AMONG WOLVES

CHAPTER 14

"So you're the surrogate."

"Roman's surrogate," someone else corrected, quiet enough to sound like a warning.

I hadn't even reached the center of the hall before the whispers started.

Roman's hand settled at the small of my back, steady and guiding, before I could answer either of them.

"Lord Halden," Roman said, nodding to the first speaker. "Mira."

Halden's eyes swept over me from head to toe.

"Ah. The famous compatibility case."

"Famous?" I repeated.

"News travels between territories."

His smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Especially unusual news."

Roman's hand tightened slightly against my back.

"If you'll excuse us."

He guided me deeper into the hall before Halden could say anything else.

I waited until we'd put several people between us.

"Unusual news?"

"Ignore him."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have time for tonight."

I glanced around the crowded hall.

Alphas and their representatives stood in small groups beneath the enormous chandeliers. Conversations lowered whenever Roman passed. Some eyes followed him.

Others followed me.

I understood now what he'd meant in the study.

They weren't simply looking at me.

They were measuring Blackthorn through me.

I was still thinking about that when a new voice cut through the noise.

"You look like someone who's been asked one too many invasive questions tonight."

I turned.

A man about Roman's age stood a few feet away, dark-haired and effortlessly relaxed in a room that had made my shoulders tense since I entered.

He offered a slight bow.

More playful than formal.

"Kase Thorne."

Roman went completely still beside me.

The change was so subtle that anyone who didn't know him might have missed it.

I didn't.

"Mira."

"I know."

Kase's smile deepened.

"Everyone here knows. That's rather the trouble, isn't it?"

"Kase."

Roman's voice had dropped several degrees.

"Roman."

Kase didn't look at him.

"I was simply introducing myself to your guest."

"She's occupied."

Kase finally glanced at Roman.

"She looks capable of speaking for herself."

The tension between them crackled through the space between us.

I wasn't going to be spoken about like furniture twice in one night.

"I can, actually."

Kase's grin widened.

"See? Capable."

Roman's jaw flexed, but he didn't contradict me.

Kase turned his attention back to me.

"How are you finding Blackthorn?"

"It's been an adjustment."

"I'm sure."

His tone remained easy.

Too easy.

"How long have you been there now?"

"A few months."

"And everything has been comfortable?"

"As comfortable as it can be."

"Of course."

His gaze dropped briefly toward my stomach before returning to my face.

"And the pregnancy?"

"Going well."

"Good."

A pause.

Then, almost casually

"Any unusual symptoms?"

The question landed wrong.

Not because of the words themselves.

Because of the precision behind them.

"What kind of unusual symptoms?"

Kase smiled.

"I suppose I'd need to know what your healer considers unusual."

Roman stepped in before I could answer.

"Her pregnancy is being monitored closely."

Kase looked at him.

"I assumed it would be."

Something passed between them.

A look.

A challenge.

Then Kase's attention returned to me.

His expression hadn't changed, but there was something sharper behind it now.

Interest.

Calculation.

Maybe confirmation.

"Rumors travel quickly between territories," he said lightly.

"I've heard."

"Then you've probably heard some interesting ones."

"What kind?"

"Mira."

Roman's warning was quiet.

I ignored it.

"What rumors?"

Kase studied me for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"Nothing worth repeating at a gathering like this."

"Then why mention them?"

"Curiosity."

He shrugged.

"An unfortunate habit."

"About me?"

"About anything unusual."

His eyes flicked toward Roman.

"Especially when someone goes to unusual lengths to keep it private."

Roman's expression hardened.

"Blackthorn's private affairs aren't your concern."

"Usually they aren't."

Kase's smile remained perfectly polite.

"But sometimes a private matter becomes everyone's concern."

My pulse quickened.

"What does that mean?"

Kase held my gaze.

For one brief second, the charm disappeared.

There was something serious underneath it.

Then it was gone.

"Enjoy the evening, Mira."

He inclined his head and disappeared into the crowd.

I watched him leave.

Roman didn't move.

Neither did I.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

I turned toward him.

"That wasn't nothing."

His eyes followed Kase's retreating figure.

"No."

At least he didn't insult me with another lie.

I found the terrace twenty minutes later.

Cold air swept across my face as I stepped outside, washing away some of the heat from the crowded hall.

For the first time all evening, I could breathe.

The door opened behind me.

I didn't need to turn around.

Roman stopped beside me.

"What did he say to you?"

"No preamble?"

"I don't have time for one."

I looked at him.

"You were standing right there. You heard him."

"I want to know what he meant."

"So do I."

I folded my arms.

"Are you worried about what Kase Thorne thinks of me?"

Roman didn't answer immediately.

That hesitation told me enough.

"I'm worried about what he knows."

"Knows about what?"

"Mira."

"You keep saying my name like it's supposed to end the conversation."

His jaw tightened.

"It isn't."

"Then talk to me."

Silence stretched between us.

Finally, he looked away toward the dark grounds below.

"He shouldn't know anything unusual is happening with your pregnancy."

My stomach dropped.

"But he does."

"He suspects."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I know Kase."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"No."

His answer was immediate.

"It isn't."

I stepped closer.

"Why is his suspicion such a problem?"

Roman's hands curled at his sides.

"Because Kase doesn't ask questions without a reason."

"Then what reason does he have?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

His gaze met mine.

"I don't fully know what he's looking for."

For the first time, something in his expression slipped.

Not anger.

Not irritation.

Uncertainty.

And beneath it, something that looked dangerously close to fear.

I stared at him.

"You really don't know."

"No."

He looked toward the doors behind us.

"But I know this."

His voice lowered.

"If Kase is asking questions about your pregnancy, there's a reason."

"What reason?"

"I don't know yet."

The answer should have frustrated me.

Instead, it frightened me.

Because Roman was usually the man who seemed to have an answer for everything.

He could command a room without raising his voice.

He could silence a council with a look.

He could make an entire territory move because he'd given one order.

But tonight, he was standing beside me with no answer at all.

And somehow that was worse.

I looked back through the glass doors at the crowded hall.

Kase was nowhere in sight.

"Was this why you warned me to stay close to you?"

Roman was silent.

"Roman."

"Partly."

"Partly?"

He exhaled slowly.

"I didn't know what would happen tonight."

I searched his face.

"Is that what you meant in the study?"

His brow furrowed.

"When you told me to stay close to you?"

He nodded once.

"Whatever happens."

The words came back to me exactly as he'd said them.

I looked at him for a long moment.

"Whatever happens."

Roman didn't explain.

But now I understood that he'd meant it.

Something had changed the moment Kase Thorne walked into the room.

Something neither of us understood yet.

And whatever Kase knew or thought he knew it wasn't only about Roman.

It was about me.

My pregnancy.

My strange symptoms.

Maybe even the questions I'd been asking myself since arriving at Blackthorn.

I looked down at my hands.

For the first time, the gathering no longer felt like a room full of strangers judging a surrogate.

It felt like a room full of people waiting to see whether I'd reveal something I didn't even know I was carrying.

And somewhere inside that room was a man who seemed to know exactly what question to ask.

I just didn't know what the answer was yet.