entered the room, and my body was working quickly to assess the situation. I was not so intoxicated by her now that her scent made me blind. It was more important to identify this trace of an intruder.
I could smell Zavier, obviously. The undercurrent was something else. Something that screamed hostility.
My face darkened into a deeper scowl and the beautiful woman took a step back. It filtered through my intense thoughts that she had called for Zavier a moment ago when she was caught in fear.
He had been gone for a couple of hours. How did he gain the trust and friendship of this lady in that time?
Zavier reached the doorway and took in the scene with a smirk. It only made my anger smolder even faster. He was always telling me I was too sensitive. I told him he didn’t take anyone or anything seriously enough.
He joked with the woman and I felt like disappearing into my chair. She still looked very nervous, but she had a smile ready for Zavier. I tried not to take it personally.
“I’m Whitney,” she said bravely, taking a step toward me. I slid up from my chair in one fluid motion and held out my hand to hers.
“Daire, is it?” She asked politely. I nodded and gave her hand a squeeze.
“Yes. That’s it. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m so sorry I barged in on you. I mean you were, ah—”
“I was just on my way out to meet you.” I said smoothly. There is no way you can explain sitting alone in the dark. Not unless you also want to look like a maniac in several ways.
Having deep emotions and sensitive feelings did not make you a maniac. It could make you look like one, though.
The moment was interrupted by the little rugrats. Even though my first reaction to them had been an annoyance, once they got under my nose, I found they also got right under my skin.
My cold, stony expression that a few moments ago I wouldn’t have considered changing, cracked completely into a big smile. Something about that moment loosened the entire room, and I gazed in wonder at Whitney as her smile echoed mine.
Zavier was smirking. But when wasn’t he?
The little blonde boy and dark-haired girl were bouncing up and down, chatting at a million miles a minute. I couldn’t help looking on them with affection. Something about them tugged at my heart.
That pissed me off, just a little. Like it was another incidence of my bear fighting back against my human feelings. The trouble was, I didn’t know which side this mushy feeling came from. All I knew was that I found these kids very cute.
Inside of me, a brief but powerful battle raged. I didn’t want to look like a dick in front of this woman, and I was sick of my conflicting emotions that left me only confusion and anger. I let my bear side and my human side clash up against each other and felt calm running through me. When I opened my eyes, Whitney was looking right at me.
She nodded just slightly, as if she knew what I was thinking about. That was impossible, but it was almost like she wanted to reward me for my achievement.
For a second, it was just me and Whitney in the world. The children and Zavier had ceased to exist.
Then the doorway behind her darkened. I almost growled again, catching myself just in time. My bear bristled, and I was powerless to stop it, even if I had wanted to.
This guy just walked in like he owned the fucking place. Head high, gold eyes appraising everything and finding it wanting. The kids did a few more laps of the room, calling him ‘Daddy’ and Whitney ‘Aunt Whitney’.
Was she his sister or something? No. The scent wasn’t right. If she were a sibling, the kids would smell somewhat like her, but there was nothing.
“I’m sorry fellas, but I really need a shower.” Whitney looked between the three of us with no small amount of pleading. “I’m literally going to go out of my mind if I don’t get cleaned up.”
“Of course.” Zavier’s voice was smooth and deep. He was never ruffled by anything, or if he was, it never showed.
“Head upstairs, you’ll find a couple of bathrooms up there.”
“I’ll take a few bags up with me—Aleksy, we got the kids' stuff, didn’t we?”
“Yeah.” He barely looked at her, saving his glittering gold stare for Zavier and me.
“Thank you so much.”