dedicated to bobmartin1212 because no one hypes me and this book up more <3
My skin was still buzzing with warmth from the shower some time later as I brushed my hair in the immaculate bathroom. I wore an incredibly fluffy towel wrapped around me, but I was long dry and my hair was growing less damp as I brushed it.
I had spent maybe ten minutes inspecting this insane space, the three room suite for an Alpha that doesn't even live in this huge pack house. It seemed Dante had some sort of sitting room, modestly sized and decorated-it must not be used often-that connected to an office, with only a desk, chair, and a couple bookcases, although the room had space for a lot more furniture. Finally, the grand bedroom sat on the other side of the foyer from the other rooms, and it was the only room of the three that actually reflected the decor I was used to with Dante. An enormous bed took up the center of the room, pressed against the wall opposite the huge, fold open windows that led to a small balcony that did indeed have a spectacular view of the pack grounds.
I might've spent half my time inspecting the space just staring out those windows, looking down at the enormous expense of field, covered in wolves getting the grounds prepared for the fight tonight. They all had serious expressions, even if this was supposed to be an easy fight.
But the fighting just made me think of Magnus and his clear knowledge of me, and that made me feel sick to my stomach and angry at Dante at the same time, so I stopped those thoughts and quickly rushed into the shower.
And now I was here, brushing my hair like it mattered if it was a rat's nest or presentable, like I mattered in this huge place. I definitely needed to stay under the radar here, because I was completely uncomfortable around all these important wolves. It was more of Dante wasting other people's time with me, and I was really tired of it.
After brushing the same side of my head for longer than I needed to, I sighed audibly, setting the brush down.
I quickly changed, and then glanced around. I could go back down and do whatever, but I liked hiding out in here. No one else was here, and besides the few people in that office, no one else knew of my existence yet. At least, as far as I knew. Dante could have told his whole pack I was coming with him without my knowledge, but I doubted it.
I went back into the grand bedroom, wanting nothing more than to sleep on that beautiful bed, but it was perfectly made. If we weren't staying here, I probably shouldn't mess with that bed and waste the time of whoever made it.
Moving on, I drifted into the sitting room area. It was pretty, with big couches and chairs, but it lacked any sense of warmth. This room must never be used.
A huge television sat on the wall across from the largest couch. I didn't even glance around for the remote, simply sinking into the lone chair in the corner of the room. It was comfy, and I tucked my feet to the side, laying against the arm.
It wasn't yet seven still, and there were still a few more hours to kill before the challenge. Dante would be busy all night, right? I had forgotten what he said, but I wasn't too keen to see him, so if he didn't mention anything about seeing me again before the challenge, I was fine.
So I rested in the chair, and soon found myself growing tired again. That plane ride had messed with my energy levels, and I could do with another nap.
* * *
"Florence. Hey." Dante's smooth voice filtered through my head, and I peeked my heavy eyes open to find his face barely a foot from mine.
I startled immediately, sitting up in the chair and blinking rapidly. "Goddess, did you have to scare me?" Instinctually, my knees folded up into my chest as a barrier between us.
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."
Relieved I didn't yet have to see the pack in its entirety, I grabbed his hand and let him help me up, not that I really needed it.
Dante dropped my hand and pulled me out of the living room, back towards the doors to the suite. Just as he pulled one of the doors open, he turned to me. "I want to let you know upfront that you and Shane will get to spend some more time together during the challenge in my office."
I had just passed through the doors when he finished. My jaw dropped and I shook my head. "Dante, seriously?"
He laughed at this. "She has promised to be annoying because she'd rather be on the field, so I thought I'd warn you."
We walked down the hallway, and I trudged next to him. "Come on. I just got here. My two minutes with her was ample time."
"I just wanted to let you know. If you seem disinterested, she'll leave you be."
Shane was head warrior. She had to be crazy strong, and I already had seen a little crazy from her. "Shouldn't she be down there?"
