Chapter 12: The interrogation
1052 Words
Lunette POV
I spent entirely too much time staring at the closet.
An embarrassing amount of time.
Possibly enough time for Valerie to file a missing person report.
“What exactly are we doing?” I asked for the tenth time while holding up two different dress shirts.
Valerie was sitting cross-legged on my bed, watching me with the patience of someone observing a particularly confused squirrel.
“Going on a date.”
“I know that.”
“Then why do you keep asking?”
“Because nobody told me what we’re doing or where we’re going.”
Valerie laughed.
“Rhats kind of the point of a date.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“You’re learning.”
I groaned and threw myself onto the bed.
Enora was absolutely useless.
“We should wear the blue one.”
“You don’t wear clothes.”
“I have excellent taste.”
“You eat rabbits. Fashion and rabbits are unrelated.”
She grumbled in my head.
Eventually, Valerie helped me settle on a simple blue dress and promptly shoved me out the door before I could change my mind seventeen more times.
The sun had fully disappeared by the time I stepped outside.
The entire pack grounds glowed beneath silver moonlight.
Lanterns flickered along a path leading toward the forest.
And standing at the beginning of that path was Silas.
My heart immediately forgot how to function.
Rude.
Very rude.
Enora noticed too.
“Look at him.”
“I am.”
“No, really look at him.”
“I have eyes.”
“He’s very pretty.”
I ignored her.
Mostly because she was right.
Silas wore dark clothes tonight, simple and relaxed compared to his usual Alpha appearance.
For once he didn’t look intimidating.
Just handsome.
Dangerously handsome.
The kind of handsome that should probably come with warning labels.
His gaze lifted the second he saw me.
Then he smiled.
A real smile.
Not the small ones he usually gave.
This one reached his eyes.
My stomach performed several concerning acrobatics.
“You look beautiful.”
The butterflies in my stomach immediately declared war.
“Thank you.”
Silas offered his hand. I stared at it for half a second before taking it.
Warmth instantly spread through my chest.
Neither of us let go.
The path wound through the forest, illuminated by hanging lanterns suspended from branches overhead.
The deeper we walked, the quieter everything became.
For the first time since arriving here, I felt completely relaxed.
Silas squeezed my hand gently.
“How are you feeling?”
I smiled.
“Like I survived public humiliation.”
His laugh echoed through the trees.
“You mean when your wolf practically climbed into my lap?”
Heat flooded my face.
“Can we agree never to discuss that again?”
“No.”
“Silas.”
“It was adorable.” He says
“It was horrifying.” I reply.
“It was adorable.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Beside me, Enora purred happily.
The forest suddenly opened into a small clearing.
I stopped walking.
My breath caught.
Moonlight spilled across a crystal lake.
Thousands of tiny floating lights drifted across the water.
Flowers surrounded the shoreline.
And in the center sat a blanket covered with food.
My eyes widened.
Silas looked pleased with himself.
We settled onto the blanket together.
For a while, we simply talked.
“What kind of things do you like? Like your favorite color.. favorite food.. favorite smells?” He asks.
I blinked.
For some reason, that wasn’t what I expected.
Maybe because Silas was an Alpha.
Maybe because most of our conversations so far had involved wolves, my old life, or Enora embarrassing both of us.
Favorite colors felt strangely normal.
“My favorite color is green.”
Silas nodded.
“Any reason?”
I looked around us.
“I don’t know. I’ve just always liked it.”
“The forest?”
I laughed.
“Yes. Is that weird?”
“No.”
His expression softened slightly.
“I’ve never actually seen the a forest like this.”
He seems surprised.
“Seriously?”
I shrugged.
“Wasn’t allowed out of the packhouse much let alone in the forest. Plus it was always snowy.”
“That’s right..” he says. “What about food?” he asked.
“Desserts.”
“That wasn’t a food.”
“It absolutely was.”
“That’s a category.”
“Fine. Chocolate cake.”
“See? That wasn’t difficult.”
“It was a little difficult.”
Silas shook his head.
“I can already tell you’re stubborn.”
I gasped.
“You’ve known me for like two days.”
“And?”
“You can’t just decide things about people.”
“I didn’t decide.”
“You did.”
“You argued with your own wolf in front of an entire crowd today.”
“That is unrelated.”
“It’s really not.”
The worst part was that he wasn’t wrong.
Inside my head, Enora immediately agreed.
“He’s smart.”
“Don’t encourage him.”
“Too late.”
Traitor.
Silas picked up a strawberry from one of the containers on the blanket.
“What about smells?”
“Rain.”
The answer came out immediately.
His eyebrows lifted.
“You answered that one fast.”
“Because it’s easy.”
“Why rain?”
I thought about it for a second.
“I don’t know. It just feels peaceful.”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“That’s a good answer.”
“What’s yours?”
His gaze shifted toward the lake.
“Pine trees.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
I smiled.
“That is the most wolf answer possible.”
“I know.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The lake shimmered beneath the moonlight while the floating lights drifted lazily across the water.
It was quiet.
Comfortable.
Not awkward the way I expected it to be.
Just.. easy.
Which felt strange.
We barely knew each other.
We’d only met recently.
Yet somehow sitting here talking about random things felt natural.
Silas looked back at me.
“Your turn.”
I blinked.
“My turn for what?”
“To ask questions.”
- Writer
