The Secrets Between Us | ✓

|31|

"You know, I just cannot thank you enough." Immanuel grinned, his eyes sparkling with joy. He stared at Anaya as if she had done something unworldly for him. But truth to be told, she couldn't be accountable for his and Ellie's patch up. Agreed that she had gone to meet Ellie and had instantly bonded with her but that was because Ellie was a beam of sunshine. She had welcomed Anaya with a warm smile. There were no made-up conversations; words flowed naturally and they chatted for hours.

Ellie had asked her several questions about werewolves and she had tried her best to provide truthful explanations with her limited knowledge which had satisfied Ellie enough to soothe her fears.

Immanuel had felt like a third wheel right then, a grumpy expression on his face for being blatantly ignored by the girls. But when it had been the time to leave, Ellie had allowed him to embrace her with a kiss on her forehead. And later she had sent him a text to join her for dinner, which led him to toss a string of praises at Anaya.

"Yeah, I know I'm fabulous. Now let me watch this episode." She scowled at him before turning towards the TV screen. His phone pinged and she threw her head back against the couch in irritation, knowing he was going to thank her again because that was what he'd been doing every time he received a text from his mate. Anaya had lost count of it.

"Anaya-"

"Jeez, can you please let me—" Rest of the words died in her throat when her eyes followed the direction he was staring at with his mouth agape. A woman crossed the threshold of the drawing-room and the first thing Anaya noticed was her waist-length orange hair. The color was extremely vibrant which had Anaya wonder if it was a hair dye until she saw her faintly visible crescent-of-moon orange eyebrows, under which were orange pointy eyes that were soaking up the interior of the house. They landed on Anaya, glinting in a way that looked eerily familiar, causing an itch in her memory. Her rosy lips twitched into a smirk, making Anaya lean back in surprise.

"Move," a voice came from behind the woman who stepped to the side, revealing Mason, the third in command. He tipped his head in their direction, then motioned for the woman to follow him up the stairs to Icarus' office.

"Let's go."

"Huh?"

"I want to know who she is."

That snapped Anaya out of her thoughts and she glowered at him, whacking him on the head with her palm. "You have a beautiful mate."

He grimaced in pain, shaking his head. "I got bad vibes from her. I want to make sure she isn't a threat to us."

"Oh!" She gave an apologetic smile to him. Anaya had her apprehension too. The woman screamed trouble which was quite evident to anyone who wasn't dazzled by her alluring beauty. She had rubbed Anaya in a wrong way and an uneasiness settled within her when she mulled over the look the woman had given to her. "But I don't think Icarus will be happy if we barge in uninvited."