"There are a number of reasons why I'd rather have her with you than on the field. It won't be that bad."
A large part of me wanted to tell him I doubted that, but things were stressful enough here, and my compliance right now would leave me out of making things any messier than they were. So, with a shake of my head, I held in my very strong feelings of uncertainty about his statement, and continued to follow him to wherever dinner was.
* * *
Dante may not have lied earlier about Magnus knowing about me, but he was certainly wrong about Shane.
We had finished dinner and gone up to his office, where Dante and his Beta quietly went over more information he missed being with me this past month. That left me to sit on a chair in the corner, bored and already wanting this stupid, scary challenge to be over.
Of course, Shane was there, too, and she sat next to me, on some file cabinet. Her eyes seemed to pierce into every part of me, but we sat in silence.
Well, I sat in silence. She tended to make comments now and then, met with more refusal to answer from me.
"I kinda wish you had a French accent. That would be fun."
I sighed, closing my eyes and dropping my head back against the couch. Dante had made sure to extend dinner as long as possible, so now it was almost 9:30. They expected Magnus to arrive on pack land sometime around ten, so Dante and Andrew would be going to the field soon, leaving just Shane and I.
"And you're not from around Paris, right?"
"No."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Have you ever been to Paris?"
"Yes." Didn't she say she didn't like Europeans, or whatever? She was certainly interested in France.
"Is it as much of a tourist trap as I would think?"
I had to hold in another sigh. "I haven't been since I was a child. I couldn't tell you."
She looked surprised by this. "So he didn't try to do all the French, cliche, oui-oui-amor things with you?" She shook her head, and Dante and Andrew were now looking up from the documents laid out on his desk to Shane. "Dante, I expected more from you. Should've taken her to the city of love and done all the cute movie things."
I wanted to correct her on the city of love comment, but Dante beat me to it.
"City of lights, not love. And I'm sure Florence would've thoroughly enjoyed all the paparazzi there."
Sapphire had tried to get us all to go, and Dante had warned me about the paparazzi then, too. I was perfectly content not going to Paris anytime soon. Or ever. At least, not with the attention Dante draws.
"Are both your parents wolves?"
I nodded.
"And you're a niveus?"
I didn't like this question, and I didn't want to answer it. But something about not answering it made me feel trapped, more so than answering it. Yet if I answered it, both yes and no would be wrong, and I really didn't want to elaborate.
Thankfully, the office doors opened then, and Justin walked in.
"Hey. Magnus's Gamma just called, said they're about thirty minutes out. They're bringing a van full of guards, so Jayce was wanting to know who you'd want-"
"Jacobs, Lansing, Packard, and Killigrew. Have Jayce pick however many more he wants. I'll be down there in a few." Dante spoke, before shutting the files he was looking into and organizing them into a pile.
Justin nodded, turned, saw me, and froze a little, probably still not used to me being here. I certainly wasn't and probably wouldn't ever be, knowing at some point Dante would have to return to France. I wasn't going to be permanent here, so Justin's response was valid, especially given my presence in Dante's über-important office. Nevertheless, Justin barely faltered for a moment before nodding at me as well, and then walked out.
"This is a waste of my fucking time." Andrew sighed, shaking his head, before he moved around the desk and towards the door.
"Good luck with her, Florence." He bid to me before opening the door and letting it close behind him.
Shane shook her head. "Maybe he'll get his ass kicked hard enough that the stick in it finally comes out." She commented, her fingers drumming on the edge of the file cabinet she sat on.
Dante was shuffling some more of the documents together into one larger pile, which he then placed in one of the drawers. "Do you have the capability to even try and be pleasant?" Dante asked, walking around the desk. He moved towards the file cabinet she sat on, giving her a stern look as he approached.
"I am very pleasant." She said, hopping off at the last moment and flopping down next to me on the couch. Her force caused the cushions to bounce me a little, and I tensed at the surprise movement.
Dante quickly filed the folder and shook his head, looking displeased. "Clearly. Excuse yourself for a moment, Shane."
