Cade studies me like he can read the fine print beneathmy skin. His gaze is pure, alert alpha attentiveness, wrapped in something gentle. “You looked a million miles away,” he murmurs. “For a second, I thought I needed to go drag Marius back here and force him to apologize for existing. You had a look like you were torn between crying and stabbing someone.”
A very undignified snort escapes me. “Me? Cry? Please. I’m a beacon of emotional stability.”
He raises one brow. A single, silent, deeply unamused brow.
“Okay, fine. Maybe a tiny bit overwhelmed,” I admit, nudging him with my shoulder. “But in a good way. And Marius didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, he’s been doing everything right. It has made me a little introspective at the moment, especially after meeting with some of your pack for the first time.”
“Our pack,” he corrects as his expression melts into something that makes my heart throb—devotion. “Just remember, you don’t have to carry any of this alone. Not anymore.”
I rest my head against his arm, looking up at him and enjoying the comforts of how easy it is to lean on him now. “I know.”
Before I can let myself fall deeper into the warmth that is our bond or ask what else we need to do, a voice sounds from behind us.
“Are you done playing wolf?”
Liz stands at the top of the stairs with the determination of someone who isn’t going to be told no, finally seeming to be back to normal after nearly freezing to death. A braid falls over her shoulder, her fitted top andboots giving her the vibe of an assassin who occasionally enjoys brunch that includes a mug filled with the blood of her enemies.
Her hazel eyes flick between me and Cade, then settle on me with laser focus. “I need to talk to you,” she declares, nodding back toward the manor. “Alone.”
Cade tenses instantly. “About what?”
Liz waves him off. “Relax, Alpha Doom-and-Gloom. She’s not being kidnapped. Again.” She takes a few steps down and hooks her arm through mine, already tugging. “Rowan and I just need to catch up, debrief, maybe cry, maybe threaten people. I don’t know. It’s fluid.”
His jaw flexes, but he releases me with a reluctant nod. “If she’s not back to me within an hour, I’ll be coming to find her.”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, very mate-protective, very adorable. We’ll be right upstairs. If she stubs her toe on the way, I’ll be sure to sound the alarm.”
Cade looks down at me with a grimace. “Just because she was your mother’s friend doesn’t mean she has to be yours.”
“I can hear you,” she snarls, showing off her fangs.
“You were meant to,” he fires back.
I squeeze Cade’s hand, reassuring him before letting Liz drag me up the manor steps. “She’s family. We don’t always get to choose family. But don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
He kisses me briefly. “You better be.”
I offer him a sassy, but hopefully reassuring wink as I follow Liz inside. She was just with Iris, and I want to know how that went. I don’t like that she’s been so off since wereturned. If something more happened while I was gone and nobody’s told me yet…
The thought has my steps quickening as we head toward Liz’s room.
She tugs me so fast and with so much purpose that I barely manage to keep my balance. I don’t even wait until we reach privacy before blurting, “Is Iris okay?”
“Maybe? Possibly? Hard to say. But that’s not all we have to talk about.”
Great. Because that answer definitely lowers my blood pressure.
Getting to the third floor hasnevertaken this long. She drags me like I’m a misbehaving dog on a leash, refusing to answer a single follow-up question. She’s fully in Vampire Determination Mode—silent, fast, and vaguely terrifying.
The moment the door shuts behind us, she finally lets go. Then she crosses her arms, narrows her eyes, and looks me over like she’s expecting pieces of me to fall off any second.
“How,” she says slowly, “are you not falling apart right now?”
That makes me laugh so hard that I choke. “Uh, sorry? I didn’t realize I was supposed to be.”
“You were kidnapped, Rowan.” Her fear finally breaks through. The vampire has yelled at me, hugged me, and even joked with me, but this worry is new and probably overdue.
“I snuck into your room while you were sleeping and made Cade tell me everything,” she says, and I finally realize why nobody was questioning me at breakfast.
