10

I slept very restlessly the first night here and mainly dreamed of Gloria until I suddenly woke up and looked around for help.

It was probably still dark outside. Only the TV was still running and gave me enough view of the room through its flickering. Exhausted and with a slight headache, I turned towards Keno, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully on his back, and let my head fall sideways on the pillow again to study his face sleepily.

Even though I was really mad at him and still planning to get the hell out of here, I had to grudgingly admit that he really was incredibly handsome. His three-day beard went perfectly with the dark, tousled hair and the longer I stared at him, the more violently my wolf wanted to take control of me, but I didn't let it and defended myself against her obtrusive, submissive manner.

When Keno suddenly turned around to me and put his arm around my waist, I widened my eyes and didn't move at all at first.

I felt his breath on my cheeks and our lips were probably only inches apart, causing me to unconsciously stop breathing and my heart start pounding.

Ohhhhh moon goddess! What are you doing to me!!!

The need to touch his skin consumed me, but I knew it was just the wolf bond that was pushing me to do it.

Not me...

Keno took a deep breath and seemed to be waking up, so I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be sound asleep before feeling him pull me closer to him by my waist, giving me a gentle kiss kissed my forehead. Meanwhile, his hand stroked my back soothingly and although I didn't want to, I allowed his touch, because I just felt lonely and lost here in this strange place, but his closeness could at least take away part of my deep sadness.. .

To my amazement, the tender stroking of his fingertips over my skin caused goosebumps on my neck, which felt more than just good. Enjoying it, feeling safe for a moment, I snuggled closer to his chest, causing him to press his lips to my forehead again, carefully tucking me in.

"Are you awake?" he whispered in my ear, but I kept breathing very calmly and didn't want him to know that I was noticing and not resisting. That would only give him false hope and I planned to leave as soon as possible.

After he had probably interpreted my silence as a no, nothing more came from him either and together we fell asleep tightly embraced again while I listened to his calming heartbeat and even my she-wolf finally let the howling be content.

-

When I opened my tired eyes, I immediately stared at the empty side of the bed where Keno was supposed to be, but he must have been awake already, which was more than fine with me.

I stretched extensively, yawning loudly once and only lazily raised my upper body to look around curiously.

The windows were open so luckily for me the smell of forest and rain covered Keno's smell and I listened to the rain for a moment before getting out of bed and padding to the bathroom.

After rummaging through my bag, I brushed my teeth and changed into loose sweatpants and a baggy red sweater, then made my way downstairs with a growling stomach.

Arriving in the large living room, I paused for a moment in the doorway and saw not only Keno sitting at the table, but also two other men, whose eyes were suddenly all on me.

"What's up?" I lifted my head slightly, noticing Keno smiling and shaking his head while the other two frowned in irritation.

"Aria, this is Jamal, my beta," Keno introduced me to the one on his left, looking somewhat dangerous. His skin type was slightly darker than Keno and he had a longer beard and longer hair.

"And this is Aymo."

I glanced at the other one too, who seemed younger and immediately gave me a nice smile. Somehow he looked slightly cocky, which he could be with the styled, black hair and the beautiful green eyes.

"Nice," I said and then turned to the open kitchen to open the fridge and look at the different dishes.

I grabbed a yoghurt, closed the fridge again and grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers to watch the three at the table while I scooped up the yoghurt.

They didn't seem to want me to overhear as they kept whispering and glancing at me which was starting to really piss me off! I was by nature a morning grouch anyway and it was just missing that I was provoked.

"If you have anything to say, say it to my face," I interjected, banging my spoon on the kitchen island.

"I was just explaining something to them both," Keno smiled at me while the other two didn't look at me anymore.

What was the matter with them now? Did he explain to them that I had fleas or why were they acting like that.

"Oh yeah, and what if I may ask?"

Keno got up and walked towards me, which made my heart beat a beat and I had trouble controlling my wolf again.

"I explained to them that they can take one last look at you," he said as he stopped in front of me and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh," I then remembered. "Because then I'll be gone again," I grinned arrogantly and Keno immediately lifted my chin a little to look deep into my eyes.

"No, not because of that, but because I'll rip out the wrists of any wolf who looks at you for too long."

"Very romantic," I rolled my eyes, yet somehow it made me proud that he wanted me to himself.

But I didn't let myself be lulled into it and avoided his gaze again to leave the house without asking him. Before that, I gave this Jamal a sugar-sweet smile.

"Have fun beauties!"

A loud growl of keno filled the room, but I just kept walking, not stopping until I got to the high fence in the rain.

"Then let's get to work!"