Page 16 of Claimed By the Wolf
Brax flops down unceremoniously, half-shifting into his panther form to lick his paws in front of me, but I ignore his grooming as I open the present. Inside, I pull out the delicate, gold chain with the small emerald stone on a cube prong setting.
My birthstone. He not only remembered my birthday, but he also knew my birthstone.
Has he always known? Somewhere, deep down?
Another swell of that uncomfortable desire overtakes me, and I sit forward, like a new position is going to help matters at all. Brax strains his sleek, black head toward the gift and transforms back to nod appreciatively with his human head. “You see? He does care about you. He didn’t have to do that.”
I groan loudly and bury my face in my hands. As my eyes close, Nox’s gorgeous, angular face pops into my mind’s eye, and I moan again.
“Stop being dramatic,” Brax urges me. “Here, call him and thank him for his present, or else he’s going to think you’re ungrateful.”
He grabs my phone from the coffee table, and I accept it. I want to talk to Nox, even though I know I shouldn’t. I’ve been wrestling with texting him all day, but I was waiting for him to message back. I’ve already sent three over the past two days.
Surely he has to be feeling what I am, this pull, this need to be with me, too. Why isn’t he storming through the door to claim what’s his?
I’d be a very, very willing participant.
I know why, though. He’s the Alpha. He’s strong. He’s composed. He’s doing what’s best for the pack, and I need to start thinking about that, too.
“Call him!” Brax orders me.
I can’t talk to him in front of Brax either. No one can find out, not even my brother. He might be my blood, but he has an oath and duty to Ember Hollow, our pack.
“I’ll call him later,” I mumble, and he eyes me skeptically.
“Weren’t you just asking me about him?” he protests.
Every word I’m speaking makes him more suspicious, and I’m grateful when the phone chimes in my hand, saving me from having to answer, but to my amazement, it’s Nox.
Nox:We need to talk.
I waste no time responding. The notion of making him wait after he left me hanging doesn’t even cross my mind.
Me:I’m here.
Nox:Not like this. Meet me at Flores Creek at midnight. Make sure Brax doesn’t know about it.
Responding with a thumbs-up emoji, I tuck the phone away and steady my breath. My hand closes back around the little gold box, and I take the necklace from the center, unfastening it to hook around my neck.
Did he know when he bought this necklace that we were bonded? He must have had some suspicion.
This isn’t the first gift he’s ever gotten me, but it’s more personal than the books or journals from years past. Maybe he had always had an inkling. Why didn’t he share it with me?
I cast my brother another sideways look.
Brax might be the reason for that. He wouldn’t want to get between us.
But he couldn’t have known. Would Nox have promised his potential mate to another Alpha, even if he wasn’t going to claim me for himself?
It’s all so confusing, and I don’t want to think about it. It’s only giving me a headache, and I can’t afford any more pain than I’m already enduring. I just want to be with Nox.
“What do you want for dinner?” I ask my brother, jumping up from the couch, rejuvenated.
The prospect of seeing Nox has filled me with a whole new sense of purpose. At least I’ll be near him in a few hours and free of this nagging yearning.
I feel Brax watching me as I dig through the fridge, but I don’t look at him. I barely see the food staples in front of me, and grab the items blindly, hoping they make something edible.
“You’re acting weird,” my brother accuses me.
