Trayis (VLG Series Book 11) Read online

  “Hi, Trayis!”

  “Tell her hi back. Now go spend time with your mate and sons. I’ll be by at breakfast.”

  “We’ll see you at eight sharp.”

  Trayis ended the call and sighed. He stood and paced the narrow space between the couch and two chairs. Shay’s words echoed in his head about why she’d chosen him. If she’d expected kindness or some great first sexual experience, he’d let her down.

  “Fuck.”

  He showered and left the trailer naked, shifted, and then sniffed the ground. It didn’t take long to pick up Shay’s scent. He growled when he realized she’d stuck to the woods and avoided any of the trails that ran through the area. He lost her scent a few times but found it anywhere she’d brushed up against bushes and trees, since she’d had to make her own path through the vegetation. As he continued to track her, most of the pack cabins were left behind…until he finally came to a lone cabin sitting far from the others.

  He raised his head, studying it. Lights glowed behind closed curtains.

  It wasn’t a big place, probably no more than six hundred square feet, if that. He softly padded onto the porch and sniffed at the swing. Shay’s scent covered it. He’d found her home. He went to the door and cocked his head, picking up the sound of a television.

  He hesitated, debating on shifting back to skin or returning to the trailer. She’d made it home safely. He’d worried about her passing out from blood loss.

  He sank down and curled up on her porch, resting part of his body against the door. It creaked slightly, and the television muted. He could hear her breathing, though, and her steps when she came closer to the door.

  Trayis got up and shifted. It would be better for her to find him naked in skin than to see his animal form. It tended to freak out his brother’s Lycan pack when he ran with them.

  “Go away,” Shay muttered. “Today was more than enough. Don’t make me call Marcia.”

  He cleared his throat. “I thought you said you weren’t going to tell anyone what happened between us.”

  A lock clicked and Shay jerked open the door—then gaped.

  He took in his fill of her, too. She had damp hair from a shower and wore a cute two-piece pajama set with short sleeves and pants that fell to her calves. He grinned, unable to help it.

  “I take it you like cats. Does your pack know?”

  She glanced down her body to stare at the print of various kittens, but her gaze froze when she realized he stood there without anything on. She gasped and jerked her chin up. “I thought you were the Bitch Trio. What do you want, Trayis? Why are you here?”

  Studying her as she spoke, he noticed subtle things…like how her eyes were red and a bit puffy. How her voice sounded a little huskier than normal. It twisted him up inside. She’d been crying. He felt like a bastard. “I came to apologize.”

  “Minus your clothes?”

  “I had to track where you lived. I do that better in fur.”

  She spun away but left the door open. “Come in before you’re seen.” She yanked a blanket off the back of her couch and held it out, keeping her gaze averted from his body.

  “By who? You live pretty far away from the others.”

  “Sentries patrol every hour because I’m out here.”

  He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The place was as tiny as he thought. The living room barely contained the couch, a slim coffee table, and a television over the fireplace mantel. The kitchen was an eight-foot-long strip containing a small counter with an oven, stovetop, and fridge that had all seen far better days. She didn’t even have a dining table. The compact bathroom sat at the back under a loft section. A ladder rested next to that door, and he glanced up at the open loft. It couldn’t have been more than six feet deep and seven feet across.

  “You sleep up there?”

  She shook the blanket. “Put this on. I refuse to talk to you otherwise.”

  He moved closer, invading her space. She looked so tiny compared to him. Her scent filled his nose. Vanilla and coconut shampoo, some mixed-fruit body wash, and Shay’s. His dick began to harden.

  He backed off, taking the blanket. It was soft and fuzzy. He snorted a laugh as he wrapped it around his waist.

  “Covered.”

  She turned and backed away to put more space between them. “Apology accepted. I don’t hold grudges.”

  Her mouth said one thing but he could see the hurt in her eyes. She didn’t seem pissed but he’d obviously caused her to cry. There was no denying that. “Will you sit with me? Give me a chance to make this right? Please?”

  “Only because you asked nicely.” She waved to her couch. “And your kind doesn’t say please often.”

  “My kind?”

  “You’re a dominant with alpha blood. I guessed you would be, since you and Arlis are half-brothers. You share a mother, and she was an alpha female. Most guys like you are too arrogant to think they ever did anything wrong. An apology implies you’re admitting it.”

  Arlis was right. Shay had backbone to speak to him that way. He sat, and she planted her little ass on the coffee table instead of next to him. Her gaze kept flicking to his chest. She might be upset, but she was still attracted to him.

  He leaned forward, invading her space again. She sat up straighter, and Trayis hid his smile. Those few inches she’d just given herself wouldn’t help her.

  “I’ve never taken a virgin to bed before. It unsettled me.”

  “I said I accepted your apology.” She began to avoid his gaze again, looking at the cushion next to him, the arm of the couch, and even the old hardwood floor between them.

  “Shay?”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s polite to look at someone while they’re talking to you.”

  Her gaze snapped to his, and he saw a flash of anger there. “I’m looking. Happy?”

  “Would you like to slap me?” He cocked his cheek her way. “It might make you feel better.”

  She clasped her hands together and shoved them between her slightly parted thighs. “No. I don’t want to hit you. That’s not my way.”

  “You’re part Lycan. They enjoy a little violence.”

  “But I’m mostly not.” Her gaze dropped again. “Do you want to know what I inherited from my dad? My hearing is good. I heal fast for a human but not as well as a Werewolf.” She sighed. “I can pick up vibes if someone’s throwing them out. My senses are keener, I can feel it most of the time when someone is close to me. That’s it. Oh—and I can eat without gaining a bunch of weight. I didn’t realize that until I got into watching a lot of human shows. They always complain about how eating a sliver of pie or whatever adds five pounds to their ass. I’ve eaten plenty of pies without having to buy larger pants.

  “I’m not old enough yet to know if my aging will slow. I’ll find out in a few years, I guess. I don’t even look like my dad. My foster mom says I’m almost an exact replica of my mother, right down to my short stature and small bones. I got her dark blonde hair, light brown eyes, and her features. Plus a ton of human weaknesses.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being so human.”

  Her head snapped up and she glared at him. “Are you kidding?”

  “No.”

  “Now you’re being too kind. Great.” She lowered her chin. “I forgive you. You wigged out because I didn’t tell you I’d never slept with a guy before. I get it. You think I had ulterior motives. I didn’t. But it’s all good. I’m not even going to tell my best friend what happened, okay? And Arlis will never find out.”

  “Why do you think I’m being kind when I tell you there’s nothing wrong with you?”

  She stood, avoided touching him, and put the coffee table between them. She paced the small space. “You don’t know what it’s like growing up in a pack when you’re the weakest member.” She stopped, sighed—and began to pace again.

  “Tell me.”

  “Sylvia had to homeschool me. The other kids and parents didn’t wa