest rose and fell as she purposely took some deep breaths to help her focus her thoughts.

She still hadn’t seen Luca reach for his phone.

He probably would now that she had walked away but that couldn’t be helped.

If the rest of the pack did come to his aid, she would have to run.

The idea of abandoning Monica and Tai made her very uncomfortable, but Jules believed that Luca wouldn’t let either of them get caught in the crossfire.

Of that much, she was sure. He seemed to be a good friend to her human companions.

The bathroom door creaked open. She rushed away from the mirror toward the exit.

Lost in thought and gaze on the floor, her eyes caught on a pair of Converse under black jeans. A cozy, earthy scent assaulted her brain. Snapping her face up, her nose bumped into a hard, muscled chest.