Page 110 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
AUDREY
I clung to Bishop, desperately holding onto him and the warmth of his soul steadying mine. He’d rushed me out of the dining room before I’d even known what had happened, brought me to my suite, sat on the couch, and cradled me in his arms.
“You don’t have to do that again. Ever,” he said. “If I could, I’d demote them for scaring you.”
“They don’t know me and are trying to protect you and the pack,” I forced out.
I didn’t want to defend them, but I also didn’t want to make them any angrier with me than they already were. And from the look on Velora’s face, she was already furious and I suspected it’d be easy for her to convince Finn that I couldn’t be trusted.
Thane on the other hand just seemed obsessively curious. I didn’t even think he knew what he and the others were saying was scaring me, and God, did it scare me.
They talked about me as if I wasn’t there, something Merrick did all the time, and just like my old alpha and his betas, they could do whatever they wanted to me. They could turn me into a test subject, lock me up forever, or turn the pack against me, just like Sterling had done with all the other kids in my old pack.
I’d thought I could just sit there and keep my expression neutral, but I should have known they wouldn’t have ignored me, not with the look Velora had given me earlier when I’d left the kitchen to have lunch with Bishop.
And while Cyrus had defended me and told his betas that I was family, I had no doubt some of his anger was still directed at me. It was my fault they didn’t listen to him and hounded me. If I hadn’t been there, they would have had a perfectly normal conversation, and that had made me even more nervous.
This was his house and his pack. He couldn’t let such disobedience go without punishment and without a doubt, that would mean punishing me for making his betas question him.
The punishment might not happen right away because I was currently with Bishop, but I doubted Cyrus would forget about what had happened. He’d made how he felt about me perfectly clear with his hard expression in the foyer when he’d told me to come to dinner and again when he’d commented on my punctuality — something I was pretty sure had been a threat.
And yet I still thought he was gorgeous and my body craved his arms around me. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t shake that fantasy I kept having about having sex with Cyrus. I should hate him for reminding me where I belonged and how much power he had over my life, and I did. But thoughts and feelings were two frustratingly different things and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get them to agree.
“We’ll have dinner tomorrow in the summer garden,” Bishop cooed, running his hand along my hair in slow, soothing strokes.
“Cyrus will expect you to dine with him.” I wasn’t sure if Cyrus’s temper would extend to his youngest brother, but I didn’t want to find out, even if I didn’t want to be alone.
Except I couldn’t ask any more from him. He’d spoken up for me when I knew no one would believe me.
And why would they? I was a nobody, a nothing, and they were already suspicious. There was no point in drawing more attention to myself by denying their accusations.
But they hadn’t backed off, even when Bishop lied about Knox and I being fated for each other or when he’d revealed the truth about where I’d come from.
I hadn’t wanted everyone to know that I was from another realm, not until after I’d started working on bringing things from my realm into this one with Whil and an engineer’s help, but I’d prayed — like Bishop probably had when he’d asked me if he could tell them — that knowing the truth would shut them up or at least make their questions less aggressive and more compassionate.
Except it had only made things worse, and now I wasn’t sure if it was safe to be alone in the Residence.
And I would be alone at some point.
Probably most of the time, because Bishop had work to do and Knox was on a hunt for the next three or four days and would get more hunting assignments in the future.
Given that I hadn’t felt Knox’s emotions since before dinner, he had to have left right after returning the picnic basket and was too far away for us to connect the way we had before.
“Cyrus will understand,” Bishop said.
“He might not if it’s every dinner.”
“He will,” Bishop insisted. “But if you’re worried about it, Knox will be back in a couple of days and I suspect Nova and Deacon wouldn’t mind avoiding Finn and Velora for a while.” Bishop pressed his lips against the top of my head. “If you’re comfortable with that.”
“I ah… I don’t know,” I murmured.
Nova had been kind to me, even after Cyrus had yelled at me in the arena and had undoubtedly informed his betas about how I didn’t know my place. She also hadn’t questioned me or seemed suspicious.
In fact, she’d looked upset when Finn and Velora had started accusing me of being dangerous. Deacon had looked upset as well. Both of them knew I was from another realm, and neither of them had questioned me or suspected my intentions before or during the dinner.
