SIX

He couldn't believe his sweet, innocent Ava had ever been married to Peter Breslin. Breslin was hated by all of the supes. He was a hunter who killed because he didn't like things that were different from him. He believed in extermination, genocide. He was in charge of a group of dangerous hunters who shared his beliefs.

When he tried to kill Catalina Romulus at the Great Council in Rome, she bit him. He changed. Now he was one of them, and he had inherited her illness, which made him more dangerous. He was immune to silver.

It was clear why Ava was scared. Before he was Turned, Breslin was a monster who liked to kill women and children for fun.

Damn it, he'd just… He saw that his clothes were almost off. His pants were hanging off of him dangerously, and the fine linen was all torn up. He didn't have a shirt to speak of.

She gently shook her head. "I can't go to Aphelion, but you're going to force me to, aren't you?"

"I just want to keep you safe."

"Peter always said that."

If he were a weaker wolf, that might have scared him. He was glad when Westwood showed up looking like her usual grandmotherly self, with a bag of goodies and, hopefully, scissors.

She didn't care about Grayson. Instead, she paid attention to Ava. "So you're the goddess from Santorini," he said.

Ava got red. "I…I met Grayson in Santorini."

"When Graham came back, he only talked about you. I think it was the goddess of the sea." Westwood smiled warmly at her.

"More like chicken of the sea, but thanks."

Westwood watched her for a long time. "I'm Mrs. Westwood, but you can call me Eleanor."

"Many thanks, Eleanor. Please, call me Ava."

"Does that sound long to Avery?"

She jerked back. "Actually, it's Aveline. My ex-husband is the only one who calls me that."

"I understand." Westwood was happy. "When I was a young witch, I had one of those. Once.”

Grayson shivered and wondered where the warlock had died and been left to rot. Most likely, some shit demon from another dimension used his bones as toothpicks.

She started to look at Elijah. "This boy needs to get a haircut?"

Westwood waited until Ava gave her OK.

He is very scared of scissors." Ava bit her lip.

Westwood waved her hand to show that she didn't care. “Bah. Most of them look like silver, so that's why. It's what he would normally do. Could I?"

"I'd really rather you not turn him into a toad or something if he bites you."

Westwood's eyebrows went up, but she laughed. "No, boy. I'd never do that."

Her sweet, grandmother-like smile grew. "But only because I never learned how to reverse the spell." She gave a head shake. "Toads aren't as easy as you might think."

Grayson found himself thinking about the afternoons he had spent with the woman as she taught him about negotiation, strategy, and politics while they drank tea and ate butter cookies she had made. He was proud because he thought that his son would have the same.

Ava didn't seem to get that it was a joke. Mostly. She had puckered her lips. "I and my brothers were raised by Mrs. We were never turned into toads. Taylor, she once turned into a cat, but only because he wouldn't leave her lab."

Lenore walked toward Westwood with Elijah's hand firmly in hers. "What do you say, little man? Why not get a haircut?"

“No.”

Westwood said, "Yes," and pulled a shiny ball out of the air. It looked like it was full of galaxies, with stars exploding into life and then dying, like little glittery bubbles popping before their time. Elijah was immediately captivated, just like Grayson had been when he was his age. Just like any other child. Elijah took a step toward it.

"Not just yet, dearie. After I cut your hair, you can have it."

Elijah made an angry face and his nose twitched.

"Don't growl like that."

"I didn't."

"You planned to."

He did growl this time. Westwood gave him a hard look, which made him stop. "I am sorry."

"I know you are good. Here, sit still." Elijah rose up, but the ball stayed where he could see it. "Just take a look." She pulled out a pair of black scissors with a matte finish and gave them to him. “See? No silver."

“Okay…”

Grayson wanted to comfort Ava because it looked like she was holding her breath. "Don't worry. She is good at what she does."

"How do you feel?" Westwood asked him, and she started using her magic to show him what she could do with his hair. When she got to a fake hawk, he became very interested.

"That's it!"

Westwood looked to Ava. "Is this all right?"

Ava nodded, and her fingers dug into Grayson's arm as she did so. Westwood took the first shot, and Elijah didn't take his eyes off the ball. Grayson knew why she did it by hand even though she could have done it with magic. She wanted to show him that he shouldn't be scared.

"Don't worry, Ava."

She tightened her hold on him in response, but he didn't mind. It was an honor and a pleasure for him to help her and be her strength.

