“I’m pleased to meet you.” Elise tried to sound confident and shook their hands firmly. After that, everyone started talking at once, stepping forward with greetings. Soon her head was swirling with names.
The group moved towards the house and Kane grabbed two of her bags from the vehicle. “Come on inside. The others will bring the rest of your things.” A few of the men immediately headed towards the truck, grabbing the remaining boxes. Kane hadn’t issued a command, but they knew implicitly what he expected and obeyed unquestioningly.
Elise followed behind Kane until they got to the door. Just as she was about to walk in, another female pushed her aside with her hip and cut in front. “Excuse me.” The tall, blonde woman threw the comment over her shoulder, blocking the doorway for a moment, effectively separating Elise from Kane. From her tone of voice, Elise knew there was no real regret for the action. She searched her mind for a name but then realized that this female hadn’t stepped forward to introduce herself outside.
“Marla.” John was standing behind Elise and growled a low warning to the individual blocking the doorway.
“Oh. Am I in your way? Sorry, John.” The woman—Marla—flashed John a smile and sauntered into the house as if nothing had happened.
Elise looked at John but the man shrugged and gave her a tight smile. “That’s Marla. Just ignore her. She has some...issues.”
Watching the woman slide up to Kane and rest her hand on his arm while smiling brightly, Elise wondered what the ‘issues’ might be. Somehow, she knew that Marla was not going to be welcoming her to the pack.
Chapter 4
Elise sat on the edge of Kane’s king-sized bed and surveyed her surroundings. The black and white colour scheme was definitely masculine and matched Kane perfectly, but it left her feeling rather cold and out of place. The idea of her under-things draped here and there, or her makeup scattered on the dresser seemed wrong. A slight shiver ran through her; would she ever be able to feel at home here?
She spent a few minutes thoughtfully considering how she could make the space more appealing then checked her watch again. It was now four-thirty. After showing her to their room, Kane left, promising to return and give her a tour of the house once he dealt with some pressing business. That was two hours ago. Since then, she’d explored the three rooms of their suite, finished unpacking her things, and familiarized herself with Kane’s collection of music, movies and books. Now what should she do? Kane had said he’d be back, but she’d run out of ways to occupy herself and was beginning to think he must have forgotten that he now had a mate.
She couldn’t quite figure out how he viewed her. He seemed to vacillate between careful attentiveness to her feelings and blatantly ignoring her. Right now she was feeling ignored, just as she had upon arriving. Her mind drifted back to a few hours previously...
*****
Once Marla stopped blocking the doorway, Elise made her way inside and looked around with interest. She could see into several rooms from her position in the main foyer. A living room was to her left, a staircase with an oak banister was in front of her, and a dining room could be seen down the hallway. A few rooms were to her right, but their closed doors gave no indication as to what might be inside.
Elise’s first impression was that the house was simply, yet tastefully decorated in a homey, traditional way with comfortable looking stuffed chairs and small occasional tables scattered about. Gleaming hardwood floors and neutral walls were a perfect foil for the dark green curtains that hung from the expansive windows. Light shone in from all sides and the impressive view of the outdoors, combined with the earth-toned decor, gave a feeling of being one with nature.
Not sure if she should follow the men carrying her boxes upstairs, or wait for Kane, Elise stood in the middle of the foyer, debating the best course of action. When she hesitantly stepped towards the stairs, Kane quickly called out her name.
“Elise, wait! I’ll just be a minute.” She wondered how he knew what she was doing when his attention was so focused on Marla. The other woman was speaking intently to him and Kane nodded several times before ending the conversation with a one armed hug. After watching Marla walk away, he moved to stand by Elise. “Sorry about that. Marla needed a bit of reassurance.”
Glancing over to where the woman stood near a window, Elise noted that Marla was shooting daggers at her with her eyes. Why did the other woman seem to have taken an instant dislike to her? About to question Kane on the matter, he took her hand and led her upstairs. As she trailed her hand on the wooden rail, she could feel eyes watching her and had to resist the urge to turn around and see who it was.