Although, I hadn’t really talked with Deacon. He seemed easygoing, but feralness and power radiated off him despite the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. He could be dangerous if he wanted to be. Hell, he was the pack’s huntmaster. He hunted down and fought the wild beasts in the area to help keep the pack safe. The question was, was I safe with him?
“So, want to tell me what happened?” Bishop asked after a long pause. “I thought you were getting comfortable around us.”
“I am.” With him and Knox. “I just— I forgot who I was when it was just the three of us. Now we’re back with your pack and I needed to remember where I belonged.”
“You’re exactly where you belong,” he said, cutting me off. “You’re Knox’s mate and you’re going to be mine.”
“I know that.” I pressed my face against his chest, drawing in more of his scent to stop the tears burning my eyes. Even in the face of his betas’ disapproval he still wanted me, and I couldn’t thank fate enough for bringing him into my life. “I still need to remember that I’m not an alpha and never will be.”
A growl rumbled in Bishop’s chest. “It doesn’t matter if you’re an alpha. Finn, Velora, and Thane aren’t alphas. Velora and Thane aren’t even close, but they still have something to offer the pack. Audrey—” He nudged me back so he could look me in the eyes. “You’re perfect the way you are.”
My pulse stuttered and my breath caught at the affection in his eyes. It was softer than the looks he’d given me in the garden, but just as warm and soul deep, and made more tears threaten to fall.
I had no idea how I’d caught the interest of a man so kind and generous and sexy, and a part deep in my soul, a part that had momentarily grown stronger when I’d been standing in the natural stillness in the field beside the patrol shed a month ago, rose again. It brushed my consciousness for a split second, so fast I almost didn’t sense it, before settling back within me.
It didn’t care about the how or why Bishop was attracted to me. It just knew it was right.
“Knox, Cyrus, and I trust you and that should be more than enough for them. You won’t be punished for telling them to fuck off,” he assured me. “Our pack isn’t like your old pack.”
He kissed the tip of my nose then pulled me back to his chest. “Thane might need more than one fuck off, but he doesn’t mean to badger you. He just doesn’t know when his curiosity is too much for someone.”
“I kind of got that impression.” I closed my eyes, Bishop’s steady heartbeat even more calming now that it was mixed with the feeling in my soul that being in his arms was where I belonged. “He might actually be a good person to talk to.”
“He’ll ask you about everything and it’ll be hard to get him to stop,” Bishop warned.
“But he wasn’t suspicious. He was excited. He didn’t care that I came from another realm or that I was mated to Knox. He just wanted to know more about all of it.” And now that I said it, I realized it was true.
I’d been nervous of Cyrus and his betas at the beginning of the meal, and that nervousness had grown to fear when they’d started accusing me of being a… spy? A danger? An I-don’t-know-what-but-it-had-to-be-bad and that meant being punished.
But Thane hadn’t made me feel like that at all. He reminded me of a puppy and knowledge was the bone he eagerly begged for. I just hadn’t been prepared for his onslaught of questions.
“Thane has a pretty set routine and chaos ensues if you break it, so you wouldn’t be able to talk to him until mid-afternoon,” Bishop said, and my fear fluttered back, making my throat tighten with frustrated tears.
I wasn’t supposed to be afraid. I was just supposed to be cautious until I knew I was safe with someone. And while I still wasn’t sure about Nova, Deacon, or Lucius — who’d barely spoken a word — I knew without a doubt, I wasn’t safe with Velora or Finn.
I also wanted to believe that I wasn’t safe with Cyrus, everything told me he was dangerous, but a traitorous part of me still believed I could trust him.
Gah!
“I don’t think I’m quite ready for Thane’s… intensity just yet.” I wanted to be brave. I desperately wanted it, but that dinner had been another reminder that I had to remain cautious. I couldn’t let my guard down around someone until I knew for sure I could trust them, despite my gut instinct telling me Thane wouldn’t pull rank on me.
What I needed was to prove myself. Then they’d have to respect me, or in the very least stop suspecting me.
“Bishop?” I said, suddenly too tired to care that his shirt muffled my voice. I didn’t want to move from his embrace. I wanted to lie there forever, safe and warm and loved. “Is it possible to get a pen and a notebook?”
“For you, anything is possible,” he replied, his words not just sounding like he’d get me what I’d asked for, but that I could do anything, that it was all possible.
I just needed to be brave enough.