Mrs. Westwood finished cutting the boy's hair, and the new style was much better than the bowl cut he had before.

"You're a handsome boy, aren't you?" Ava said smiling.

"That's good!" he said.

"Why don't we go to Aphelion for some butter cookies and tea?" Westwood was asked to.

Grayson had to cough. "I don't think Kyle would like a hunter at Aphelion."

"Isn't she the boy's aunt?" I'll have to talk to her in my lab anyway. We have things to do. It will work out." Westwood was happy. "And if she wants to hurt anyone who lives there, her insides will boil until they drip out of her ears." Her voice was friendly.

Elijah's eyes widened. "That's possible?"

Westwood nodded.

“Cool! But my Aunt Lennie hunts well. Just like a good witch you are."

Mrs. Westwood gave a grin.

“I…” Ava stopped talking.

"Dear, you need to pack. Bad things will happen. Grayson is the safest place. No one can force you to stay somewhere you don't want to. Aphelion is not like a jail. It is a safe place."

Ava's eyes got narrow. "I'll make a decision. On my own, without you or anyone else getting in the way, no matter what your intentions are."

Westwood moved slowly and carefully toward her. "Just because it wasn't your idea doesn't mean it's a bad one."

Ava seemed to listen to what she said. "I know that, but you don't know me or anything about my life."

"No, dear. I don't. But I know that's not how your life is now, and that you have someone else to think about."

Grayson got between Ava and Westwood. "Thank you for being here."

Westwood cracked up. "Okay, I'm going. Can Elijah play with us?"

"What do you say, Ava? Can we go?" Grayson made fun of her.

She made a pout. "Okay, fine."

"Are you some kind of bad witch?" Elijah asked.

“Elijah!” Ava told her off.

But instead of being upset, Westwood said, "Yes, I am. Would you like to take a ride on my broom?"

"Do you have a broom?" Elijah was really happy.

"Usually not, it's just a joke. But if you want, we can fly on one." Her hand turned into a broom.

"Wow, that's awesome! I need one!" Lenore yelled and pointed to the broom.

Westwood gave Lenore one with a smile, and it appeared in her hand. Before Ava could say anything, they were already in the sky.

"That witch will take care of him as if he were her own grandson. She'll stop anything bad from happening to him."

"Was what she said true?"

"What about?" Not that he ever thought Westwood was telling a lie. She wasn't required to.

"About Lenore's insides melting if she meant to hurt anyone inside Aphelion?"

“Very. We just had a security breach, and Kyle's friend was in danger."

"What went on?"

"We killed him."

Ava shuddered. "It's so easy for you to talk about death and violence."

"This is part of my world and yours."

"That wasn't what I wanted for him." She groaned.

"Whether you want it or not, it will come for him. Wouldn't you rather he be able to make a decision logically instead of letting an instinct that doesn't understand the human world control him?"

"I'm so afraid, Grayson. I'm so sick of being scared."

"I can't promise that you won't ever be scared again. I really want to. But it doesn't work that way. Ava, look at me." He wanted to touch her and lift her chin so she could look into his eyes, but he waited until she did it herself.

She looked up at him with blue eyes full of feelings. He saw pain and fear, but he also thought he saw a little bit of hope.

She was a goddess, but she was pretty.

"I would do whatever it took to keep you and Elijah safe. My whole family would, too. Any of my brothers or my uncle would give their lives to save yours or Elijah's. This is how packs work."

"I'm just part of the pack y magic?"

"It's not magic to me." He was happy. "You're the mother of my son. And as of right now, he is the heir to the Redwood estate."

"The mother of your son." She gave a slow nod. "Is that all you want me to do for you?"

Ava looked into his face. "I'm not… Holy crap, this is weird. I don't want anything from you. I know that Santorini was a summer love affair. "Tell me what you want from me."

"I expect you to let me be your partner raising our son. I expect you to keep being the good mother you have been. He comes first. Taking care of him. Loving him. All I can ask of you is that." He slowly pulled her toward him, giving her every chance to stop him. "What I want from you, on the other hand, is a totally different thing."

Her lips split, and she wet them, her chest going up and down as her heart beat fast. He could hear the blood moving through her veins and her heart beating. And the smell of her desire was like a sweet haze that he could get lost in for the rest of his life.

"That's not what you mean. You work in business. You are using this to get me to give you Elijah."

