Page 88 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

AUDREY

I was still flipflopping between telling Bishop about my birthday and hoping for some kind of celebration or keeping my mouth shut so I wouldn’t be disappointed when we reached the first building at the outskirts of town.

A lanky man about my age, maybe a little younger, stepped out of the shadows, stopping us.

“You’re back!” he gasped. Then his wide green eyes swept around us and narrowed with worry. “Where are Cyrus and Knox?”

“They’re fine,” Bishop assured him. “Taking care of some business before the betas swarm us. Are you our welcome party?”

“Sort of. Deacon set up extra watches since there was a grimalkin attack and told us to keep an eye out for you. You’ve been gone so long, I was starting to get worried, but now you’re back,” he replied. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

I shot a glance at Bishop. I didn’t know how to answer that and wasn’t the wolf in charge. It wasn’t my place to say anything.

Bishop shook his head. “Unfortunately, no.”

“Well, that sucks.” The young man huffed, his gaze jumping to me, his expression brightening. “At least you look better than the last time I saw you,” he said as he held out his hand. “I’m Zavier.”

I reached to shake it, but Bishop released a low, dangerous growl along with a snap of power, and I jerked my hand back, my pulse pounding. It had been years since I’d heard it, but Merrick used to growl like that. Just before he’d punish me.

I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, but it had to be something about shaking Zavier’s hand, which reminded me that I couldn’t assume things in this realm were the same as mine. For all I knew, I was now off limits for every other man because I was mate bonded.

Except that didn’t make sense, especially since the guys had told me they’d have sent me to the heat clinic to have sex with strangers which was a lot more intimate than shaking someone’s hand.

Zavier’s eyebrows jumped up beneath the hair flopping over his forehead, showing he was just as surprised by Bishop’s reaction as I was. Then his gaze dropped to his feet and he took a step back. “Forgive me, alpha. I didn’t realize?—”

“No,” Bishop said, his power vanishing. “Forgive me. It’s been a difficult few weeks.”

“I mean there’s gossip about Cyrus and the outsider, but I—” Zavier began. “I mean I thought— But of course you both can—” His face turned bright red and I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry.

If Zavier was a gossip, everyone was going to know before tomorrow morning that Bishop was interested in me. Which was true, but I didn’t know how public he wanted to be about us, especially if it came out that I was also Knox’s mate.

Except that shouldn’t be a problem because he’d already told me that monogamy wasn’t a requirement for wolves in this realm.

Cyrus on the other hand was going to be pissed that people were still talking about an us that didn’t exist. We’d been gone almost a month and whatever he’d said before we’d left hadn’t been enough to squash the rumors.

“The outsider’s name is Audrey,” Bishop replied, saving Zavier from any more incomplete sentences. “And she’s no longer an outsider. She’s pack.” He placed a possessive hand on my shoulder and a whisper of power slipped his control.

Zavier bobbed his head and shifted back another step. “Understood, alpha. Welcome to the Stonehaven pack, Audrey.”

His tone was overly formal, and his gaze focused on my right ear as if I were an alpha and he didn’t want to make eye contact and challenge me.

Swell. I could see other members of the pack being pissed that a shifter who couldn’t even shift was being treated like an alpha. I could only pray that Zavier wasn’t a gossip and he wouldn’t tell everyone how he thought they should behave around me.

I also prayed that Bishop got ahold of himself. I didn’t even know what had set him off. It wasn’t like Zavier had been rude to me.

Two guys a few feet up the street spotted Bishop and waved. He nodded in response, placed a hand on my lower back, and urged me forward up the busy main street and away from Zavier and the awkwardness.

More people looked at us and nodded, smiled, or waved but thankfully didn’t approach. I was too tired and sore to put on a brave face around strangers and was suddenly uncertain about where I stood with Bishop.

“So, ah… What was that about?” I asked once we were far enough away from Zavier. I tried to keep my voice steady but couldn’t help the sliver of fear creeping into it. Bishop had seemed so relaxed and kind, and I’d never seen him throw his alpha power around like that.

