THE NAIVE SEDUCTRESS

Chapter Two: The Rule He Couldn't Break

Rose knew something was wrong with Xavier Ray.

She simply didn't know what.

He had walked into the kitchen looking like a man who had forgotten how to breathe, stared at her as though he had never seen her before, shattered a perfectly good glass, and then disappeared into the hallway with his mother.

Now, ten minutes later, he was standing outside in the rain.

Alone.

Rose watched him through the kitchen window.

Her mother was busy gathering the broken pieces from the floor, muttering under her breath about expensive things and careless people.

"Stop looking at him."

Rose blinked.

"I wasn't."

Her mother gave her a look.

"You've been looking through that window for five minutes."

Rose turned away.

"I was wondering why he broke the glass."

"He's Xavier."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"It explains enough."

Rose frowned.

Her mother had always been careful whenever Xavier's name came up. Even when Rose was younger, there had been a subtle change in her mother's voice whenever she spoke about the Ray family.

Respect.

Fear.

Rose had never been able to decide which.

She glanced toward the window again.

Xavier stood beneath the covered veranda, his back to the house.

He looked different from the boy she remembered.

Much harder.

When Rose was twelve, Xavier had been the handsome older boy who occasionally came home from boarding school and complained about the noise she made in the garden. He had never been particularly warm, but he had once helped her retrieve a kite that had become tangled in a tree.

She remembered that.

She also remembered the way he'd laughed when she had fallen into the flower bed trying to climb after it.

That boy was gone.

The man outside looked like someone who had spent years teaching himself not to feel.

Rose didn't know why that thought bothered her.

"Come," her mother said. "We need to finish the dining room."

Rose followed her.

She tried to forget about Xavier.

She failed.

Outside, Xavier was losing a battle nobody could see.

Rain struck the stone tiles around him, but he barely noticed.

His hands were braced against the railing.

His head hung low.

His wolf was no longer sleeping.

It was pacing.

Agitated.

Demanding.

Mate.

"I know."

Go to her.

"No."

The response came immediately.

Why?

Xavier closed his eyes.

Because she was Rose.

Because she was twenty-one.

Because she was the daughter of a woman who had spent most of her life working for his family.

Because his father would never accept her.

Because his family had rules.

Because he had rules.

And because the moment he admitted what his wolf wanted, there would be no going back.

He had built his life around control.

Control over his company.

Control over his emotions.

Control over his wolf.

Control over everything.

Rose had walked into a kitchen carrying a tray of tea and destroyed all of it in less than a minute.

His wolf growled.

You are afraid.

Xavier's eyes opened.

"I am not afraid."

Liar.

His jaw tightened.

He hated when the wolf was right.

The kitchen door opened behind him.

He didn't turn.

He knew who it was.

He could smell her.

That warm scent reached him even through the rain.

Rose.

His entire body tensed.

"Mr. Ray?"

He turned slowly.

She stood beneath the doorway, holding an umbrella.

Her hair was slightly damp around her face.

She looked completely unaware of the effect she had on him.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing important."

Rose studied him.

"You don't look like you're thinking about nothing."

A reluctant smile almost touched his mouth.

"You've become rather observant."

"I always was."

"No."

She smiled.

"You just didn't notice."

That caught him off guard.

For the first time that evening, Xavier actually looked at her.

Not at the woman his wolf had identified.

At Rose.

The girl he remembered.

The girl who used to talk too much when she was nervous.

The girl who had once followed him around the estate because she thought he knew everything.

Except she wasn't a girl anymore.

That realization came with a dangerous awareness of her closeness.

Xavier stepped back.

Rose noticed.

Again.

She lowered the umbrella.

"Did I do something?"

"No."

"Then why do you keep moving away from me?"

"Because I should."

She frowned.

"That's a strange answer."

"It's the only one I have."

Rose studied him for another moment.

"You broke a glass when you saw me."

"I know."

"You looked frightened."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

Xavier looked away.

Rose moved closer.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

He could hear her heartbeat.

One.

Two.

Three.

His wolf pressed against his ribs.

Let me out.

Absolutely not.

"Rose."

She stopped.

There was something in his voice that made her expression soften.

"Yes?"

"Don't come outside alone at night."

Her eyebrows lifted.

"Why?"

"The estate is large."

"I grew up here."

"That doesn't make it safe."

She stared at him.

"Safe from what?"

Xavier didn't answer.

Her gaze narrowed.

"You know something."

"I know the estate has woods."

"That's not what I asked."

"Go inside."

"Why?"

"Because I'm asking you to."

Rose's expression changed.

The softness disappeared.

"You've been ordering me around since I got here."

"I haven't."

"You have."

Xavier looked at her.

Rose lifted her chin.

"And I'm not twelve anymore."

The words landed harder than she intended.

Something shifted in his expression.

"No," he said quietly. "You're not."

The way he said it made Rose's stomach flutter.

Neither of them moved.

Rain fell between them.

Then Xavier's phone rang.

He answered without taking his eyes from Rose.

"What?"

Daniel's voice came through.

"Sir, we've got movement at the eastern perimeter."

Xavier's expression changed instantly.

"How many?"

"One."

"Human?"

A pause.

"We don't know."

Xavier's eyes moved toward the dark tree line.

"Where?"

"Near the old boundary."

"Keep everyone inside."

"Already done."

