HIS FORBIDDEN LITTLE WOLF

chapter six

Annie’s POV

The smoke was still in the air, and the faint smell of the burned wood made my stomach churn. The whole pack was in a frenzy, feet running above us, voices yelling all around. I propped my feet up on the couch, my arms wrapped around my feet.

I still felt his arms around me. And his deep baritone. I tried not to think about it. But the alternative was my dream. It played right in front of me. The fire, the heat, my inability to move. What would have happened if Daemon hadn’t come in then?

“Annie,” Lena whispered, going to her knees beside me. “Are you alright? You’ve not said a word since.”

“I’m fine,” I sighed, my body still quivering. “I can’t help but…” I moved closer to her and dropped my tone. “What if I started the fire? What if…”

She laughed awkwardly, her eyes darting around the living room as if trying to ascertain no one was listening to us. My father was out with the warriors, and the few servants in here knew better than to eavesdrop.

“That is practically impossible,” Lena said, that false humor still in her tone. “You are a wolf. You can’t start fires.”

“But my dream…”

“A coincidence.”

The doors push open, and I sit upright immediately, the blanket falling off me.

Daemon.

He sauntered into the room, the servants bowing slightly as he crossed the space to where I sat. Surprisingly, he didn’t ignore me. Instead, he stopped in front of me, going down until we were at the same level.

“Did the fire touch you?”

I couldn’t move. I was too stunned to. His head moved a fraction, taking in the single rose lying on the couch next to me. The one he gave me hours ago.

If he thought it was strange, he gave nothing away, returning his gaze to me. “Annie, I need you to say something.”

I shook my head slowly, feeling the overwhelming urge to push myself into his arms. To stay there until I feel better. But I didn’t know how he was going to respond, whether he would push me off and pull me closer.

“I’m fine,” I whispered. It felt like the only thing I’d been able to say all evening. But unlike the others, Daemon didn’t ask me why I was unable to move. Why I stood there in the middle of the hallway, barefoot and staring at the chaos the fire created.

He didn’t seem to believe me at first, his eyes covering every inch of my body. It burned where his gaze met. I felt a tremor traveling up my spine, and despite the situation, despite half of the pack house burned, all I could think about was how close Daemon was to me.

“Good,” he muttered, swallowing. There was something else in his tone. Something I couldn’t place my hands on. “Lena, can you please…”

But the rest of the words died in his throat when Balor raced into the room. Daemon got on his feet, stepping backwards as Balor replaced him next to me.

“I heard what happened,” he said in one breath, his arms reaching for me. “Are you alright? How did it happen?”

My eyes found Daemon’s retreating figure. The door closed behind him, and once again, I was back to being unnoticed.

“Hey,” Balor whispered. “Annie…”

“I’m fine.” I thought that if I said that one more time, I would go insane. “I was just so surprised. The pack house has never caught fire before.”

“I know,” he murmured, pulling me into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Annie. You must have lost a lot in there.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, feeling bad almost immediately. His flowers. I’d left them in the room. He didn’t deserve that.

“I’ll take you to your new room,” Balor said, getting on his feet and bringing me with him. “Alpha Ralph asked me to walk you. There’s no space for Lena in there, but she’ll be only on call away.”

“You saw my father?”

“Yeah,” Balor nodded, taking my hand. “I was with him when the fire started.”

“You were?”

He laughed awkwardly as we approached the doors. “We were just catching up on everything we missed.”

It was more than that. I knew it, but tonight, I was just too exhausted to push it any further. So, I fell into step with him, allowing the silence wrap its arm around us as we walked up the stairs away from the burned part of the pack house.

My hand in Balor’s felt nice, but I couldn’t feel the tingle that Lena spoke about each time you held someone you felt something for. Or did that come with time? I didn’t feel anything for Balor. We’d always been friends for as long as I could remember.

“We’re here,” he announced as we reached the oddly familiar hallway. I halted and looked around. There were only two rooms on this floor.

The one we were standing in front of and the one next to it.

Daemon’s.

“Why…”

“Alpha Ralph thinks that it is best that Daemon stay next to you for now. He doesn’t know what caused the fire, and he doesn’t want to risk it.”

I nodded, swallowing the knot that had worked its way up my throat. “What about Lena?”

“I’m here,” she called from down the hallway, scurrying up to us. “Thank you, Lord Balor, for escorting her.”

He smiled politely. “The pleasure is all mine.” And then, he bowed curtly, taking my hand in his. He planted a soft peck on the back of my palm. “Goodnight, Annie.”

We waited till his retreating figure disappeared down the hallway before pushing the door open and walking into the room.

“Well, that didn’t go so bad.”

“Lena…”

“Just give him a chance. We both know why he is here.”

“You don’t really want me to do that,” I muttered as I drew closer to the vanity, smiling when I saw the vase half-filled with water. “You kept this here for the rose.”

Lena shrugged. “I was just doing my job.”

And just then, I heard the door next to my room pull open.