He raised his head then, a look of unexpected fury crossing his face. “Don’t talk about your mother like that. She has been nothing but kind to me, Nina. And she loves you. She would never hurt you.”
In that one moment, he looked as ferocious as I’ve ever seen him. Then the emotion dissipated like fog evaporating in the morning sun.
“She’s already hurt me. And she’s definitely destroyed you.”
He looked aghast, as if I’d slapped him across his gaunt face. “Why do you say such mean things, Nina?”
“Because it’s true, Da. She’s sucked the life out of you. You’re nothing but a frail old man now, with nothing to do but whittle away what time you have left by painting stupid portraits of a malicious woman who’s cursed you.”
The second the words were out of my mouth, I knew I’d gone too far. But I’d been holding them in so long I couldn’t help myself. Although I’d hurt my father, badly by the broken look in his eyes, I couldn’t deny a sense of relief at having been able to purge myself. Thoughts I’d been harboring for years.
At last, after a long period of uncomfortable silence, Da raised his head and looked at me.
In his eyes I saw the pain I had inflicted and the shame he felt towards me.
“You constantly say how cruel your mother is, and how you never want to be like her, but you just proved to me, right this moment, how very much alike the two of you really are.”
Before I could respond to his accusation, the front doorbell rang. After a few seconds, the door opened and Mrs. Duka called out, “Hello! Jason, are you ready to go?”
Without another word, Da brushed past me and out into the living room. “I’m ready, Dolores. Just let me get on my shoes.”
I stayed where I was, leaning against the kitchen counter until I heard the front door open and close again, and I was alone with my shame.
I had hurt my father deeply because of my own impatience of the situation. I wanted him to finally see what was truly going on, but in my haste, I had been cruel. Like her. He was right in that regard.
However much I wanted to deny the possibility, over and over again, I was changing, growing, into the one person I swore I’d never become.
My mother, the dark fae princess of Nightfall.
I’m loathed to admit the fact, but I pampered myself for two hours preparing for my non-date dinner with Severin. I even wore my fanciest and sexiest bra and panties set—black lace. I paid careful attention to my make-up, taking great care to ensure the marks on my neck were camouflaged. Thanks to my fae blood, the wound on my cheek was nearly healed.
Despite the fact I wore a skirt and heels, I drove my motorcycle to Lombardo’s. The valet wasn’t quite sure what to do with me when I rolled up. All he could do was stare at my legs and the flash of décolletage he was getting from under my half-buttoned black trench coat.
I gave him a twenty and told him to walk the bike to a decent parking spot. He grabbed the money, shoved it into his pocket and did as I asked. Smart boy.
When I went into the restaurant, Severin was already waiting at the table. I checked in my coat at the door, smoothed down the line of my skirt and followed the hostess across the restaurant. Severin stood at the table and waited, a smile on his gorgeous rugged face and a fire lit in his eyes. It took all I had not to turn around and run. Saliva pooled in my mouth and I swallowed it down into my nervous stomach. No matter how I saw him, na**d in lamplight or in a dimly lit restaurant dressed in casual chic, the man made my stomach flip over and my thighs clench.
He had to be putting off a ton of pheromones—I heard werewolves could do that. I never reacted to men this way. Never.
When I reached the table, he pulled out my chair. As I sat, he leaned down to my ear and whispered, “You look delicious enough to eat, Nina.”
I wasn’t sure if he meant it in a sexual way or a culinary way…or both. Either way, his comment was potent. Shivers rushed down my spine and goose-flesh rose on every patch of skin. And I mean every.
Once I was seated, I tried to appear unaffected by immediately picking up the menu and browsing through it. “What’s good here?”
“Everything.” When I peered over the menu at him, he grinned. He poured a dark red wine into wineglasses. He set one in front of me. “I hope you like Cabernet. This is one of my favorites.”
I picked up the glass and sipped. It was a pleasant full-bodied wine and its robust flavor tickled my tongue. Reminded me of Severin, actually. Feeling my cheeks blush, I ducked my head, putting my attention back onto the menu. “It’s nice.” I finally managed to squeak out.
“You seem really nervous.”
“Do I?” My voice rose in pitch but I caught myself before it was too obvious and pretended to cough into my hand. I was usually a cool customer but found myself clumsy in many ways around this werewolf.
