Kiko's Mate (Werewolf Romance)

Chapter 2

Ranger

Kiko sat quietly in the passenger seat as I drove to my place.

This hadn't gone at all like I'd planned. Rather than finding her nervous and guilty when confronted, she'd just successfully cast doubt on one of my oldest friends.

Just the thought of that gave me pause.

Yes, Vishnu was one of my oldest friends. But were we actually still as close as we once were? Or had I fallen into just thinking of him as close because we had been for so long?

Kiko had raised some uncomfortable questions in me.

Had Vishnu become more distant, or was that just an effect of me being gone so much and both of us having our own lives?

Finally deciding that I wasn't getting anywhere with the circles I was running in my mind, I shelved the issue.

I needed to think clearly and practically. If Vishnu was clean, I'd find out.

And if he wasn't...

Well, we'd deal with that too.

I parked in the underground garage of my building, still quiet.

Kiko grabbed her bag and followed me into the elevator. I put in the key for the penthouse.

I'd worked hard for my money and I'd made careful investments that had allowed me to buy the place a couple of years ago for the time I spent in the city. I had a small cabin on pack land too, but sometimes I liked to come here to simply get away from my responsibilities for a short time.

Kiko was a consultant and tended to spend a lot of time in the city and a fair amount of time traveling for her job, so it made sense for her primary residence to be in the city. When she came to visit the pack, she stayed in one of the guest rooms in the communal cabin,built specifically for pack members like her who found it more practical to live elsewhere.

If I was honest with myself, not having her in front of me all the time had been a large part of the reason why I'd been able to keep myself away.

And now I was bringing her home with me.

Mentally shaking my head, I led her inside.

"Wow. This is really nice," she said, looking around.

I took another look at the place with fresh eyes. One wall was made up mostly of windows, giving a gorgeous view of the skyline. My furniture was modern but comfortable- I wasn't a fan of all steel and glass. I wanted my home to feel like a home.

Most of the art I had hung up was from my sister, who liked to take photographs in her spare time.

"Thank you. Here, you'll stay in the guestroom." I led her passed the kitchen and down the hall to the extra room I had. I used the third room as an office. I'd decided on a three bedroom so that I'd also have space for any visiting pack mates.

I showed her where everything was in the bathroom and then stepped back out.

"I'm going to order dinner. Hungry?"

"Yes, thank you."

I nodded, leaving her to unpack.

I ordered Thai from a place down the street, remembering from a previous group dinner that she liked it.

When it came, I called Kiko out and we sat down at the small dining room table to dig in.

We were both hungry enough that we didn't speak much while we ate.