She raised her brows, and I was a little confused, too. Wasn't the whole point of her being here to be here?
But Shane got it before I did, and gasped. "Of course! Oui-oui-amor time. You dropped the ball on Paris, so might as well try and get it on-"
"Out, now." He glared darkly at her, and she offered a smile as she hopped right back off the couch and bounced over to the door.
"I'll be right outside, Alpha."
The doors opened and shut behind her, and the deepened blue in Dante's eyes hadn't lightened back to normal yet.
I was hoping my blush wasn't prevalent, but Shane's mind wasn't a very good influence on me. "You're really leaving me with that." I was quiet, but my words made Dante smile a little bit, which made me feel much better, and the realization of that just made me feel weird.
Goddess. I could just not overthink everything. Really, truly, I'm sure I could if I tried hard enough.
"It's been awhile since she's been this fucking annoying." Please stop swearing. I truly despised the flutter his swears brought my heart. "It can't be more than two weeks until her mate has the baby. Two more awful weeks." He ran a stressed hand down his face.
I wasn't sure that her having the baby would fix her snarky, aggressive personality, but Dante knew her better than I did.
I thought back to her stupid oui-oui whatever comments and nearly rolled my eyes. I would not have enjoyed Paris. It would have been awfully cold, far too many people, and even more cameras and people surrounding us. Genoa wasn't that bad because we went at Christmas, and Dante made sure to keep us away from the general public for most of the day.
But Shane wasn't here right now, and wasn't her purpose to be here? "Why'd you kick her out?" I spoke up.
He raised his eyebrows at that, but had an amused smile on his face. "You want me to call her back in? Spend a few extra minutes with her?"
My head shook almost immediately. "No." Definitely no.
"I kicked her out because I wanted to thank you for being so understanding about all of this. Really." I started to roll my eyes, as he had already tried to apologize a million times for leaving my house so soon. "We should've spent more time with your family. Way longer than four and a half days. But you didn't fight me to come here, and I'm really thankful for that." He had come closer as he spoke, bending over me and resting a hand on the arm rest to my left.
I blinked, not knowing how to respond to that. And his foresty, musky scent surrounding me with his closeness did not help. "I, uh," What was with me? "I was desperate to get away. Especially for tomorrow." Goddess, am I glad I won't be spending the awfulness of tomorrow with my family. But Dante's words from earlier came back to me, and I pointed at him. "But I would really appreciate if you didn't stick to your promise from earlier about tomorrow. Seriously."
"No can do. Everything's already planned."
"Dante," I tried to fight.
"Florence." He mimicked my time. "No. Birthdays are fun, and you need to get back into them. Tomorrow will be a taste of what you should expect for every birthday after."
I sighed. I really didn't want to do anything. The thought of my birthday just made me horribly sad, and Dante didn't seem to care. He wanted to break through it, apparently. "Please? I'm like, serious about this."
"No. Last teen. Then you'll start having crazy twenty year-old parties, and those will be better."
"You're barely twenty-one. What do you know?"
He grinned widely, clear mischief on his face. "I've been to my fair share of twenties parties. Lots of booze. Also, almost twenty-two, so I know a bit more than you'd think."
My head pressed into the back cushion in annoyance. "Yes, an entire few months worth of knowledge."
"A very important few months worth."
"I don't want anything said or done. Seriously."
He shook his head. "It's all about getting you out of your comfort zone. Just have an open mind about it."
My eyes nearly bulged. "My comfort zone? My comfort zone is nonexistent, Dante. I don't have one."
He frowned, humor falling from his face. "Well, its time to fix that. I think you just need to be somewhere safe long enough."
A heavy feeling filled my chest at that. Somewhere safe. How long had it been since I wasn't worried about my safety in where I stayed, and where I felt comfortable being there?
"Stop thinking sad things. Try to ignore Shane as best you can. I'd also suggest you don't watch the fight. I can't stop you, and Shane would demand having the curtains open, but if you don't have to see someone die, don't go out of your way to."
