Page 100 of Shackled to the World
Mason grabbed Annora’s hand and dragged her toward the living room after the rabbit. “The guys decided to have a barbeque.”
Annora stopped in the middle of the room when she saw the deck and backyard were packed. She wasn’t used to being surrounded by so many people, and barely managed not to back away and bolt back to her room. Some of the shifters were the ones who’d been waiting for them out front when they returned from battle, the ones Camden must have approved, but she recognized more than a few of the others as pack leaders by the power radiating from them.
Alphas.
There was nothing remotely human about the group. They were pure predators in human form, ready to kill anyone who threatened them.
She wasn’t foolish enough to think they were her friends.
If she became a threat, they wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate her.
It was the way of their world.
But at the moment she was the lesser of two evils, the only thing standing between them and the phantoms who could destroy them on a whim if they so chose.
But not all the people on the deck were strangers.
A few people she would consider friends mingled in the crowd, allies who would fight alongside her through anything. They were standing with her men, watching the rest of the group for any sign of trouble.
* * *
Mason didn’t like the stillness around Annora, the way she retreated into her shell where he couldn’t reach her. He gently nudged her toward the couch. “Sit.”
She obeyed without protest, blinking up at him until awareness flooded back into her eyes.
He took a seat next to her, then reached over and picked her up, placing her on his lap so her back was to him. She let out an adorable, startled squeak, and he had to suppress his smile. That she didn’t get up and leave or ask him what he was doing warmed his heart.
She trusted him.
He gathered the long, silky strands of her dark brown hair into his hands and began to comb through it with his fingers, enjoying the way the wispy strands clung to him. He could almost pretend she was like him, and her hair revealed her emotions.
She melted with a sigh, her head falling forward, giving him free access.
After a moment, he broke the silence. “Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
She gave an elegant shrug with one shoulder and waved her hand at the window without looking. “I thought I was getting better at being around people, but the moment I saw the crowd on the deck, the need to run and hide came flooding back. My uncle is dead. So why am I still so afraid?”
“You’re not afraid.” She sounded so disgruntled, he slipped his hand around her neck, sliding it up to cup her face and turned it gently toward him. “You were never afraid of us, not really.”
Annora rolled her eyes and tsked. “You guys are different.”
His cock throbbed at her husky tone, and he stifled a groan. It seemed that any time she even breathed in his direction his body reacted the same way. He brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek, unable to keep himself from stealing the touch. “Damn right we are. You knew from the beginning that we’d never hurt you. Being cautious around others is normal. It’s called self-preservation. But we would never let anything happen to you.”
She sighed, turned sideways and snuggled against him, her slight weight delicious against his chest. “I know you wouldn’t. I just thought that after a time I would be…” She shrugged, looking down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
“Normal?” He easily guessed what she wanted to say.
Her one shoulder lifted in a shrug, but she didn’t look up.
“If you were normal, we would never have met.” Her eyes snapped up, an adorable scowl on her face. “If you were normal, you would’ve run from me and the rest of the guys the first chance you got.” Unable to resist, he leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose when she opened her mouth to protest. “We’re broken in a way that only you can make whole, because you know what it’s like to be so wrecked it’s a struggle to survive. You know how to find the pieces of us and put them together again.”
Like a cat, Annora squirmed until she was wrapped around him, her little claws kneading and petting his chest to soothe him. Unsurprisingly, his troll calmed at her touch, giving a little rumble of approval. His hair settled around him, almost subdued.
When her stomach grumbled, he chuckled, then scooped her up and stood.
Instead of jumping at his touch, she leaned into him. It took all his control to deposit her back on the couch when what he really wanted to do was take her back to his room and show her how much she meant to him.
He leaned forward to brush his lips across her forehead. She took advantage of the situation and tipped her head back, her lips meeting his, a silent demand to be kissed. He squashed his smile, his heart light at knowing his plan to make her fall madly in love with them was working. Every day she was becoming closer and closer to the guys.