Of course, that was a reminder that I barely knew him. I’d only been in Stonehaven a few days before it had just been the four of us walking through the wilderness. For all I knew, he had all the undesirable alpha traits and I just hadn’t seen them yet.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he palmed the back of his neck and looked sheepish. “He was checking you out and I just got… angry.”

Angry? I bit the inside of my cheek to stay silent. It was best to keep my mouth shut. Looking embarrassed for overreacting was the behavior I’d expect from Bishop. But being angry for no reason wasn’t like him. I’d been in that conversation, too, and Zavier hadn’t been checking me out. Who’d want to check out someone like me? That kind of response was more like Knox.

My pulse stuttered.

“Could your twin bond be influencing you?” I asked, my voice frustratingly small because if it was the twin bond, that could mean no matter what Knox had said about Bishop’s feelings for me, they weren’t real. They were just from my mating bond with Knox.

“Probably,” Bishop said with a sigh, making my throat tighten.

What he felt for me wasn’t real.

“Hey, no.” He tugged me to the side of the road, hooked his thumb under my chin, and tipped my head up, forcing me to look at him. “Not like that. What I feel for you is all me. It has nothing to do with my connection with Knox. He’s stressed right now and he expresses that with anger which sometimes puts me on edge.” His expression softened and he huffed a soft laugh. “I never expected it’d make me possessive.”

“Never been jealous, hunh?” I tentatively teased.

“Oh, I’ve been jealous about a lot of things, like how Cyrus always seems to have it together, or how Knox is the best hunter in the pack and I’m not even in the top twenty.” He flashed me a wry smile and offered me the crook of his elbow. “But I’ve never been jealous over a woman. What she does is always her choice and only my business if it involves me.”

I hooked my arm around his and let him continue to escort me up the main road. “So, I can shake hands with any guy I want?”

“You can do more than shake hands.” He rumbled again, the sound low and soft in his chest, and he released another sigh. “My wolf would prefer if you just stuck with shaking hands.”

So, he wouldn’t control me, but his wolf, the most primal part of his being, wanted me for himself. Or at least, himself and his brother… brothers?

The thought sent warmth rushing through me. His wolf wanting to control what I did should have bothered me, but instead it sent a thrill rushing through me. He wanted me. No one had ever wanted me, and I trusted that Bishop had enough control of his wolf that he wouldn’t let him abuse our relationship.

“So, no conversations?” I asked, more confident in my teasing. “What about brief eye contact? Should I avoid other women as well?”

“All of the above,” he said with overexaggerated seriousness. “I decree that only blind, mute servants shall attend to you and everyone will have to wear blindfolds when you wish to walk about the town.”

“Everyone, hunh?” I laughed with him. “That seems dangerous.”

“Seriously, though. Even if Knox is around, you can do and say what you want with whoever you want. You don’t belong to him or me or anyone.”

I squeezed his arm in thanks. “There might still be some social rules that I don’t know about and inevitably mess up,” I replied, turning serious. “You behave like everyone back home — better even — and I understand your language and you don’t have an accent. Sometimes I forget this is a different realm and a different culture. I don’t know what I don’t know, and you don’t know it, either, so you can’t help me avoid it.”

“That’s a lot of don’t knows .” He bumped my shoulder with his, drawing my gaze up to see the warmth and affection in his brown eyes. “It’ll be all right. You’re not alone anymore, Audrey. You’ve got me.” His wry expression deepened, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “And believe it or not, you’ve got Knox. His social skills suck, but for what it’s worth, he won’t betray you.”

Because the bond wouldn’t let him.

But that thought didn’t ring true. Knox was harsh and gruff and might not like me for putting us in an unwinnable situation, but I knew in my soul he’d never purposely be cruel. Not like Sterling had been for all of my teen years and not like Royce when he’d tricked me into thinking we were fated mates.

“Speaking of having your back,” Bishop said as we passed through the open, unguarded gate in the thick stone Old Town wall. “We all agreed that you can’t keep staying in the guest room.”

“So where will I be staying?” After the conversation we just had, I didn’t think they were going to throw me out of the alpha’s residence to fend for myself, but I did fear that they were going to move me in with Knox, something I wasn’t at all ready for.