Xavier ended the call.

Rose watched him.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

She sighed.

"You really need a new answer."

Despite himself, Xavier almost smiled.

Then a sound came from the woods.

A long, low howl.

Rose froze.

Xavier moved immediately.

He stepped between her and the darkness.

"Inside."

Rose stared past him.

"That was a wolf."

"I know."

"Are there wolves here?"

"No."

"Then what was that?"

Xavier's shoulders tightened.

"Go inside, Rose."

She looked at him.

Something in his posture frightened her.

Not because he was afraid.

Because he wasn't.

He looked ready.

Ready for something.

Rose slowly stepped backward.

"All right."

Xavier waited until she reached the door.

Then he turned toward the trees.

The darkness seemed to move.

His wolf snarled.

They're here.

Xavier's eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

The ones who smell her.

His blood went cold.

Rose.

He looked over his shoulder.

She had already disappeared inside.

Xavier stepped forward.

A shadow moved between the trees.

He followed.

Rose couldn't sleep.

She had tried.

She had showered, changed into pajamas and climbed beneath the blankets in the room her mother had prepared for her.

Nothing worked.

Her mind kept returning to Xavier.

The way he'd looked at her.

The way he'd moved in front of her when the wolf howled.

The way his voice had changed when he told her to go inside.

There was something he wasn't telling her.

She knew it.

And Rose had never been good at leaving mysteries alone.

At one in the morning, she slipped out of her room.

The mansion was quiet.

She walked barefoot down the hallway, careful not to make noise.

She wasn't looking for Xavier.

At least, that's what she told herself.

She reached the staircase.

A faint light flickered beneath the door of her mother's room.

Rose paused.

Voices.

Her mother was speaking to someone.

Rose moved closer.

"I told you she shouldn't have come back."

Her mother's voice.

Rose's heart skipped.

A man's voice answered.

Low.

Unfamiliar.

"You knew this would happen eventually."

"Not like this."

"Is he aware?"

A long silence.

Then her mother whispered:

"His wolf has chosen her."

Rose stopped breathing.

The words made no sense.

His wolf?

Chosen her?

She leaned closer.

"Then we have a problem."

"Please," her mother whispered. "She's my daughter."

"And that's exactly why she's in danger."

Rose's hand went cold against the wall.

She heard footsteps.

She quickly moved away from the door.

Her mother's bedroom opened.

Rose ducked behind a decorative pillar.

Her mother stepped into the hallway.

She looked frightened.

She wasn't alone.

A tall man stood behind her.

Rose couldn't see his face clearly in the dim light.

"She must never know about her father," the man said.

Rose's heart slammed against her ribs.

Her father.

The man disappeared down the hallway.

Her mother watched him go.

Then she turned.

For one terrifying second, Rose thought she had been discovered.

But her mother returned to her room.

Rose waited until the door closed.

Then she whispered the question that had haunted her since childhood.

"What don't you know about my father?"

Across the estate, Xavier stood at the edge of the woods.

He had found the tracks.

They were fresh.

Too fresh.

He crouched beside them.

Four toes.

Deep claw marks.

A large paw.

Not human.

Not a normal wolf either.

His wolf pushed forward.

Rogue.

Xavier frowned.

Rogues were dangerous werewolves who lived outside pack law.

But this wasn't just any rogue.

There was something familiar about the scent.

Something he hadn't smelled since he was a child.

His phone vibrated.

Daniel.

Xavier answered.

"Tell me."

"We found where it entered."

"And?"

"Nothing else."

"Keep searching."

"Sir…"

"What?"

Daniel hesitated.

"There's another problem."

Xavier stood.

"What?"

"We checked the old records."

"And?"

"We found Rose's father's name."

Xavier's expression hardened.

"What about him?"

Daniel lowered his voice.

"His file shouldn't exist."

"Why?"

"Because according to the records, he died twenty-two years ago."

Xavier stared into the darkness.

"Yes."

"But that's not the problem."

"What is?"

Daniel took a breath.

"The record says Rose's father was a member of the Black Moon bloodline."

Xavier went completely still.

The Black Moon.

A bloodline that had supposedly been wiped out decades ago.

A bloodline feared by every Alpha who knew its history.

A bloodline that possessed abilities no ordinary werewolf could control.

His wolf became silent.

Then, very slowly, it spoke.

That's why.

Xavier's stomach tightened.

"Why?"

Why she is our mate.

Xavier looked back toward the mansion.

One window on the upper floor was illuminated.

Rose's room.

For the first time since discovering the mate bond, Xavier understood that the danger surrounding her wasn't accidental.

Someone had known she would return.

Someone had been waiting.

And if the Black Moon bloodline had truly survived through Rose…

then Xavier wasn't the only one who had just discovered his mate.

Someone else had been looking for her for twenty-one years.

His phone vibrated again.

A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.

YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT HER ALONE.

Xavier stared at it.

Another message arrived.

NOW THEY KNOW SHE'S BACK.

Then a final message.

AND THEY ARE COMING FOR THEIR PRINCESS.

Xavier's face hardened.

His wolf rose inside him with a fury he had never felt before.

Take her.

Xavier stared at the mansion.

"No."

Protect her.

His eyes flashed gold.

"I will."

But deep inside, Xavier already knew the truth.

He wasn't protecting Rose from the wolves.

He was protecting the wolves from what Rose might become.