Chapter 6:Walls have ears

The dinner ended an hour ago.

I sit in my father's study. The dark. The quiet. The face cloth sits on the nightstand upstairs. I left it there. A souvenir of his touch.

My skin still burns where his boot pressed.

I shake my head. Stop it.

He is married now. The ceremony happened this morning. Small. Private. My mother wore white. I wore black. He wore gray.

His eyes found mine during the vows.

I looked away first again.

Now the house is still. Most wolves sleep. My mother sleeps. She drank too much wine. I heard her laughing. Then snoring.

Darius is not sleeping.

I hear him. Downstairs. His study is below my father's. Below mine now.

The floors are old. The vents carry sound.

I should not listen.

I press my ear to the floor anyway.

His voice. Low. Mumbled at first. Then clearer.

He is not alone.

"Tell me again," he says.

Another voice. Male. Older. I don't recognize it.

"The patrol found nothing," the voice says. "No tracks. No scent. Just the body."

"Three wolves dead. No tracks."

"None, Alpha."

A pause.

Darius speaks again. Slower.

"The Beta's daughter is… unexpected."

My breath stops.

Beta's daughter. Me.

Unexpected.

The older voice says, "How so."

Another pause. Long. I hear a chair creak. Footsteps.

"She watches me," Darius says. "Like she knows something."

"Does she?"

"I don't know yet."

"Do you want me to handle it."

"No. Stay away from her."

The older voice shifts. "The bond—"

"I said stay away."

Silence.

Then the older voice. Quieter. "You married the mother to get close to the pack. Not to complicate things with the girl."

Darius laughs. No warmth. "Nothing is simple anymore."

"The Luna suspects nothing?"

"My wife suspects everything. But she sees what she wants to see."

"And the daughter?"

Darius pauses so long I think he left the room.

Then. "The daughter sees too much. And says too little."

"She's dangerous."

"No," Darius says. "She's not dangerous. She's…"

He stops.

"Alpha?"

"Go. Watch the northern border. Report tomorrow."

Footsteps. A door closes.

Now Darius is alone.

I stay pressed to the floor. My heart hammers.

He married my mother to get close to the pack.

Not for love. Not for protection.

For something else.

And I am unexpected.

What does that mean.

Does he know I listen. Does he know I search for answers.

The floor creaks below me. His footsteps. He is moving.

Then his voice. Right below my vent.

"You can come down, kitten. The floor is thin."

I freeze.

He knows.

I don't move. I don't breathe.

His voice again. Lighter now. Almost amused.

"I heard your heartbeat the moment you pressed your ear to the floor. You're not as quiet as you think."

I pull away from the vent. Stand up.

My legs shake.

Go downstairs. Or stay here.

He will come up if I don't go down.

I walk to the door. Open it. The hallway is dark.

The stairs are dark.

I go down.

His study door is open. Light spills out. Candles. A fire.

He sits in a leather chair. His feet up. A glass in his hand.

He doesn't look at me when I enter.

"Close the door," he says.

I don't close it.

"Close it, Kiera."

I close it.

Now we are alone. His study smells like him. Pine. Smoke. Something dark.

His desk is clean. Too clean. Like someone removed things.

My father's things.

"You heard everything," he says.

"Yes."

"And what do you think."

"I think you're a liar."

He looks at me then. His eyes are silver in the firelight.

"Everyone lies," he says. "The question is why."

"Why did you marry her."

He puts his glass down. Stands up.

Walks to me.

I don't step back.

He stops two feet away.

"For the pack," he says.

"Which pack."

"Yours. Mine. They're the same now."

"They're not the same. You took hers."

"She gave it freely."

"She gave you because she's stupid."

He tilts his head. "Your mother is many things. Stupid is not one of them."

"She killed my father."

His face changes. Just a flicker.

"You don't know that."

"I know she smiles too much. I know she moved on too fast. I know you have the same claw marks he had."

He steps closer.

One foot.

Now he is close enough to touch.

"The claw marks," he says. "You saw them."

"Yes."

"They're from the same night."

"The night my father died."

"Yes."

"Then you were there."

"I was."

"Did you kill him."

He looks at my mouth. Then my eyes.

"No."

"Then who."

"I don't know yet."

"Liar."

He grabs my wrist. Not hard. But firm.

"I don't know the name," he says. "But I know the scent. One of the rogues wore perfume. Woman's perfume. Expensive."

My mother wears expensive perfume.

The same kind she wore the night my father died.

I remember. She came home late. Her dress was clean. But her hands. Her hands were red.

She said it was wine.

It wasn't wine.

I pull my wrist free.

"You think my mother paid someone."

"I think your mother wanted your father dead. And she found someone to do it."

"Why would she."

"Because he was going to leave her. He found out something. Something she hid."

"What."

Darius looks at the door. Then back at me.

"Your mother had a lover. Before your father died. Someone outside the pack."

My stomach turns.

"Who."

"I don't know yet. But the rogues didn't act alone. Someone told them where your father would be. Someone who knew his patrol route."

"Toren."

"Toren is a soldier. He follows orders. Someone gave him the orders."

"My mother."

"Maybe."

I walk to his desk. Lean on it. My head spins.

"Why are you telling me this."

He comes behind me. Close. His chest almost touches my back.

"Because you asked."

"I've asked before. You said nothing."

"You weren't ready."

"And now I am."

He turns me around. His hands on my shoulders.

His face is close.

"Now you've heard me say you're unexpected. And you didn't run."

"I ran last time."

"You came down this time."

"Because you heard me listening."

He smiles. Small. Sad almost.

"You were always going to come down, Kitten. You just needed a reason."

I look at his hands on my shoulders.

"You should let go of me."

"I should."

He doesn't.

"Your wife is upstairs."

"She's asleep."

"She's my mother."

"She's a murderer."

I have no answer for that.

He lets go.

Steps back.

The cold air rushes between us.

"I'm not your enemy," he says.

"Then what are you."

He walks to the window. Looks out at the dark.

"I'm the man who found your father's body. The man who held his hand while he died. The man he asked to protect you."

My throat closes.

"He asked for you."

"He asked for me by name. He said 'Darius. Watch my girl. She's the only one who matters.'"

Tears. Hot. On my cheeks.

I didn't know I was crying.

"Then he married my mother," I say.

"To get inside. To find the truth. To keep you safe."

"You could have taken me away."

"Where. You would have hated me. You still hate me."

"I don't hate you."

He turns.

"Then what."

I look at the floor.

"I don't know."

He walks back to me.

Lifts my chin with his finger.

"Unexpected," he says. "That's what you are. That's what this is."

"What is this."

He drops his hand.

"I don't know yet either."

He walks to the door. Opens it.

"Go to bed, Kiera. Tomorrow we train. And we talk more. No more secrets."

I walk to the door. Stop beside him.

"Why should I trust you."

"Because your father did. And he was never wrong about people."

I look at his face.

The firelight makes him look almost soft.

Almost human.

"Goodnight," I say.

"Goodnight, Kitten."

I walk up the stairs.

My mother's door is closed.

I go to my room.

The face cloth is still on the nightstand.

I pick it up.

His fingers touched this.

The same fingers that held my father's hand while he died.

I put the face cloth down.

Lie on the bed.

The walls have ears.

And now I have the truth.

Some of it.

Tomorrow I will ask for more.

My wolf settles.

For the first time in six months.

She settles.