“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Hmm.”
Analie fidgeted under his scrutiny. He didn’t say anything more, and she was too mortified to take another bite of food, tempting as the thought was. Why wasn’t he saying or doing anything? Why was he just sitting there?
She couldn’t take it anymore. She was hungry, damn it, and wanted him to go away. Her voice came out more like a wail than she’d meant, only grinding her embarrassment home further.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what? Waiting? I need to give Mouse her instructions and the car keys. She’s still getting ready.”
“No. Why are you being so nice to me? You’re… you’re a vampire. You’re supposed to be this bad, evil thing. We’re enemies, aren’t we? You’re just—you’re not supposed to be like that,” she finished lamely, her tirade dying out at his soft chuckling.
“Oh, my dear,” he said, reaching up to rub away feigned tears of laughter. “You have been sadly misled by someone. I have no desire to be considered an enemy of your pack, but I could not let the damage you and your little friend did slip by without penalty. If I did, I’d lose the respect of the local packs and perhaps even my own people. My anger last night was not with you, but with Christoph. I don’t wish to see you suffer more than necessary to carry out what was supposed to be his sentence, and would rather keep things friendly between us once you do go home. You understand, don’t you?”
Analie thought about it. He sounded sincere. There were no other telltales to go by, not scent or heartbeat or even a slight shift in breathing to indicate the truth of his words. It was unnerving. All she had to go by were his actions. Aside from the whole making her be a live-in servant for the next five years thing, and the stern reminder to do as he said, he hadn’t done anything mean or evil. Even when he smacked her up against the wall, he was making a point, not really hurting her. Dominant werewolves usually did so more painfully than the vampire had. If he’d truly meant for Christoph to be the one in her place—and given how she’d seen Christoph react to and treat him—then he might be telling the truth.
“I guess so,” she finally answered. If he insisted she spend all her time with another leech in attendance, Mouse seemed okay. Some of the tension filtered out of her shoulders and she picked at the food on the plate again.
“Excellent. I’m glad to hear that. Now, there is one other small matter I would like to attend to later this evening.”
Analie eyed him warily, saying nothing. If it had anything to do with blood, she was so out of here.
“I don’t know anything about your pack structure, or who to go to if I need to contact someone with any concerns while you’re here. Would you help me with that?”
She blinked, not having expected the request. It seemed reasonable enough. “Sure, I guess so.”
As Royce had hoped, she was too young and too guileless to realize what a tactical error she’d be committing in granting his request. His sly smile widened.
“Thank you very much.”
Analie shifted her weight awkwardly before hunkering down next to the end table and picking up another fish stick. Okay, he hadn’t done anything mean. He’d only asserted his dominance directly when she showed signs of being rebellious. Under the circumstances, his actions were caring and thoughtful—nicer than some of the Weres higher up in the pack structure had acted towards her. This went against everything she’d ever heard or been taught about leeches from the time she was a toddler.
He wasn’t a pack member, and he certainly wasn’t Gavin. But maybe he wasn’t as terrible as she’d assumed. Even Mouse had been unexpectedly kind, leaving her the teddy bear, knowing she’d be desperately lonely for her family and friends. This wasn’t home, not even close, but maybe she could live through this with her sanity intact.
Maybe if she acted contrite enough he would even let her go home sooner.
Royce settled back in the chair as she started eating, not just picking at the food on the plate. He felt it was a good sign that she was now relaxed enough to eat in front of him. He’d refrain from any direct physical contact unless he needed to lead her somewhere in the future. The less threatened she felt, the better. It