Page 15 of Claimed By the Wolf
“She’s a good choice,” Emeric drawls. “She comes from a good family.”
“I wouldn’t have paired you with an unworthy mate, Emeric. Brynn’s brother is my Beta, like I told you.”
“I want peace. I’m the one who suggested mating a high-ranking member of your pack. But I’m still doing my due diligence.”
I roll my eyes. I’m desperate to put space between me and Brynn. But at the same time, I don’t want to put space between us. The conflict is real.
“Let’s see how the party goes,” Emeric says after a moment of silence.
I don’t push the issue. I’ll just have to make sure I avoid Brynn all week and that she stays in Willow Grove territory after next week. Under no circumstances can she and I be in the same place together where anyone might catch a whiff of our bond.
Easy, right?
CHAPTER 4
BRYNN
“Have you spoken to Nox?” I ask Brax casually as soon as he walks in the door.
He barely closes it behind him, and I wince inwardly, but I’ve been pacing the little space of our home all day, suppressing the urge to run to the packhouse and throw myself at the Alpha.
A dozen times throughout the morning and afternoon, I considered shifting to go for a run, but I worried I wouldn’t be able to resist looking for the Alpha on my own. It was just safer to remain in the house, out of temptation’s path.
Nox hasn’t even tried to contact me.
How can he be so damned cold when every part of my body is aching? I feel like I’m getting the flu, my muscles are sore, and my body is weak. But unlike the flu, there is an easy cure for this agony…
Well, maybe “easy” isn’t the right word. There’s nothing easy about any of this. And Nox has to be experiencing at least some of what I am.
“Of course I’ve spoken to Nox,” my brother responds, dropping his keys on the shelf at the entrance. “I was with him all day. Why?”
I quickly back off, realizing how desperate I sound. “No reason,” I mumble, spinning away.
“There must be a reason if you’re asking the second I walk in the door,” Brax counters. “What’s going on?”
“No, nothing. Never mind.”
“Don’t tell me you changed your mind about Emeric now!” Brax says. “That’s why you’re trying to track Nox down. Is he avoiding you?”
Oh, I’d changed my mind all right, but there is nothing I can do about it now. And Nox sure is avoiding me.
“No, I…” I trail off, looking for an excuse as to why I might be searching for the Alpha. “I just wanted to talk to him about what’s going on exactly. I’m still not clear.”
“Well… I don’t know if any of us really are clear on what’s happening next, if that makes you feel any better.”
It really does not.
Brax’s eyes brighten. “I almost forgot!” He hurries toward his jacket, hanging in the front closet. “Nox stopped by the party on Saturday.”
No kidding.
“Really?” I retreat to the living room to curl up on the couch. “That was nice of him.”
“He brought you a present.”
Startled, I whip my head toward him and stare at my brother as he ambles toward me, a small gold-wrapped box in his hands. Biting on my lower lip, I reach for it, my hands shaking slightly.
“He didn’t…” I clear my throat hastily. “He didn’t have to do that.”