Severin wasn’t fooled. He grinned over the rim of his wineglass, fully aware that I was flustered. I imagined every woman had the same reaction. The man was sin incarnate.
I glanced around the restaurant and noticed that just about every single woman here stared at Severin. Some men too. Some couples had their heads close and chatted non-stop while peering at our table every now and then. The sight didn’t surprise me. Severin was a celebrity in a way.
“Shall we order and then talk about the mating rituals of werewolves?”
I must’ve gaped, because whatever my face was doing just spurned him on.
He set down his glass and reached for my hand across the table. His thumb stroked the sensitive spot on my wrist where my pulse hammered. “Or I can show you, if you like.”
The menu slipped from my other hand and landed on the table with an audible thunk. “Are you always this forward?”
“Life’s too short to not say what you mean.” He pressed his thumb over my throbbing vein. “I find you extremely attractive, Nina, and I want to have sex with you.”
For the first time in a long time, I was speechless. What does a woman say to that?
Yes. Oh hell yes! A thousand times yes!
I pulled my hand from his hold and placed it, quivering, in my lap. My throat had run dry and I wasn’t sure if I could form the proper answer. I knew what logic and decorum dictated I should say in a situation like this, but the response battled in my mind with what my body yearned to weep. Instead, I picked up my wine glass and took a sip, trying to compose myself. After I took a hearty drink, I set down the glass. “Um, I’m unsure on how to respond to that.”
“An honest response would do.”
Blessedly, the waiter took that exact moment to arrive at our table to take our order. I was thankful for the reprieve. The mood was getting way too intense.
“May I take your order?”
Eyes still sparking, Severin glanced at the waiter. “I’ll have the linguine chicken tettrazini.” He looked back to me. “Nina? What would you like?”
“Angel hair primavera.”
The waiter smiled. “That’s a great choice.”
His smile was a little too wide and flirtatious. I glanced at Severin to see if he had noticed.
Severin gathered the menus and slapped them into the waiter’s hands. “Thank you. I’ll signal you if we need anything else.”
“Right, yes sir.” Grabbing the menus in his hands, he scampered away to fulfill our order.
Severin leaned back in his chair and regarded me with his sexy predatory grin. “Now, where were we?”
“Not anywhere I think we should be.” I fidgeted with the white cloth napkin on the table, when really I wanted to breach the distance separating us and run my hands through the silky strands of his hair and nibble on his full bottom lip. “Technically, I should’ve reported you to SEMA. All werewolf sightings are to be called in immediately.”
He nodded. “Why haven’t you?”
I nibbled on my bottom lip, not sure of the answer myself. “I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t want werewolves to be scapegoats for everything that’s bad in this city.”
He watched me for a few seconds again, like he was trying to gauge my words, searching for the truth or lie in them. After a beat, he sat forward in his chair and picked up his glass.
“That’s admirable, and I appreciate the concern. But I assure you we werewolves are well protected.” He took a sip of wine. A drop escaped his lips, but he managed to catch it with the tip of his tongue.
I watched every agonizing second of the sinuous movement. After managing to ball the napkin into a tight clump on the table, I met his gaze and asked, “Does it bother you when people stare at you all the time?”
He lifted one shoulder casually. “Not really. It’s the price, I suppose, for being myself.”
“Do you ever regret coming out? Letting everyone know what you truly are?”
He ran this thumb along the edge of the wineglass. “Sometimes. It would be nice to have privacy once in a while.” He grinned.
I returned his smile. The expression was infectious. He had such a charming pleasant way about him, I was enthralled. But I was also afraid. And I didn’t know where that fear came from, but it was there, deep down inside my gut.
He set down his wine and leaned forward on the table, capturing my gaze. “Would you like to ask me questions?”
“Could I?”
He nodded, looking at me from under his eyebrows. “I’m an open book to you, Nina.”
“Okay, what’s the function of a pack?” I leaned forward, elbows on the table, careful to keep my voice low so the other patrons didn’t overhear our conversation. Rabid curiosity and a sense of purpose chased away the nerves zinging through my body. I no longer felt like swooning. Well, not as much as before.
“A pack is for community. It’s the one safe place all werewolves can return for support and understanding. It serves as a family unit.”
“And you are the patriarch?”
He smiled. “You could say that.”
“So, if say, a member of your pack had troubles, he could come to you and get help?”