"Tell me, does this feel like anything other than what it is?" He pushed hard on her, and his erection was thick and clear.

She put both hands on his shoulders for support. "I've heard that some men find it sexual to get what they want."

"I'm not a man. I'm a werewolf." He put his nose to her neck. "I'm primal. Animal.” He gave her a light nibble on the ear, and her happy shiver made him happy. "I want you more than I did in Santorini."

It took everything he had to pull away. "But I'm not going to force you to give me anything you don't want to."

"Nothing like this ever happens to a woman like me."

"What doesn't?"

"The young, handsome millionaire with a kind heart. The art major... This can't be true."

"Love, billionaire. I'm a billionaire. And I don't have a soft heart. It is an angry thing that wants to taste everything. Look at everything and feel everything. Its love isn't gentle either. It's all too much and very scary. But it hasn't rung since Santorini, so I think I left it with you."

"You don't know how old I am, do you? I am a lot too old for you. I am four times older than you."

"Shouldn't we be heading to Aphelion for butter cookies?" She had a hard time swallowing.

"If that's what you're looking for."

"What do you want?" she asked loudly.

"I figured that was obvious." He kept looking at her mouth and thinking about how good her lips would taste. “You.”

She tittered, showing how nervous she was. "No, you don't."

"All right, let's make a deal. I won't tell you what you want as long as you don't try to tell me what you want. Unless handcuffs and a bed are involved, in which case you have some leeway. If not, it's just as condescending and ignoring when you do it to me. I know exactly what I want, A. I know what I require. So does my wolf."

He thought about telling her that she was the one, that she was his soulmate. But she had been through so many things already. Part of him wanted to tell her the truth and tell her all the ways he would be devoted to her and her happiness, but another part of him told him that would be selfish. To give her time to figure out what was going on. Time for her to love him the way she wanted to, because she was a person. She didn't know how to deal with things like mates.

"Alright, I'll give you that. You do make a good point. But you must understand my disbelief."

“Why? Why do I have to realize that you think so little of yourself?"

She moved away from him by twisting.

This time, he couldn't stop himself from touching her and trying to comfort her physically. Something softer than what he wanted. His requirement. She was the focus. He gently ran his hand down her back, giving her the softest of caresses.

"Breslin is a scumbag, A. There's a reason you're not with him anymore. You deserve better."

When Ava turned into him, he offered her shelter in his arms. "I wish we were in Santorini."

"We can be," he said. We could go this weekend if we wanted. We could take Elijah or let him spend a few days with Mrs. Westwood and the rest of my family.

"Seriously? If you snap your fingers, we can go to Greece?"

"Or you could go by yourself, if you wanted. I'll keep Elijah. When was the last time you did something on your own?"

"The last time I visited Santorini. She made a sighing sound. "I couldn't imagine leaving him." Ava looked up at him as her fingers tightened around his biceps.

The moment between them was thick with longing. She needed him.

He needed her.

But so much depended on it.

Grayson wanted to kiss her, carry her back to her little cottage, and then act out all of his and her dreams in her bedroom.

Or her armchair.

Her kitchen island.

Her showering.

Her…

"We can't," she mumbled.

"Oh, but we can do it. Mrs. Westwood isn't expecting us back soon, or she would have given us brooms too." He squatted down and put his chin on the top of her head in a familiar way. "If you say yes."

"What are you saying yes to?"

"Yes, I'm ready to make love to you. "No strings attached, if you don't want them."

"What if I wanted them? What happens then? Could you take me to bed as soon as possible?"

"I'd be quick to put a ring on your finger, and if you accepted it, I'd bite you in the throat."

She stopped moving, but she didn't try to get away. "You're insane."

"No, I'm just a wolf who knows who he wants to be with. I wish I could say I wouldn't wait forever, but I will. I will. The best thing about being a wolf is that you don't have to play any games. We're too truthful about what we want. We can't be anything else; it's in our wolf nature."

"What do you think about bad wolves?"

"I'm not saying there aren't any. The answer is yes. There are wolves who lie, cheat, steal, and kill just for the fun of it... they're not, though... They are disgusting. They're tainted."

"I want you, Grayson. When I saw you, my body first reminded me of Santorini. So long has passed since the last time someone touched me. It's like my skin is begging for it. But I'm not prepared for anything else." She took a big sigh of relief. "If you still want me, I'd like to invite you inside."