"Just me and Sasha." She wondered why he'd asked that.
Her sister Cloie had warned her that Zarek could turn violent with little provocation. That he had been known to attack Acheron and anyone else who came near him.
Dark-Hunter rumor said that his exile in Alaska had been caused by his destroying a village he'd been responsible for. No one knew why. Only that one night he'd gone mad and murdered everyone there, then razed their homes to the ground.
Her sisters had refused to elaborate on what had happened on that night for fear of prejudicing her viewpoint.
For Zarek's crime, Artemis had banished him to the frozen wilderness.
Could Zarek merely be curious about her living arrangements or was there a more sinister reason for his question?
"Would you like something to drink?" she asked him.
"Sure."
"What do you prefer?"
"I don't care."
She shook her head at his words. "You're not very picky, are you?"
She heard him clear his throat. "No."
"I don't like the way he's looking at you."
She arched a brow at Sasha's angry words in her head. "You don't like the way any man looks at me."
The wolf scoffed. "Still, he hasn't taken his eyes off you, Astrid. He's watching you now. His head is bent down, but there's lust in his eyes as he stares at you. Like he can already feel you under him. I don't trust him or that look. His gaze is too intense. Can I bite him?"
For some reason, knowing that Zarek was watching her made her hot and shivery. "No, Sasha. Be nice."
"I don't want to be nice, Astrid. Every instinct I have tells me to bite him. If you have any respect for my animal abilities, let me put him down now and save us both ten more days in this cold place."
She shook her head at him. "We just met him, Sasha. What if Lera had deemed you guilty on her first encounter with you all those centuries ago?"
"So you believe in goodness again?"
Astrid paused. No, she didn't. Most likely Zarek deserved to die, especially if half of what she'd been told was true.
And yet Acheron's quote haunted her.
"I owe Acheron more than ten minutes of my time."
Sasha scoffed.
She poured Zarek a cup of hot tea and took it over to him. "It's rosemary tea, is that okay?"
"Whatever."
When he took it from her hand, she felt the warmth of his fingers brush hers.
An incredible rush went through her. She felt his surprise. His heated need. His unsated hunger.
That truly scared her. This was a man capable of anything. One of almost godlike powers.
He could do anything he wanted to her...
She needed to distract him.