Chapter 7 The Fragile Quiet

ZANE'S POV

I hadn’t slept a wink. I’d spent hours after leaving her cabin, pacing the perimeter of the east wing. I must have looked like a restless ghost until Fenris finally spoke up, clearly fed up with my wandering.

You know, you could just go back, he suggested around four in the morning, his voice stopping me.

She’s sleeping, I replied, stubbornly.

Sure, but you could stand outside and not go back. Which, let’s be honest, is pretty much what you’re doing right now. He paused, as if waiting for me to catch on. So…

I ignored him and kept pacing.

As the compound began to stir around me, the distant clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen and the first sounds of morning drills from the training ground, I realized I hadn’t made a single decision about anything.

She’s awake, Fenris said around seven. Heartbeat’s up, she’s irritated.

“She’s always irritated.” I murmured.

No, she’s specifically irritated right now. He sounded almost amused. Go.

I knocked on the cabin door.

“Go away,” came her voice through the wood.

I pushed the door open.

The fire had burned down to gray ash, and the room was chilly. She stood by the window, wrapped in the same wool blanket, her dark hair cascading around her shoulders, and her back to me.

When she turned to face me, the scowl was already in place.

My heart melted the moment I saw her face.

“Breakfast,” I said. “Lodge. Twenty minutes.”

She stared at me. “No.”

“Breakfast isn't optional, you must eat.”

“Everything you say sounds like it’s not optional.” She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Has anyone ever told you that’s exhausting?”

“Frequently.” I leaned against the doorframe. “The pack needs to see you. You can't stay inside here forever.”

“I don’t belong there.”

“Not yet.” I held her gaze. “But you will.”

She looked at me for a long moment, her storm-grey eyes communicating more than her words ever could. Then she exhaled through her nose and turned back toward the window.

“Just hope your pack mates won't try to eat me, or I'll hold you personally responsible for that.” she said.

“Noted.”

The walk to the lodge felt like its own little performance.

Warriors paused in their morning sparring, their eyes following us as we passed. Wolves returning from night patrol stopped and turned.

I could feel every stare, and I let Fenris rise just enough to straighten my posture and to remind everyone that she’s here, and she’s mine.

Davina walked beside me, with her chin up, and her hands tucked into the pockets of the sweater someone had left in the cabin for her.

She stared straight ahead, as if she’d dealt with the weight of forty gazes before and found a way to manage it.

I couldn’t help but wonder what had given her that confidence, what had taught her to walk through tense rooms like she owned the place.

The dining hall went quiet the moment we stepped through the door.

I felt her stiffen beside me, just a tiny shift, but I noticed. Then she straightened up, with her head held high, and her eyes steady.

I just think it was her way of refusing to let anyone see her falter.

I led her to the head table. Jax was already there, leaning back in his chair like he wanted everyone to notice just how unbothered he was.

“The human eats with the inner circle now,” he said, with clear amusement in his voice. “Standards have certainly shifted.”

I pulled out the chair beside mine and locked eyes with Jax until he was the one to look away.

Davina sat down, picked up her fork, and stared at her plate for a moment, saying nothing.

Then, quietly, just for me, she said, “He really doesn’t like me.”

“He doesn't have to like you, he isn't important.” I replied.

She stabbed at a piece of egg. “Everyone in this room is staring.”

“You’re the first human to sit at this table.”

She shot me a sideways glance. “Is that supposed to make me feel better or worse?”

“It’s just a fact.”

She took a bite, chewed, and looked out at the room with that same steady gaze. “Do they always stare this much, or is this a welcome tradition?”

“They’ll stop.”

“When?”

“With time.”

“And how long does that take?”

“Depends on what you do while you’re new.” I met her gaze. “You’re doing fine.”

She looked back down at her plate, a hint of uncertainty creeping in.

The meal went on like that.

I was close enough that our shoulders nearly brushed, watching the room watch her, and feeling Fenris settle comfortably in my chest, like something that had been waiting a long time was finally starting to believe it might get what it wanted.

The pack observed us. Some of the tension in the air eased just a bit, but not completely gone.

Curiosity crept in at the edges. A few of the younger wolves kept looking at her.

"Training starts this afternoon," I said, once most of the plates had been cleared away.

She turned to me, eyebrows raised. "Training?"

"You're in pack territory. You need to know how to navigate it and also how to defend yourself."

"I run a bookshop, Zane. My idea of a workout is carrying a box of hardcovers up a flight of stairs," she said, though there was a hint of defiance in her voice that felt a bit shaky. I noticed her glance over at Jax, who was still watching us, then shift her gaze to the younger wolves nearby.

"And you also stabbed a guy through the hand with a kitchen knife." I reminded her, keeping my gaze steady. "You have better instincts than you realize, Davina. I’m not asking you to become a soldier, I’m saying that if you want to stop being seen as a stray in their eyes, you need to learn how to fight back.”

She paused, her fingers tracing the rim of her coffee cup. I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. "And what if I’m terrible?"

"Then you’ll be terrible, and we’ll just keep trying until you’re not."

She studied me for a long moment, her expression a mix of irritation and something else.

"Fine," she said, with a hint of resignation in her voice. "If I’m stuck in this nightmare, I might as well learn how to hit back. But I’m not running laps.”

"Oh, you’ll run laps."

"I really won’t."

"Davina."

"Zane." She echoed my name back at me with the same tone I’d used, taking a slow sip of her coffee, looking completely unfazed.

Fenris made a sound in my chest that was embarrassingly close to delight.

I like her, he said.

I know.

You like her too.

I watched her set down her coffee cup and gaze out at the compound through the lodge window, the training ground, the cabins, the wolves moving between buildings in the soft morning light. She took it all in with those keen eyes that missed nothing.

Yeah, I told him, my heart warming with pure admiration. I know that too.