Following the Feeling Ch. 02

"Do you need to lie down again?"

Composing herself Kiera said, "No, no, I'm fine. Just a little punch drunk. 3 A.M. does weird things to the brain you know. But hey since you follow me everywhere you must not mind that much."

"I don't follow you everywhere," he stated firmly noting he's done just that for several hours. "We should check on your friend."

Standing Kiera stretched as much as she could, hearing her bones snap back into place. "Good idea, I'm pretty sure he's winding down."

They walked back across the dining room, but at the kitchen doors Gray stopped and held her back. Startled at the sudden contact her eyes snapped up to his. He too was startled by the feelings that tingled through his brain. His? Hers?

"I wanted to ask you a question," he said quietly.

She just waited with raised eyebrows.

"Aren't you in the least bit curious?"

"I am," Kiera admitted, "but the knowing may affect my life. So I'd rather not know."

"You don't think your life has already been affected by tonight?" he pressed.

"That's two questions," she said with a small smile. "You only wanted to ask one."

With that she pulled her arm free from his warm grip and went into the kitchen.

"Time to go," she announced to Gareth who was once again in the kitchen. Lena sat with him, but she noticed that Donny was absent.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a wide grin. Smiling, Lena said, "I'll have a driver take you both home. It was a pleasure to meet you both."

She met Grayson's eyes when she'd said "pleasure" with a brief impish smile. Apparently Kiera isn't the only one who observed his new shadowing behavior.

"No need," Gareth was saying, "my car is parked across the street. I'm sure Kiera walked," at her nod he continued, "so I'll take her home."

"It's no trouble," Grayson said, "to arrange another car to take her so you can head straight home."

"I appreciate the offer, but," Gareth countered, "I'm going to impose on her hospitality tonight as she lives much closer than I and I'd rather not drive home. Oh and I'm pretty sure I'm calling in sick tomorrow."

"If you're too tired to drive, we can find you accommodations for the night." Gray stated.

"Oh no," Kiera piped up, "I'm sleeping in MY bed tonight, er this morning. And you're staying in the guest room this time. I'm not up to girl talk tonight, this morning, whatever."

Turning to Lena she continued, "It's been interesting. Thanks for your patience and uh, not eating us."

"My pleasure," Lena replied with a large smile. She found these two refreshing, "Thank you again for your help tonight."

The four made their way to the door while Gareth and Lena exchanged good-byes. She wasn't certain, but Kiera thought they were making plans to meet again. Strange night indeed. Gray unlocked the entrance and held open the door.

"Goodnight, I hope to see you again soon," he heard himself say. It was ludicrous and he blamed exhaustion.

"Goodnight," Kiera repeated.

"What a night!" Gareth exclaimed at the car. "Can you believe it? And I can't tell anyone! How am I going to keep this to myself?"

"You're going to remember what could happen if you don't keep it to yourself," Kiera answered. "You're going to remember that those people trusted us and it's very poor form to break that trust."

"Ah, my Kit-Kat, you always put things in the right perspective for me."

Kiera rolled her eyes then looked out the window at businesses lining the street. So who can put things in perspective for her?

"That went better than I hoped," Lena said as they made their way home.

Each building on the block had condos built atop them. As Alphas their apartments were the largest, spanning an entire floor each. The lower ranks lived above the restaurant, café and pub, but Grayson's condo was above a men's clothing store and Lena's was above a day spa. Some members of the pack chose to have their own living arrangements and careers, but all were welcome to work close to the hub of activity.

"Did it?" Grayson wearily asked.

"It did," Lena asserted. "We were able to stop a direct attack and save Derek's life, protected the pack from exposure and made two human friends. It was as good a night as any."

Stopping at her door Grayson stated, "We were directly attacked this evening and exposed ourselves to two humans. While we were able to do damage control this evening was anything but good."

Lena raised herself on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and said, "Well I got the feeling you wouldn't mind exposing yourself to one of those humans, Náčelník."

Growling, Gray said goodnight and stalked off. The only thing worse than lusting after a strange new woman was having his partner know about it. It was only a matter of time until Alistair knew and then both of them would tease him. It was difficult to instill fear in his near equals although they knew better than to tease him in front of others. No, his mocking was done in private by his dearest friends. Such is the life of an Alpha male.