Fates Altered: A Halven Rising Prequel

A man she didn’t know suggested she stay with him, and she leapt with both feet. Had she lost her mind?

The fears Theda had lived with over the last few days—of being alone for the rest of her life or worse, caught by her people—were to blame. Alex’s offer seemed like the perfect way to become a part of this new world without drawing too much attention. And somehow, she trusted him.

Imperious and arrogant summed up most male Fae, but Alex didn’t seem like the men she knew, which was a surprise, given the negative way her people referred to humans.

The conversation she’d overheard between Alex and the other man had helped her decide on whether to trust him. He hadn’t been interested in hunting down women, and her instincts told her he was a good man, just as he’d claimed. Oh, she didn’t trust him completely, and she hadn’t lifted her hand off the magical allon at her waist, but she believed he meant to keep her safe for the night.

“It’s getting late. Better follow me,” he said, and stepped out of the shack.

Alex waited while she exited the small storage room, and then he circled back to the shed.

Theda edged quickly to the side.

He glanced at her skittish movements, but didn’t remark on them. He pulled out keys and locked the small room she’d slept in. It hadn’t been locked the night before, and perhaps he was correcting his mistake.

In her realm, Fae men would assume a woman was his for the taking after finding her in his quarters. But Alex appeared concerned, not controlling or calculating. He’d seemed uncomfortable asking her to return with him for the night, which was another reason she’d accepted. His concern for her welfare appeared sincere.

It had been a long time since Theodora’s wishes were taken into consideration. It surprised her that the human male had.

Alex made his way to a green vehicle—squat with large tires, and covered in mud with a large crack across the front glass. She’d seen cars while traveling these last few days in the Earth realm, and now it appeared she was about to ride in one.

Fae powers weren’t only genetic, they were strongest around the energy of other Fae, as well as Fae land. Cars polluted. To disrupt the unity of the land could be disastrous. Which was why there were none in Tirnan.

Alex opened one of the doors and eyed her. When Theda didn’t move right away, he walked around the front of the vehicle and took a seat behind the wheel that made the car turn. “You still coming?” he called.

She walked toward the open door and lowered herself to the seat.

He seemed to be waiting for something else. When she peered over, he reached across her chest and closed the door next to her.

Right. Close the door, Theda.

She shook her head, her heart hammering at the warmth from his arm where it had crossed her body. This man smelled good, like crisp forest air.

He started the motor and rolled down a dirt road. The sun had nearly set, looking like an orange sliver above the hazy, dark valley floor. Alex drove over a rut, and Theda braced her hands on the front console.

He peered at her from the corner of his eye, a smile on his face. “You okay there?”

“Yes, why do you ask?” She stared straight ahead, watching for any more body-rattling dips in the road.

“Well, you’re holding on pretty tight, and I’m driving five miles an hour. You have been in a car before, right?” His chuckle died when she didn’t answer right away.

“No,” she finally said. There were some things she couldn’t hide, and maybe if he thought her from someplace obscure, these things wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary. “The town I’m from is—provincial.”

Alex’s jaw seemed to firm as he peered ahead. “Theda, are people looking for you?”

She turned to him, her first panicked thought—that he knew her secrets.

But he couldn’t know of her defection. Still, his interest concerned her.

“You’re not wanted by the police or anything, are you?” he asked.

She let out a sigh. This she could answer. “No, I’m not in trouble with the law.” She hesitated, then said, “I’ve left my home. I wasn’t—happy there.”

“Okay.” He nodded as if satisfied with her explanation, though he continued to glance at her with worry in his eyes. “Do you have friends? Someone we can call? The brother you mentioned, maybe?”

She stared straight ahead, her heart sinking. “There is no one.”

Alex didn’t know how he felt about Theda agreeing to stay the night with him. Sure, women had come home with him before, no questions asked, but they were from his hometown or the town over. Everyone knew everyone around here. This was different. Theda didn’t know him from Adam. She could have asked to see his driver’s license or to be introduced to his father, but she hadn’t. She’d agreed without question.

He pulled up to his two-bedroom ranch-style house. He and Tony had painted the place just last year, so it was in decent shape. The furniture was a bit outdated, but he kept it clean—and why was he thinking of these things when he’d never cared what a woman thought of his place before?

He pulled the keys from the ignition and exited the Jeep, waiting for Theda to do the same. He closed the car door behind her and headed to the stoop, unlocking the front door of his house. “You hungry?” he asked as he walked inside.

Theda removed her hat, her blond hair tumbling down her back in a thick braid.

Alex nearly tripped over his own two feet. He swallowed hard. Blonde, she was just a blonde—nothing out of the ordinary. But her pale beauty mixed with that steely strength he’d glimpsed had an odd effect on him.

He shook it off. She didn’t need some guy ogling her; she needed a warm, safe place to stay for the night.

She peered down, and her lips pressed together before softening back into a pretty heart shape. “I am a bit hungry.”

He’d found her in a shed. Who knew when she’d last eaten? And Alex had the instinctive urge to feed and protect her—this person he didn’t know. Which bothered him.

He’d always been good to women, even the ones he wasn’t interested in. But he’d never felt a reflexive need to care for someone who wasn’t his family.

