His body curls tighter, knees hitting the back of mine. The hand by my hair twists until fingers drag through the strands with the ideal amount of pressure against my skull.
“I don’t know.” His nearly silent response coasts along my neck but being swept away by the tides of his purrs, by the moment of peace, his reasoning means nothing.
He murmurs something else. Something that starts with an N, but sleep has already snagged me.
Ryder’s gonewhen I wake the next morning, but the spot beside me is still warm, reassuring me I hadn’t made it up.
Despite the morning chill being chased away by the fire, which maintains a toasty temperature in the cabin, my cheeksheat for another reason. While Ryder isn’t the first guy I’ve shared a bed with, he’s the only one to ever make me feel like he cared.
It’s a strange thing, knowing my enemy cuddled and stroked my hair while I slept.
Given he’s already left, I take it as a silent command to pretend nothing happened, and I swap out his hoodie for one of mine. It’s not without dismay, but considering the amount of snot that got wiped onto his, mine’s cleaner.
Stepping outside proves how early it is, when the sun barely appears, a mere glint through the trees at the precise blinding angle. Yawning, I curse myself for not sleeping longer. Stupid forest fucking with my internal clock.
Pack members in both animal and human forms crisscross the camp. Kids run around. There’s a gathering of people working nearby on a sled-like contraption and beside Alaric’s cabin, the two elder wolves are drinking from a mug that makes me immediately hanker for caffeine, considering it’s been a couple cruel days without.
“Carina!”
My eyes peel for Ryder’s distinct form, whether as human or wolf, but then my sleepy brain comprehends the female voice calling me. Leah’s standing beside Xander and Claire, waving me over.
Gazes stalk me to the trio, so I stuff my hands in my pockets to make myself as small as possible. Ryder claimed I’m safe from them, so hopefully their curiosity remains at exactly that.
“Morning.” Leah grins. “How’d you sleep?”
If only she knew. “Fine. Why is everyone up so early?”
“Morning around these parts start about five, before the heat picks up. And in general, shifters don’t need a lot of sleep.”
Heat? What heat do they feel mid-September in the mountains? Oh, to have fur. Starting to think I was born the wrong species.
The conversation tugs another yawn from me. “Not us. We’re kinda lazy, like mortals.”
Claire’s excited bounce has her almost stomping on my feet as the energy she’s so clearly been tapering down bursts forth. She bounces from her mother’s side to Xander’s, grabbing his hand. “Carina, guess what? I get to go on a perimeter run with Xander today! You should come too, with Ryder. It’s so fun!”
That’ll be a never. Ryder would trample me before letting me on a run with him.
Xander smiles down at the child. “Go wait for me by the entrance while I say bye to your mother.”
With an animated wave, Claire takes off to follow his instructions. Once she’s safe out of listening range but still in view, Xander grips Leah’s hands in his. A look fills his eyes that makes me want to back away and not disrupt the intimate moment that now has me laughing at myself. To think I once believed Ryder was hers.
“I’ll keep her out for an hour or so. Be sure to take time for yourself.”
“Thanks.” Leah reaches up and pushes strands of hair from Xander’s eyes. Her touch is brief, though familiar, suggesting it isn’t their first. “I’ll be hanging out with Carina.”
He turns his head into her palm before nodding once and turns to jog after Claire.
“Is he your?—”
“Mate?” she interrupts, her tone hiking in exclamation before breaking out into a nervous chuckle, the sound contradicting her words. “No, I have no mate. Xander’s a friend, same as Ryder. A few of us—them, me, Holly, Conan, we wereall born within moons of one another, so we formed the younger pack.”
She gestures to the group working on the sled thing, pointing and naming the few—and I don’t have the heart to tell her I’ll never remember their names.
“They’re considered the main pack. Or they were, for a while. They’re closer to Alaric’s age, while we’re the next generation. Although they still serve Ryder, in a few more years, they’ll start retiring to be elders who assist around camp rather than hunt and defend. Claire and her cohort will make up the next generation. Circle of life and all that. In packs, at any given time, there’s two main age groups, one set of elders, and then a mini pack of pups.”
Strangely, that makes sense. Unlike us, packs need the constant survival.
“So what—all your parents procreated within months of one another?”
