Arctic Bound (16 page)

“Would you stop pacing,” his sister scolded. “Everything is going to be fine. Nerina assured me she understood the situation and she has no plans to disrupt that.

All that did was piss him off. She should be just as tormented as he was. Their last night in the cave she'd made it perfectly clear she wasn't clingy. Which was not what he wanted either, but he at least wanted to know she was suffering as much as he was.

His father opened the front door and Sasha and her parents walked through. Victor turned just as his intended made her way over to him. She was wearing a long crème woolen trench coat cinched at her waist. Out of respect, he helped her out of her jacket. Sasha was dressed scantily, with a black halter dress that exposed her back and a slit that stopped at the base of her hips. This wasn't unusual for her. She liked to dress provocative. It was her way of seducing. Her targets always men, tonight it seemed she wanted to command the entire room.

“You look lovely as always Sasha.”

She dipped her head demurely, looking up at him from beneath thick lashes.

“You honor me with your words Victor.”

The hell?

She was never this respectful or submissive.
Must be a new tactic.

Victor's mother appeared after the introductions and walked everyone into the great room. Both his brothers were there as was his nephew Teak. The only person that was missing was Nerina.

Thorn walked in seconds later with Demon and Daar on his tail. Both wolves took a seat by the fire, but otherwise said nothing. Victor tried to communicate, but Demon had no words for him.

“Why the silence old friend.”

Demon huffed, but otherwise said nothing.

Her smell was the first thing that alerted him to her presence. She'd wiped all memory of their time together from her skin. He had to admit, if only to himself, it stung. He wanted every male in the room to know he'd marked her and with pride. She no longer smelled of him. Her scent was stronger and more pronounced. It wasn't as muted as it was before and the hint of his wolf's blood was the only sign that there was something different about her.

Colin rose just as he did.

“I'll go and fetch our guest.” Colin said, stepping away from the others in the room.

Sasha walked up to him. Her hands remaining by her side, but Victor could tell she wasn't happy about the new development with Nerina.

“No one said she would be here,” Sasha hissed.

“That would be because there wasn't a reason to before. Nerina is a part of the community, and as such needs to be acclimated in our ways if she is to remain her on a permanent basis.” Thorn answered.

“But she's human. She could be a Hunter.” Eric commented. His words rushed.

Victor understood their hesitation. They still believed she could be the enemy. But she wasn't and she'd proven that that the night at Eden's when she'd helped him and his brother get away from her friends. He still had many questions for her, but that would have to come later. Hunters appeared human, which was a huge misconception. They were something more, something darker if they didn't control their urges. The feud between Hunters and Werewolves stemmed back to a time that was forgotten among most of their kind.

“She's not a Hunter. She is however, a bit more than human now.” Cassandra put in.

Eric turned in her direction and sneered. “You've given her your blood?”

“She would have died had Victor not saved her from that bear.”

“Wouldn't that have been better?” Sasha questioned.

“No, someone would have come looking for eventually. Family. Friends. We don't need that kind of trouble or inquiries. We've kept to ourselves this long, she's not going to be a problem.” Thorn answered.

All eyes were on Victor. He picked his drink up from the nearby table and took a sip.

“I can assure you she's not a Hunter. I know this as fact.”

“Really?” Sasha queried.

“Yes, really.” Nerina's voice echoed through the great room as she stood next to his brother Colin. Her hand in the crook of his arm. She looked relaxed. Steady. She didn't immediately look to Victor; instead she nodded to everyone else, saving him for last. Thorn walked over to her and greeted her with a quick kiss to her forehead. Something his father only did to those he considered family.

Interesting.

“Nerina dear. I'm so glad you could join us for dinner. It means something to me and to my family that you accepted my invitation.” Thorn held out his hand and Nerina tentatively accepted. She was staring at his father with a peculiar look on her face. “Would you like a drink before dinner? We usually have a small drink and then head to the table once Allesandra and Cassandra have put out the food.

