He’s been building a pack all on his own, seems to me.
“Fine,” Jeremiah says, throwing his arms up in the air. “I’ll go start the car. Come on.”
He’s talking to Paxton, clearly, because Paxton’s the one who follows him out of the flat, giving me a small wave before he goes. I’m sure I’ll see them both soon.
“You’re going to come by and see us at the base, aren’t you?” Grant says, drawing my attention back to him. Maurice is performing another spell.
“Yeah, sure?”
“Only, I know you live with your pack, and Asher has his place here, so he doesn’t stay over much, either, and—”
“I’ll come,” I say, words heavy with promise. It might be good for me to have my own friends, too, even if I already want to introduce Grant to the rest of our pack. I’ll ask Asher later if Grant has any friends of his own. Maybe he and Paxton are of a similar age, but it’s clear he sticks out, and I can’t imagine what his life must be like.
When I look up, Asher is standing at the foot of the stairs. He smiles at Grant, but it’s strained, and his entire body is held tense. I frown.
“Time for you to go, pup,” Asher says, and for a brief, shocking moment, I think he’s talking to me.
Grant gets to his feet with a rueful laugh. Maurice passes by, dragging Sorrel’s body along with the help of his magic, and Vlad stops at the bottom of the stairs, right next to Asher.
“Come, Grant,” he says.
Grant gives me a final, beseeching look as he tromps down the stairs. “We can’t stay a bit longer? It’s not going to be sunrise forhours. I never get to leave the base, and—”
“Leave Asher and hismatealone, Grant,” Maurice calls from just outside. “They have better things to be doing than talking to you.”
“Oh? Oh…” Grant’s smile is wicked, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Vlad nods to Asher then, to my surprise, to me, and Grant trails him out of the flat.
I bound down to the doorway before Asher can shut the door. He makes an affronted sound when I grab it, then another one when I step out into the night. “Grant, wait!”
Grant pauses halfway down the stairs. “Yeah?”
“Drew and Dax shift and go running sometimes before the sun comes up. I’m gonna go with them, so if you want, I can ask them if it’s okay for you to come along.”
God, I feel like a kid again, knowing that I’m half-asking Vlad if Grant has permission to join us.
Grant doesn’t care about that, of course. Vlad opens his mouth, and I cantellby his expression that he’s going to say no, but Grant beats him to the punch. “You’ll do that?”
There’s so much hope in his voice. Vlad closes his mouth and swallows.
“Yeah, I’ll ask. Asher’s got your number, right? I’ll text you and let you know.”
Grant nods. When the wicked grin returns, it’s real, and he looks past me to say, “Have fun tonight.”
“Goodbye, Grant,” Asher growls, then grabs me around the waist and hauls me back inside. He slams the door shut and Istart laughing. I’m still chuckling when he spins me and presses me up against the door.
“You doing okay?” I ask between chuckles.
Asher stares at me, one hand planted on either side of my head. His eyes are dark and ravenous. My chuckles taper off, but I’m still smiling because there’s warmth in them, too.
“I thought they’d never leave,” he says.
“They’re gone now.” I reach for the hem of Asher’s T-shirt.
Asher catches my hands. “Quinn, wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, darling.” His lips quirk up. “I just… I thought I could go slow, but I don’t know if that’s true. But I know, too, that you’ve still got a lot to work through—maybe even more after all that’s happened over the last few days—and I’m more than happy to take you back to your pack if you want. We can… I don’t know. Go on dates. Get to know each other better.”
