He held his hands up in front of him as he walked in. “I didn’t say anything.”
Jack lingered slightly back before slowly moving toward the door too.
I touched her arm. “Durand... Jack?”
“I know.” She shook her head, giving me a tight smile. “Nothing happened. You already told me. I just... want to take a shower, okay? Get this blood off me.”
I watched her move through my place as if she belonged there. To me, she did. She dropped her bag on the counter and turned to Tate.
“If you’re good here, I’m going to check in with Kyren,” Tate began, wrapping his arms around her waist.
My jaw tightened at the movement, but I resisted saying anything.
“Maybe he’ll recognize the blood or have heard anything from the other vampires.” Tate kissed her softly, then deepened it, pressing her fully against his front.
I rolled my eyes and moved into the kitchen to get a drink.
“I know what you’re doing,” Jack said softly when they were done. “It’s childish.”
Tate chuckled. “Just making sure he remembers you’re mine, too.”
“Too?” Jack’s voice rose in pitch. “We’re not together.”
The wolf laughed again, locking eyes with me over her head with a warning look. “I know you’ll take good care of her. Or else.” He strutted out of the apartment and closed the door behind him.
Jack huffed and turned to me. “I guess... I’ll just get cleaned up.” She gathered her things and walked down the hallway to the bathroom.
I busied myself finding something I could make for dinner while listening to the sounds of her showering. For a moment, I could pretend that we weren’t on a mission, and she wasn’t using my shower because someone threatened her. For a moment, we were a regular couple living together, me making dinner and her showering after a hunt.
It was a pretty picture. One that, unless something changed, would never come true.
While I waited for Jack to make a reappearance, I called the guild president.
“Fawley,” his cheerful voice answered on the second ring. “I didn’t expect to hear from you today.”
“I need to report an incident.”
There was a pause. “Is everyone okay?”
I turned the burner down on the stove, mixing the chicken and vegetables around one more time before sitting the spatula down. “She’s fine. There have been a few developments.”
“Threats?”
“Yes.”
Fleming sighed. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I can’t say it wasn’t expected.”
“Durand is currently staying in my apartment in the teacher’s quarters until we can assess the level of the threats and figure out where they are coming from.” I pulled down two plates and set them in front of the seats on the island.
“Oh, I’m sure she loves that,” Fleming chuckled.
“It took some convincing,” I admitted, grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge. “But Durand knows it’s for the best.”
“We both know that’s a lie.” Fleming snorted. “She hates being protected, so the only way she agreed was because you threatened to have her pulled off the mission.”
I didn’t respond to his assessment.
“Alright.” Fleming blew out a hard breath. “Keep me updated. I’ll try my best to keep this from her parents, but it’s going to be a pain in the ass and likely cause me more work than it’s worth.”