“A guest suite. You need more space to call your own to figure out what you want to do. Something a little less temporary. The suite has a bathroom, bedroom, and a sitting room.”

“I’m pretty sure I can think just fine in the bedroom you’ve already given me,” I instinctively replied, years of declining big gifts that were really traps having taught me to say no to everything. No matter how much I wanted it, it was always safer to turn it down even if that meant being reprimanded for being ungrateful.

“It’s already been decided. By now Cyrus has already had someone move your clothes.”

Clothes that they’d also bought me.

“I can’t keep taking advantage of your good will.”

“You’re not just pack now. You’re family,” Bishop said. “Hopefully soon you’ll be family twice over when you accept me as a mate as well.”

My pulse fluttered in anticipation of the thought, even as a whisper of fear curled in my stomach. I wanted so desperately to believe him, believe everything was as it looked to be, but I couldn’t kill that sliver of worry that I was wrong and I was going to go back to living in a nightmare.

We reached the gate in the stone wall surrounding the Residence and passed through. Beyond, the Residence was highlighted by a band of sunlight streaming between two mountain peaks as if the realm were putting the building on display. And it was worthy of display, looking like a spectacular, enormous Medieval castle with multiple turrets and wings and a grand front door.

“You belong in the Residence with your mate,” Bishop said.

But that was only if my relationship with Knox had been normal, if I’d actually been chosen. At the moment, I was his dirty little secret.

My throat tightened at the thought. “Is he going to acknowledge me?”

The muscles in Bishop’s jaw flexed.

That was a no.

“It’s okay,” I replied, even though he hadn’t actually said anything, the sting of being rejected yet again making my eyes burn with tears I didn’t want to cry. “Our mating wasn’t because either of us wanted it. Best not to let the pack think there’s more between us than there actually is.”

“He doesn’t want the mating to create trouble for you until the pack knows you. He’d never willingly mate with someone, so there’s going to be questions.”

“Not ever?”

Bishop shrugged as we entered the Residence, stepping into the grand front entrance with its enormous glittering chandelier, thick red carpet, and sweeping staircase. The staircase started with stairs on either side of the entranceway then joined halfway up to create a grand archway over the doorway to a large ballroom before splitting again and leading to the wings on either side of the building.

My room had been up the stairs, to the left, and a few doors down, but instead of taking the stairs, Bishop led me down the righthand ground-floor hall and along a series of other halls.

“I’d like to think he would have found someone on his own eventually, but I know I was just fooling myself. He’d been withdrawing more and more, not coming back to us like we hoped,” he said, and I could tell there was more behind his words than he was saying. Knox had left them for some reason and it didn’t sound as if he’d willingly returned. “But then you came, and I’ve seen more glimpses of my real brother than I ever did before… well… everything. It’s not your place to heal him and I don’t expect you to, but just being in his life has helped.”

We stopped at a wooden door carved with sweeping scrollwork and a shiny silver doorknob. It was much fancier than the door of my previous room.

“Audrey,” Bishop said, his voice low, sending a shiver of attraction slipping down my spine.

I raised my gaze to meet his and fell into his warm brown eyes, mesmerized by the bright green flecks. God, he was so beautiful and kind. I had no idea how I’d gotten so lucky that I’d just fallen into his life and he accepted me. If someone else had found me, my time in this realm could have been very different.

The memory of him pushing into me as I begged for more more more rushed through me along with a wave of heated embarrassment.

After what had happened, it could have been really awkward between us, but while I still felt flashes of embarrassment, Bishop had never made me feel uncomfortable.

“I’m glad you came to us.” His gaze dipped to my lips and my pulse fluttered with anticipation.

We hadn’t done more than cuddle since my heat. I hadn’t felt as if I was ready for more and he hadn’t brought it up, somehow just knowing I needed space.

But now my insides were warm, the heat sinking lower and lower, and the embarrassing memories were also exciting.

“I’m glad you came to me ,” he said, his voice husky, sending shivers of anticipation racing down my spine.