The Luna Cure

FIFTY-THREE

He raised an eyebrow, looking me up and down. His hands were on either arm of the chair, caging me in. "I knew you'd try to get away from me if I gave you the option. I really could've gotten closer, too."

My expression darkened, and I was reminded of his lie. "Yes, because you lied to me."

He let out a breath, those beautiful eyes staring into mine. "Florence. I can't explain why he used such an ironic expression, but I can promise that he doesn't know about you. I didn't lie, and I won't lie to you, alright?"

"I don't believe you."

He groaned, throwing his head back, but he didn't move from his very close position, and I was still stuck in the chair. "Listen to me. There's no way he knows about you. My family here and the wolves you just met are the only people here that know about you, and only my Beta and Gamma know about your family."

My eyes widened. "You told them?"

"Yes. It's important they understand why he cannot be let near you. Shane is a gossip and I made sure to tell them when you two were gone."

The reminder of his head warrior spurred another bout of annoyance with him, and I pointed a finger at him. "And you have your freaking head warrior show me around like I can't follow instructions."

"It's not that you can't follow instructions, it's that you would've wandered around and found yourself with wolves you don't know. This pack house is huge, and I'd much rather you just take exploration easy the first couple of days unless I'm with you. The packs going to need a few days to get used to the new scent."

"Whatever about the instructions. She's-" rude, annoying, a problem? I didn't know. She had gotten on my nerves rather quickly, and she had been staring me down in Dante's office. I didn't enjoy being observed so closely, nor did I like her intrusive comments.

Dante raised his eyebrows then, waiting for me to finish with humor clear in his expression. "She's annoying as hell? Probably asked you a lot of stupid shit?"

I blinked, and then sighed. I wasn't here to rat out someone who clearly did their job well and was close with my, uh, was close with Dante. "She's fine. Friendly."

"No, she's annoying as fuck. Always challenging me and my orders. But she's also the strongest warrior after everyone else in that room, so I keep her around. She's worse than usual right now because her mate is really pregnant, so she's all nervous for that, but when that's over she'll be better. And by then she'll have grown on you."

Maybe it was the recurrence of one of Dante's beautiful swears, or maybe it was the surprise of Shane being gay, but I was left speechless, blinking at him.

Shane struck me as a tough, self-reliant wolf who didn't care about finding her mate or anyone, really. She definitely didn't seem like the type to worry about her mate's pregnancy to the point where it makes her a little more agitated. "Really?" Was all I could ask.

"Yes. Now please stop being mad at me for something I didn't do and come eat dinner with me." He finally stepped back, outstretching his hand for me to take and stand up with.

Magnus's comment was the complete truth, and Dante had no way to know if Magnus really knew about me or not. But he promised he didn't lie, and he seemed sincere. He said it was just a coincidence.

And, I was a little hungry. "Are we eating with your pack?"

He shook his head, hand still outstretched and those eyes piercing into mine. "No. Just us tonight. I don't usually eat with them, anyway, because the pack's so dispersed."