Theda was unusually pretty, but there were plenty of attractive women around, and he’d dated many of them. Theda was fair, which wasn’t as common in these parts, but that wasn’t it either, because Alex had never preferred blondes to brunettes. He liked a pretty face as much as the next guy, but what had always kept him coming back for more was humor, kindness, and warmth—which he hadn’t yet found in one person. It was also why he had never dated anyone long-term. And why he’d never experienced instant attraction.

The things he admired you couldn’t see. They ran beneath the surface.

But with Theda, a woman he’d just met, he found his heart jumping around, pumping faster with every little flicker of her eyes or subtle movement of her hands. It was bugging the crap out of him.

He jerked off his work jacket and threw it on a hook by the door. He was helping a woman in need. Nothing out of the ordinary about that. He had to get out of his own head.

“Have a seat at the table and I’ll make you something.” He toed off his work boots and made his way to the fridge, pulling out bread and other ingredients.

She walked over and sat tentatively at the table.

“Turkey okay?” he asked.

Her eyes widened, then she nodded. God, he hoped she wasn’t a vegetarian. The Rosaleses were big meat eaters. He had no idea how to prepare vegetarian food, but he could certainly buy her whatever ingredients she needed to fix her own. Something to worry about later.

He poured her a glass of milk and set it in front of her.

“Thank you,” she said, tracking his movements, sending heat wherever her gaze touched his body. She seemed pretty fascinated by a guy making her a sandwich.

What jerks hadn’t made her food before?

Not his problem. He shouldn’t be worrying about how other men had treated her…though if she’d been mistreated, that was something to consider. How would he get her help if he didn’t know why she was hiding in his shed? He needed to figure that out first.

“So, Theda,” he said, slathering mayo and mustard on a slice of bread and loading it with turkey, cheese, and lettuce. “You said there’s no one you can go to, but you didn’t say why you left. I don’t want to intrude, but I think you should tell me what happened. I might be able to get you help.”

Theda shifted in her seat, her gaze dropping to her lap. “I would rather not talk about it.”

Alex paused, the butter knife suspended in his hand. “Was it that bad?” She didn’t look beaten, but abuse could be hidden…

She must have heard something in his voice, because she looked up. “I was not physically hurt, if that is what you are asking.”

He studied her face for a moment and decided she was telling him the truth. He continued making her a sandwich, and prepared one for himself as well. Not much of a dinner, but he was starved, and too tired to make anything more elaborate. “If it wasn’t physical abuse, then did someone threaten you?” He placed the sandwich and plate in front of her.

She smiled her thanks and thumbed the napkin he’d given her. Her mouth turned down as she took a moment to respond. “They—wanted to control my life. In a way I did not wish.”

Alex stretched his neck, tension building behind his shoulder blades. “Was it a guy? Was he trying to force you to…”

Her brow puckered. “No, not like that. It is difficult to explain. My family wanted me to do something that would cage me. Something that would have taken away my freedom, such as it was. If I hadn’t left, their wishes would have been forced on me.”

Alex sat in the chair next to her and bit into his sandwich, chewing woodenly as he considered her words. Was she from one of those religious groups where they made young women marry older men and work from sunup to sundown? Jesus, he’d read too many of Leti’s—secretly Tony’s—rag magazines. This wasn’t daytime television. At least, he hoped not.

Theda didn’t seem to be in imminent danger, but he didn’t like what she’d told him, or the tension around her pretty mouth. That mouth told a story all of its own. Pretty, resolute, and infinitely kissable.

Kissable? Dammit, what was his problem? She was his guest, not a one-night stand.

Theda took a delicate bite of her food. She was being vague. Intentionally so. She didn’t want to talk about where she’d come from, that much was clear, but eventually she would need to tell him. At least she’d shared some of her ordeal. Enough for Alex to know that she felt she’d had no choice except to leave.

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” What was he saying? Her past could bring him all sorts of trouble. And he had no right offering her a place to live. He didn’t own this home; his boss did.

Alex rented his place below market value from Old Bob. The same was true of Tony and his wife, and Alex’s father. They all lived on the land for low rent in exchange for running the farm. They made a decent living on top of that, but Old Bob liked having them on site in case of an emergency.

Old Bob was a nosy old goat, though. He’d have something to say if he discovered Alex had moved someone in without checking with him first. Which meant his boss couldn’t find out about Theda until Alex had a chance to talk to him.

“Maybe stay close to the house on this part of the farm. You know, for your safety.” And so Old Bob doesn’t see you.

He must be tired; he wasn’t himself—harboring runaways who could get him in trouble.

Theda brightened. “Yes, that would be best. It is most kind of you to allow me to stay. And to prepare food for me.” She studied his face as though she’d never seen anyone like him.

If she were any other woman, he’d think she was coming on to him. But Theda looked at him with true admiration, not as a means to seduce.

This woman was dangerous to his low-key existence. The quicker he got her help, the faster things could return to normal.

He finished off the last bite of his sandwich and stood, turning his back to her. “No problem.”

And it wouldn’t be. Alex would talk to Old Bob about Theda tomorrow morning. Then he’d figure out a way to help her and move her safely on her way.