The fight really would be happening just outside. I could watch. I could get a glimpse of brutal pack procedures and wolf culture.
I could even get a glimpse of the Alpha hell-bent in killing my family and see for myself who the monster was.
I was definitely watching the fight.
Besides, I had seen death before. Right? Every one of the girls that were older than me, I saw them leave and never come back. I saw their pelts, too, the thought of which constricted my heart.
But I had seen death, when Dante killed Batilda's friend or whoever in the shed. Who had that been?
Whoever it was, I was glad they were dead. She tried to kill me in that horrid place that reeked of blood and felt painful to be in.
"Honestly, Florence. Challenges aren't pretty. It'll just worry you."
"I'm watching."
He sighed. "Again, I can't stop you. But it won't be good for you. Nor will seeing Magnus so close. How about you don't make yourself more anxious?"
I shook my head. I was set on this.
He didn't look pleased with this answer, but he didn't fight me on it anymore than that. "I'll see you later, then."
Dante moved the slightest inch away from me, seemingly ready to leave, but something in me sent a shock of worry through me, and I grabbed his bicep and pulled him back down, even closer this time.
He was going down to deal with a really scary guy who hated my family and would hate Dante for being involved with us. He would hate Dante even more if he found out about me. And while I had never truly seen Dante so in control of everything like he was now, I was worried. I shouldn't have been at all, given Dante's strength, power, and overall role and responsibility, but I was.
Dante wasn't even the one fighting. But he would be there, and if things got out of hand, he would be the one to step up and get involved.
"I, uh, just wanted, to, um..." I want you to not get killed by Magnus because he already wants to kill my family and I'm genuinely worst case scenario for his feelings about you and he's really scary to me so I'm worried about you being there with him. But of course, I didn't have the courage to say that. "Just, uh, thank you for, uh, taking me to America. Like, never could've guessed that would've happened." I rambled on.
Dante's lips quirked at my obvious nervousness, and he shook his head. "Hmm, yes. It's clear this was a dream of yours."
My face flamed with a blush, and I was sure the embarrassment would kill me before Magnus or Batilda could get the chance.
"But I think the real, longtime dream since you were a little girl has been being here with the cute Prince." His lips split into a full, teasing grin, and just as I opened my mouth in horror of his mention of that stupid poster, he closed the distance between us and pressed his lips to mine in a warm, soft kiss.
Okay, I really was doing this far too often. Where was my need for rejection and putting the kingdom first?
But the sparks were so nice and soothing.
The kiss didn't last very long, but the few ones after it did, and when Dante finally pulled a few inches away from my face, I was far less focused on my nerves.
His eyes were intensely locked with mine, and his left hand ran down my arm to rest on my elbow. "Don't worry about me."
Of course he had seen through me.
I wasn't upset about it, though. It helped to know he felt confident about it. If he said I shouldn't worry about him, then I probably shouldn't.
"Okay." I'd try my best not to.
"See you later." He pulled back, hesitated, and then stepped away.
"Bye," I bid, and then he walked out of the room.
Shane slid back in before it closed behind him, a curled, proud grin on her face. "Did I not call it? I need to start making bets about you two." She bounced over to his desk and sat on top of it, facing me.
I sighed, the calm, warm minutes with Dante officially over, and the never-ending time with Shane back.
"Also, I'm not very pleased about this whole situation, and you don't seem to be either, so I made a few promises to Dante. And you, as his mate, should be aware of a few things."
I shut my eyes, sliding to my side to lay on the couch awkwardly.
"I don't know how many Alphas you know, but Dante is definitely ugly compared to the others."
My eyebrow quirked at that. Finn, Dante, and sort of King Damon were the only Alphas I really knew, and Dante was by far the best looking. Even if his father was younger, he was cuter than his dad. He had those soft, warm eyes, and he smiled far more often. King Damon seemed a little harder, colder. Finn was very good-looking, but Dante was better.