“Can I have a beer?”

“Sure. You can have anything you want.”

“You feeling okay Thorn?”

“Of course, why do you ask?”

“You're never this nice.” Nerina stated.

“You were an outsider before.”

“And now I'm not?”

“Now, you're not.” Thorn assured her placing a hand on her shoulder.

His father sent Teak off to get her beer.

Victor made a move to go and talk to her, when Sasha held out a hand to him.

“Introduce me to your little friend, Victor.” Sasha purred.

He hated pissing contests and that's exactly what Sasha wanted to do. She wanted to piss on Nerina in any way she could.

 



 

So this is a classy dinner.
Nerina was dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a loose sweater. She knew she should be freezing, but with the recent changes to her body, it seemed the cold didn't bother her so much anymore. But now she felt ridiculously underdressed. Thorn was in slacks and a nice shirt as were his sons and grandson Teak. Allesandra and Cassandra were both in long sheath dresses that hugged all of their curves. Their long black hair hanging loose down their backs. The other guests, who she had no idea who they were also dressed in similar fashion. The one with hair like Goldie locks eyed her in a way that was meant to be threatening.

Ignore her.
Back home she would have been just as abrasive. But because she was a guest in Thorn's home and didn't want to offend him, she decided to not say a word.

Don't show your ass, show some class.
Nerina accepted the beer Teak brought to her, and chucked him on the shoulder when he grinned at her.

“When's dinner?” Thorn asked.

“Table is already set.” Cassandra answered.

Thorn motioned for everyone to follow him in to another room. Colin stood next to Nerina pulling out her chair and she politely thanked him. Their younger brother Theo sat on her other side. He was an exact replica of Thorn minus the greying sides. If there was one thing she learned from her father, it was impeccable table manners. She could pull of dinner without a glitch. The blonde chick was seated across from Victor at the other end of the table. He seemed truly uncomfortable. A few days ago, she would not have paid him any attention. Now it seemed she noticed everything about him.

As dinner was being served he would glance up and look over to where she sat. She could feel the heat of his eyes on her. It made her uncomfortable.

“Nerina, how are you settling in?” This was asked by Allesandra.

“You mean now that Victor's given me his blood?”

Teak grinned.

“Yes dear.”

Nerina picked up her near empty beer bottle and took the last swallow before answering.

“Well, I must admit, it is nice to have the extra sensitive hearing and tasting. I know Cassandra can cook a superb meal, but now tasting it, it's even more divine.”

Cassandra nodded across from her. “Thank you for saying that. It's been a while since someone has complemented me on my cooking.”

“You're welcome.”

“Mom, I always tell you your cooking is great.”

“That may be true Teak. But you've never called it divine.”

Colin took that moment to lean close to Nerina's ear to whisper, “Flattery will get you everywhere with Cass. Now she'll be bringing you goodies all the time. Good job.”

“Yup, great job.” Theo repeated. He'd been quiet through most of their conversation. There was a woman with dark brown hair seated next to him, and she assumed that was his wife, or girlfriend. She had light brown eyes, and continuously deferred to Theo when it came to conversation.

“And other than that?” Thorn questioned further. His dark brow rose as he waited for her to answer.

Nerina took a bite of her food before answering.

“Other than that, fine. I don't have a limp. My scars are completely healed. I'm very grateful to your son, Thorn.”

“Nerina, what we've built here for ourselves is very private. We don't usually let outsiders live among us. So when you came here it took a lot of convincing on my part to remind the town that you weren't a Hunter.”

“Which, I've now said about a handful of times.” Nerina sat her fork and knife down and looked towards the head of the table at Thorn. “I have no intention of ruining what you have here, for you or your kind. Like I said, I'm grateful to Victor for saving me from the bear attack.”

“Were you also grateful when he pity fucked you?” Goldie locks said as she sipped her wine. There was no venom in her words. None that Nerina could detect, but there was an air of superiority.

