Playing House - 2
1254 Words
"His parents wanted him to marry someone specific?" I kept my voice casual. Just curious. Just making conversation.
"Lydia Kane. Silverfang Pack, their territories border ours to the north. Her father and Kade's father have been planning the union since Kade took over as alpha." Marcus tilted his head. "But that's not why you're asking, is it?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"You're scared." He said it like it was obvious. Like he could see right through me. "Not of him, though. Of what he represents. Of what the bond means."
I said nothing.
Silence was safer than lies.
Marcus pushed off the tree. Moved closer.
"Look, I don't know your story. Don't need to know it, that's between you and Kade. But I know him. Known him since we were kids. He's a good man, even when he has to make hard choices. Whatever you're running from, whatever you're afraid of, he'll protect you from it." He paused. "That's just who he is."
"You sound loyal."
"I am. He saved my life when we were kids. I owe him everything."
Marcus's expression went serious. All traces of that easy smile are gone.
"But I'm also not an i***t. You're hiding something. I can see it. And eventually, he's going to see it too."
My pulse kicked up. Fight or flight instinct, screaming at me.
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a warning." His voice was gentle. Almost kind. "He's been through enough. Lost enough. If you're going to break his heart, do it now. Before he falls any deeper. Don't wait until he's too far gone to survive it."
Then he walked away.
Just like that.
Left me sitting there with the weight of his words pressing down on my chest like stones.
I pressed my hands against my face. Tried to think.
What am I doing?
Kade wasn't supposed to be kind. Wasn't supposed to look at me like I was precious. Wasn't supposed to make me feel guilty for lying to him.
He was supposed to be a monster.
I'd spent five years building that image in my head. Cold. Cruel. The kind of man who could lead an attack on innocent people and sleep soundly afterward.
But the man who'd carried me out of that alley, who'd sat beside my hospital bed for six hours, who looked at me like I was the answer to a question he'd been asking his entire life
That man didn't match the monster.
Which meant either I'd been wrong about everything.
Or he was a better liar than I'd given him credit for.
My wolf snarled at me. She'd been furious since the moment the bond snapped into place. Wanted her mate. Wanted to accept him, claim him, build a life with him.
She didn't understand revenge.
Didn't understand that sometimes the only way to survive was to destroy the thing that destroyed you first.
"Talking to yourself? That's usually my job."
I looked up.
The woman standing a few feet away was beautiful. Magazine-cover beautiful. Blonde hair in perfect waves, designer clothes that probably cost more than my entire pack's yearly budget had been. Her smile was pleasant, practiced.
But her eyes were calculating.
"Lydia Kane." She extended a hand. Perfectly manicured. "I don't think we've been introduced."
Oh. Perfect.
The woman Kade's parents wanted him to marry.
This just kept getting better.
I stood. Shook her hand.
Her grip was just a little too tight. Her smile was just a little too sharp.
"Sera."
"I know." She tilted her head, studying me. "Everyone knows. You've caused quite a stir."
"Not intentionally."
"Of course not." Her smile widened. "You just happened to stumble into our territory, injured and helpless, and happened to be Kade's mate. What are the odds?"
There was poison wrapped in sugar in her voice.
"Is there something you want?" I asked.
Blunt. Direct. No point dancing around it.
"Just to introduce myself. Welcome you to the pack." She gestured vaguely, encompassing the garden, the pack house, the territory. "And to let you know that if you need anything, anything at all, I'm here. I've known Kade for a very long time. I can help you navigate pack politics, social expectations, all the things that can be overwhelming for someone new."
"That's kind of you."
"I'm a kind person." That smile again. "But I'm also practical. So let me be practical with you for a moment."
"Please do."
She stepped closer. Dropped her voice to something almost intimate. Almost confidential.
"Kade is alpha of one of the strongest packs in the region. That position comes with responsibilities. Expectations. Enemies." She held my gaze. "Being his mate isn't just about the bond. It's about being strong enough to stand beside him. To protect him when he can't protect himself."
"I'm aware."
"Are you?"
She let the question hang there.
"Because from where I'm standing, you look like someone who can barely protect herself. Someone who showed up out of nowhere with a convenient injury and a convenient bond." She paused. "Someone who might bring more problems than solutions."
There it was.
The real reason for this conversation.
"You think I'm a threat," I said.
"I think you're an unknown variable." She stepped back. Smile returning like she'd just commented on the weather. "And unknown variables get people killed. But I'm sure you'll prove me wrong. After all, the bond wouldn't have formed if you weren't meant for each other, right?"
She didn't wait for an answer.
Just turned and walked away, every movement precise and confident. Someone who knew she'd landed her blows and didn't need to watch them hit.
I stood there, processing.
Lydia Kane was going to be a problem.
A big one.
And the worst part?
She wasn't entirely wrong.
I was a threat. Just not in the way she thought.
"There you are."
Kade's voice.
I jumped. Spun.
He emerged from the house, looking relieved. "I was worried when you didn't come back."
Of course he was.
"Are you okay?" He moved closer, eyes searching my face.
No. I wasn't okay. I was drowning in guilt and confusion, and a bond that was making me question everything I'd spent five years planning. I was standing here looking at him and feeling things I had no business feeling for the man who'd destroyed my life.
But I couldn't tell him that.
"I met Lydia," I said instead.
His expression darkened. Storm clouds are gathering.
"What did she say to you?"
"Nothing important. Just welcoming me to the pack."
"Sera." He moved closer. Intent. Focused. "Whatever she said"
"It's fine. Really." I forced a smile. "I'm just tired. Still recovering."
He didn't believe me.
I could see it in his eyes, in the set of his jaw. Could feel it through the bond this pulse of concern and frustration and the desire to fix whatever was wrong.
But he nodded anyway.
"Come on. Let's get you back inside. Dr. Chen will have my head if I let you overdo it."
He offered his arm.
I stared at it for a moment. This small gesture of courtesy, of care, of claiming.
Then I took it.
The bond hummed contentedly at the contact. Warm and satisfied and utterly smug.
Traitor.
As we walked back toward the house, I caught movement in an upstairs window.
Lydia. Watching us.
She was smiling.
And I realized with cold, sinking certainty that I'd just made an enemy who knew exactly how to hurt me.
- Writer