Shane was clearly just trying to diss Dante to me.
"You're not going to fight me on that?" She questioned.
I stared at her, watching her watch me. She was always trying to figure out everything going on with me, it seemed.
"I don't need to fight you on that." I certainly wasn't unhappy with Dante's looks. It'd help if he were ugly, sure. Make this whole leaving thing easier. But him being drop dead gorgeous had its perks.
"So you agree! Good. I don't know how close you two are besides what I can smell and see, but I'd also warn you he has a small dick."
I shut my eyes at this comment, shaking my head as I laid on my side. Goddess, she really was that upset about this. Normally, I would've blushed at such a crude comment, especially one about my mate, but Shane wanted to get under both Dante's and my skin with these comments. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped. She was reaching for any way she could try and embarrass him. I certainly had no idea of what she was saying was true, but anything to do with that and sex in general didn't seem very important right now. I didn't ever see it happening, either.
Also, she was mated to a woman. She didn't seem to be the expert on anything related to male anatomy, nor did she seem to express any interest in Dante in that way.
"You think I'm kidding? You smell like a virgin, so I'll give you a break, but really. Get out of that now, or it's a lifetime of dissatisfaction."
Shane knew nothing about me. Nothing about my past, who I was, or my relationship with Dante. So she held nothing back. She was actively trying to get between Dante and I to piss him off.
Who else was this ballsy and out there with me? Everyone else walked on egg shells.
As annoying as it was, it was also refreshing.
"Did you tell Dante you'd go after those specific things?" I asked.
"Yes I did. Promised him. I'm a woman of my word."
"Are you done now?"
"I told him I'd hit on you. You interested in joining my mate and I sometime? She'd think you're cute, too."
And there was the sticking to her promises. "No. Now are you done?"
She raised her brows at me. "Don't knock it till you try it, Luna. But yeah, I'm out of promises."
I let out a breath. That wasn't too bad.
"Dante never let on how close you two are."
"We aren't very close," I tried to fight, repeating the same thing I worked to keep true with myself.
"Oh, yeah. Not like you guys have all sorts of private conversations and he just took you to one of his oddest friend's homes."
Finally sitting up, I furrowed my brows. "You think they're odd friends?"
"Max is way older, completely uninvolved in werewolf business, and attends very few of the same events as Dante. I don't know how they're friends, but they've been that way for a couple of years."
I bit my lip in thought. Max really was way older than Dante for them to be such good friends.
"And I'll bet you guys went over there and made good friends with all the other brothers. Goddess. How one woman had five straight boys, I'll never understand. And five kids is way too many, period."
Shane knew absolutely nothing about me. She was blatantly talking about my family to me, and it was something new. Not bad, but certainly different.
Besides, five kids-let alone six-was a lot. And to have five boys in a row? What were the odds of that?
She opened her mouth to ask another question, but the shut it, jumped up off the desk, and moved to the window. "Magnus has officially arrived."
And just like that, anxiety flooded me. My body tensed up at the notion of him being so close. Goddess, he was here.
I wished it didn't affect me so much. He didn't know me, and he probably-most likely-had no idea of my existence as my parents' child. Besides, would he really try anything with me given my connection to Dante?
If he did, it would be so foolish that his long tenure as Alpha would seem miraculous.
But I was a scared person. Batilda was an ever present threat as long as she was alive, and even here, an ocean and thousands of kilometers away, the idea of her brought toxic reactions. And from what my family said, I had reasons to fear Magnus. He was still very bitter it seemed, and there's no doubt Dante was right on the plane when he told me that Magnus would get perfect, brutal revenge with me if he got the chance. I was nothing more than bones and anxiety at this point, so I clearly wouldn't stand a chance if the opportunity presented itself.
Magnus just had to stay away from me. This would be the closest he could ever get, or I'd probably freak out much more visibly.
He just had to keep his distance and not know about me. Then I'd be fine.