“Sasha,” Victor growled.

Sasha batted her lashes at Victor who sat across from her and shrugged her shoulders.

“Well she should know that just because you bed her, it doesn't mean anything. You did explain bedding rights to her didn't you Victor? She does understand that we are to be mated in the spring?”

Mated?

Bedding rights?
She was starting to get the picture, hazy as it was. But it sounded like bedding rights, were a way of saying his right to sleep with another woman.

“Those things were explained to her Sasha.”

Those things were certainly not explained to her. That would have stood out. She wasn't desperate and didn't care for the courtesy Victor extended her by fucking her in a cave. Had he told her he was going to be married, mated, what-ever-the-fuck it was called, she would have never slept with him. He'd just made her look like a fool. Nerina was nobody's fool.

Nerina stood, tossing her napkin over her plate.

“I don't know what the hell is wrong with you people. I assure you no one told me about being mated or bedding rights, but I think I can follow along. I'm a smart girl.” Nerina sneered.

“Neri, please.” Victor said, his tone low.

“You don't get to call me that Vic,” disdain dripped heavy from Nerina's lips as she stepped back. “We already had this conversation. What happens in the cave ,stays in the cave. I see you couldn't keep that little tidbit to yourself. But let me see if I can get it together. Let's see if the human can wrap her brain around wolf logic. You two are together, mated, whatever the crap you want to call it. Vic here is allowed to sow his wolfie oats until he commits himself to you, right?” Nerina cast a look over at Sasha who just sat there smiling. Everyone else at the table at least had the decency to look concerned. For who, she didn't know, and she didn't care.

“Nerina, you said you understood.”

“Oh and I do. Trust me I do. I see it crystal clear. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back up to my slice of quiet up on the hill.” She looked to Thorn. “Don't worry, your secrets safe with me. Let's just leave it at that. I don't need any warnings or coaching for that matter, because I'm beneath you. This whole town treated me like shit from the start, except for Cass, Allesandra, and Teak. Victor, you took one look at me saw my ailments and couldn't have cared less about me. You immediately sized me up. Weighed my worth, and saw me unworthy. It wasn't until I stuck my neck out for you and your brother that you even showed the slightest interest in me. I'll stay up on my hill, and you stay the fuck off of my land.”

She looked at everyone at the table. No one had any words for her. Nothing. But what did she expect. It wasn't like he was going to renounce his betrothed or whatever the hell the Sasha girl was to him. Obviously there was something more there to that relationship, but she wasn't going to find out. Didn't want to find out.

Storming out of the dining room, Nerina grabbed her jacket. She almost made it to the door when Demon and Daar came sauntering up to her.

“Oh hell no, you two can stay here with your own kind. Leave me alone. Don't need two nosy wolves all up in my shit.”

Demon growled and Daar whined, but she didn't care. Walking out into the crisp night air, Nerina hopped on her ATV and took off into the night. She heard Teak call out to her as she sped off. The kid was sweet to try and go after her, but it wasn't something she wanted to deal with. Roman di Bagonerigo's daughter didn't cry in front of anyone, and she wasn't going to start tonight.

Chapter 13

 

“You said she understood!” Victor bellowed, his hands crashing down on the table as he stood.

“Victor, she said she was okay with everything. I asked her.”

“Yes, Cass, but how? Did you do it in a roundabout way? Or were you straight. Did you tell her that I was to be mated to Sasha?”

His sister stood there perplexed as if he was the one that had gone crazy. Nerina was human, he got that. She needed to be eased into the situation, not have it thrust in her face and her nose rubbed in it.

“I explained that she needed to be sure to wash your scent off, even though you still have bedding rights. She said she totally understood. I took that to mean she knew what that meant. I'm sorry Victor; I should have made it clearer. I was just so excited she was going to be a permanent fixture in the community.”

Teak grunted, before saying under his breath, how well things didn't go.