I nodded and turned to go, but Rys’s hand on my shoulder stopped me.
“I heard you,” he said softly, fingers digging in, and I welcomed the pressure. “I’m so fucking sorry it hurts.” Alpha Rys was gone. It was my best friend who gently turned me around and pulled me into a fierce hug.
I sank into it, clutching him back and losing myself to his strength and a scent so familiar it warmed me from the inside out.
We stayed like that for a while, Rys letting me take what I needed to pull myself together. He didn’t tell me it was all for the best or that I’d get over it in time, and thank fuck, because alpha or not I think I might’ve punched him.
Finally I drew back, together enough to face him without feeling like I’d fall apart any second. “I’m going to go have a sleep before tonight.”
“Good idea.”
“Who are you putting on guard duty with me?”
Rys’s lips curved up into a grin.
“No.” I glared at him. He wouldn’t.
“He’s the best tracker we have. If anyone comes within half a mile of our perimeter, Syl will know.”
I groaned because it was true, and he was absolutely the best shifter for the job, but… “He’s so…” I searched for a way to say it without bitching about a member of my own pack. “Energetic.”
“Which is a good thing, considering he’ll be running the length of our pack territory all night.”
“True,” I grudgingly admitted. I liked Syl well enough, but spending any length of time with him wore me out. Even by shifter standards, he was full-on. “Tell him I’ll meet him outside at nine forty-five and we can go over to Axel’s together. I want to talk to him before we start for the night.”
“I’ll let him know.” Rys patted my shoulder, then gave me a gentle shove towards the house. “Go get some sleep.”
AXEL
“Oh, hey,”I greeted Sasha, hoping I kept the disappointment from my voice. Judging from her eye-roll, I suspected not. “Come in.”
Why I’d thought it might be Talis on the other side of that door, I had no idea.
But you’d hoped.
Brushing that thought aside, I led Sasha upstairs to the guest bedroom, which up until today had belonged to Dathal. It didn’t seem right not to see his things spread out everywhere.
I missed him already.
Not that I’d ever tell him that. It had taken Lady Sarhin’s intervention to get him to finally move in with Nick, and I would never make him feel guilty for it. Besides, it wasn’t as though I’d never see him again.
Sasha set her bag on the bed, plopping down next to it with a sigh. “Got to say I didn’t think it would be me staying here with you.” Her eyes met mine, narrowing. “I told you to fix it, Axel.”
I huffed. “We talked.”
“Oh, yes, I know you did. But the two of you still look as miserable as ever, so I can only imagine what was said.”
Awful things.
I ran a hand through my hair, choosing my words carefully. I liked Sasha, but this wasn’t something that was up for discussion. “This is for me and Talis to sort out. I’m not going to tell you what we talked about because that’s between us. We cleared the air. It won’t be an issue for the pack, so let’s just leave it at that.”
She stared at me for a beat longer than I was comfortable with, but I waited her out. “Fine.”Stubborn fucking arseholes. I’d like to smack your idiot heads together and knock some fucking sense into you.
Of course, my magic chose now to work. I covered my laugh with a cough.
“Have you eaten?” I asked, gesturing for her to follow me back downstairs.
Her smile was immediate as she tapped her chest. “Shifter, remember. I can always eat.”
