Cool eyes studied her, as if taking her measure. “Yes,” she said. “I think you’d try.” The woman slipped off the table. “I should be on my way. Mind if I borrow your coat? I’ll return it next time we cross paths.”
“Take it,” she replied. The coat was a small price to pay to send the woman on her way.
“I’ll see you soon, Chloe.”
As the white wolf walked away, Chloe realized she’d never asked the woman her name.
Nor given hers.
“There you are.”
Chloe glanced up from her spot curled up on one of the cabin’s armchairs to see Kieran entering the room.
“Sorry,” she said. “I needed a little break.” To think. To wonder if Lisette was a threat she needed to be on guard against.
To puzzle whether Kieran was the man she’d been waiting a lifetime for, or whether her desire to belong was clouding her judgment.
With a grin, Kieran collapsed onto the chaise. “You’re only two days in. Just wait until we get closer to the mating ceremony.”
Pushing from her chair, she crossed to the chaise and shimmied into place next to him. He automatically adjusted to give her room, wrapping an arm around her as she rested her head against his shoulder.
“You’re doing well,” he said, running his fingers along her arm.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“The older wolves are still standoffish, as you predicted.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “If you’re happy, the pack is happy.”
“And I am,” he said, tipping her face up to his. “Very happy. Though I’d be happier if you lost a few of these clothes.”
She huffed out a laugh. “You’ll be missed.”
“No one will begrudge me a little break.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “One thing I’ve discovered in the past few days is that you’re always needed. Everyone wants a word with you.”
“It’s the one time of year we’re all together,” he said with a sigh. “For those who don’t live in the city, this is their chance to touch base with me. Make sure any concerns are heard.”
“You’re good at your job.”
“What I do in the city is my job. This is…”
“What you were born to do,” she supplied. “And you take that responsibility seriously.”
“There was a time when I didn’t.”
“Why?”
His fingers stroked her hair, and she closed her eyes, perfectly content.
“My father stepped down partly because he was ready but also, I think, because he wanted me to gain a purpose, a direction. Lisette wasn’t pleased.”
“I thought she’d like the power dating the alpha would give her.”
He snorted. “Oh, she did. She just didn’t like the responsibility that came with it. And I only saw her. She was my priority.”
“It’s okay to love a partner and care for your pack.”
Silence stretched. “I’m not sure I can do both,” he told her, his voice soft. “I can’t lose myself the way I did with her.”
Her breath hitched. Was this Kieran’s way of telling her they could be together but love wasn’t something that would ever enter the equation?
“Good relationships find balance,” she whispered. “Yes, you’re beholden to another person, but so are they to you.”
“Would you leave me, Chloe, if I couldn’t be that for you?”
Pain flared through her chest. “I don’t know,” she said to avoid the answer she deeply feared was yes.
He wasn’t ready to talk about love. It wasn’t a surprise. Really, it was too soon for both of them. But what hurt was the knowledge that he’d once loved someone so completely that it had consumed him. He was capable of the darkest kind of passion, but with her he still held himself apart, despite their physical intimacy. She didn’t want their relationship to follow the pattern he’d set with Lisette, but she wanted to know that…
That someday she would be as important. More so even. She wanted a guarantee that there would come a day when someone asked Kieran about the great love of his life and her face flashed to his mind.
She wanted to be better than Lisette.
An impossible dream for wholesome, plain Jane Chloe Donovan.
The stranger’s words at the lake crept into her mind. If Lisette were here now, would Kieran still hold Chloe with such tenderness? Or would she find herself once again passed over in favor of something, someone, better than her?
“We’re borrowing trouble,” she said, pushing out of his arms.
He caught her before she could leave. “I know I can’t tell you what you want to hear,” he said.