"So… what are we doing in Cedarbrook?" I ask, deciding to focus on what's in front of us rather than the chaos behind. "If you don't mind me asking."
Wraith and Thane exchange a glance in the rearview mirror. Something passes between them, some silent brother communication I can't decode. Then Wraith's head jerks in a stiff nod, just once.
Thane leans forward again, his voice gentler than I've heard it before. "Wraith is originally from Cedarbrook. He sees his medical team close to the town once a year for his... condition."
I'm assuming he's talking about the reason Wraith is mute, scarred, and never takes his mask off. I keep my expression neutral, not wanting to make this harder for him.
Thane glances at Wraith again, who gives another small nod. His blue eyes are somber, distant.
"His mother is at a care facility there, too," Thane continues in a soft tone. "Wraith visits her whenever he can."
My chest tightens again. Of course there's family involved. There always is with the complicated shit.
Wraith starts signing, his movements slower and more deliberate than usual. He's fingerspelling more, using simpler gestures instead of the rapid shorthand he usually shares with Thane. He's doing it for me, I realize. Making sure I can follow along.
Y-O-U... S-T-A-Y... H-O-T-E-L... W-I-T-H... T-H-A-N-E.He pauses, then adds,I... G-O... A-L-O-N-E.
The offer—or maybe it's a request—hangs in the air. He's giving me an out, a way to avoid whatever painful things await him in Cedarbrook. Part of me wants to insist on going with him, to be there for him the way he's been there for me. But another part recognizes this might be something he needs to do alone.
I hesitate for a second, glancing back at Thane. If Wraith trusts him enough to leave me with him, then he's safe. And honestly, in spite of my general fear and wariness of alphas, Thane doesn't give me bad vibes.
Intense, sure. Overprotective, definitely. But not dangerous.
Not to me, anyway.
"I'm good with either," I say finally. "I don't mind going with you, or staying with Thane. Whatever you need."
Wraith's shoulders rise and fall in a deep sigh. His hands move again, slower this time.
S-T-A-Y.
"Okay," I agree gently. "If that's what you want."
The relief in his eyes is subtle but there. He reaches over again, this time taking my hand properly, his massive fingers engulfing mine. We stay like that for a while, connected by this simple touch as the miles roll by.
The mood in the SUV lightens after that decision is made. Thane breaks out the snacks. Snacks Wraith won't eat, although he insists he ate before we left. We play stupid car games like twenty questions, which devolves into Thane and me trying andfailing to stump each other while Wraith occasionally huffs in amusement behind his mask.
By the time we reach Cedarbrook, I’m fighting to keep my eyes open. The past few days have been intense, to say the least. But I’m awake enough to register the run-down buildings lining the streets. Half the storefronts are empty. The other half look like they're hanging on by a thread. Even the streetlights seem dimmer here, like the whole place is slowly fading away.
“Cedarbrook wasn't always like this,” Thane says as if he can read my mind. “Used to be a decent mill town before the economy went to shit.”
“Oh,” I murmur as we pull into the parking lot of a motel. The paint is peeling, I'm pretty sure that's an actual tumbleweed rolling across the cracked asphalt, and the neon "VACANCY" sign has a decidedly ominous flicker that makes me feel like we're stepping into a horror movie. The kind where I'd yell at the main characters to get the fuck out before they end up in a soup pot in someone's basement.
Wraith is already climbing out of the SUV. I let him help me step down, giving him a peck on the cheek through his mask. He reaches up and brushes his fingers over the fabric where I just kissed him, like he can't believe I just did that.
"Everyone knows Wraith here," Thane explains as we grab our bags. "Small town and all. But the whole town is intensely private and closed off. They don’t give a shit about hockey, either. They'll leave us alone."
The motel clerk, a tall older man with wild white hair that makes him look storkish, glances at Wraith with recognition rather than fear when we check in. But he still stares at me like I'minsane for being there as he slides the room keys across the counter without comment. I barely manage to resist the urge to give him a look of my own, if only for Wraith's sake.
We trudge up creaking stairs to the second floor.
The room is... well, it's a motel room. Two beds with questionable floral bedspreads, carpet that is worn to the grid in places, and a TV with rabbit ears. But it's clean, more or less, and it doesn't smell like a dead body is stuffed in the mattress, so I'm calling it a win.
I immediately start pulling blankets and pillows off both beds, my lingering nesting instincts kicking in despite the fact my heat is basically over and the materials are scratchy and smell like bleach. Wraith watches from the doorway, blue eyes soft and somber above his mask.
"Pizza?" Thane suggests, already pulling out his phone. "There's exactly one place that delivers here, so our options are unfortunately pizza or… well, pizza."
"Pizza sounds perfect," I say, arranging pillows in what's starting to resemble an actual nest on one of the beds. The motel blankets are scratchy as fuck, but I make do.
