I went to the guest room.
The bed was comfortable, the sheets soft, the pillow just the right firmness. I changed into the pajamas Sarah had left out for me and crawled under the covers, exhaustion settling into my bones.
I was just drifting off when I heard a commotion at the front door. Someone knocking loudly, then muffled voices as the door opened. Sarah’s tone was surprised but not alarmed, and then a lower voice joined hers, rougher, offering muted apologies that I couldn’t quite make out.
I relaxed. I knew that voice.
I lay back and waited, listening to the sound of heavy footsteps moving through the house, getting closer with each passing second until they stopped right outside my door.
The handle turned.
Knox stood in the doorway, his hair a mess, his eyes slightly wild. He was still wearing the clothes he had left in this morning, rumpled and dirty from what must have been hours of running and tracking. His chest was heaving, his jaw tight, his whole body radiating tension.
Then he saw me.
The tension drained out of him in a rush. His shoulders slumped. His eyes closed. A shaky breath escaped his lips.
He closed the door behind him and started stripping. Shirt. Pants. Socks. All of it tossed carelessly onto the floor until he was down to just his briefs. Then he was climbing into bed beside me, pulling me against his chest, burying his face in my neck.
“I got so fucking scared, Lina,” he growled against my skin. “Why don’t you answer my calls?”
“My phone died. I’m sorry.”
His arms tightened around me. “I came back to the house and it was empty. You weren’t there. The kids weren’t there. I thought...”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “We’re at Sarah’s. The kids fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake them.”
“I know. The guards told me.” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “But for those five minutes before I found out where you were, I nearly lost my mind.”
“What happened? Did you find anything?”
He told me. About tracking the package through the chain of unwitting human accomplices. About the little boy in Pine Valley who had seen the blonde woman with the baby. About the trackers who had picked up her scent and were currently following it through the forest.
“That’s good,” I said, surprised. “That’s really good. We have a trail.”
“We do. For the first time in months, we have an actual lead.” He paused. “But when I came back to tell you and found the house empty...”
“You panicked.”
“I panicked.” His voice dropped. “And then Noah told me he left you with Jasmine. That he walked away and left you unprotected.”
“I was in my own shop. With guards. With another luna who could probably kill a man with her bare hands.”
“I almost snapped his neck.”
I chuckled. “Don’t be harsh on Noah. He wanted to go with Cole. Cole needed him.”
“I know. I know.” Knox sighed, some of the tension finally leaving his body. “Luckily the guards knew exactly where you were. So I ran straight here.”
“Still panicked?”
“Still panicked.”
I turned in his arms so I could face him. His gray eyes were bloodshot, exhausted, but there was relief in them now. Relief and love and a fierce protectiveness that made my heart ache.
I reached up and touched his face. Traced the line of his jaw. Ran my fingers through his messy hair.
