I tighten my grip on him, pulling him into the present with me. “Cade, Iadorehow much you care, I really do. But yes, therewillbe a next time. This is who I’m meant to be. There are going to be others who need help, and if I can save them, I will. If you think you’re going to stop me, then we’re going to have much bigger problems than Malrik.”
His jaw locks so hard I hear the click.
“I don’t like it,” he growls, voice shaking in a way that shows his vulnerability.
I brush a soft kiss against his mouth—brief but healing. “I know, but I really believe it will get easier. I was fighting the darkness that is Malrik because I didn’t want it to hurt me, but that was wrong. I’m certain of that now. I’m the opposite of who he is. I don’t know what he wants fromme, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m even what he expected. More importantly, I don’t believe he can really hurt me. Not in the physical sense anyway.”
Something in him unravels at that. His arms close around me, pulling me flush against his chest, and he buries his face in my neck like he’s trying to breathe me in and anchor himself in the proof that I’m here and alive.
“I don’t ever want to let you go,” he murmurs into my skin, voice low and shaking.
I slide my arms around his shoulders and hold him just as tightly, giving him the moment he needs, letting him feel me whole and unbroken.
Though it lasts only seconds before footsteps echo down the hall, cutting through the bubble we’ve built around ourselves.
“Oh,thereare the lovebirds!” Iris chirps, holding a tray of covered food. “Half the house was placing bets on when you’d surface again. Looks like Liz won—though Stephanie insisted you’d hide until spring like feral groundhogs.” She winks. “I had faith in you, though. Sort of.”
“What are you doing, Iris?” Cade asks, sounding one breath away from snapping her neck again.
“Bringing your alpha friend something to eat unless you want her to starve,” she replies matter-of-factly.
“Taren’s sleeping now,” I say gently, “but I know she’ll be ready for a full meal when she wakes.” My gaze flicks to the still-glowing door. “Can we make it so she can get out on her own?”
Iris snorts. “I don’t know, Rowan. She seemed nuttier than a peanut farm. You sure you want her wandering around? What if she sleepwalks and rearranges my spicecabinet? I’m still recovering from the last time someone touched my paprika.”
I let out a soft laugh. “I promise, she won’t be a problem.”
“Mm-hmm. Famous last words.” Iris nods toward the dishes. “I’ll go put this away and take care of that door. And you—” she points a dramatic finger at me “—might want to go find Marius. He’s pacing the yard like a man whose diary got read aloud at brunch. Tortured as all get-out after all the sex betting that took place at breakfast.”
My glare cuts to Cade. “I told you that’s what they were thinking.”
He merely shrugs, clearly still tightly wound from my siphoning session.
“Come on,” I say, tugging gently on his hand. “Let’s go.”
It’s time to check on everyone else and make sure the household stops emotionally terrorizing my father.
Chapter 24
ROWAN
The moment Iris rounds the corner with her rattling tray and vanishes toward the kitchen, I’m tugging on Cade’s hand and ready to… Okay. I don’t actually know what I’m ready to do, because no matter what comes out of my mouth, I’m pretty sure it would only add fuel to the already-blazing bonfire of dysfunction we callfamily dynamics.
My chest rumbles with a frustrated sigh. “This is a lose-lose situation, isn’t it?”
Cade smiles patiently at me. “It could be a win. Just don’t say anything at all. It’ll drive them crazy.”
I grimace. “But poor Marius.”
“He’ll adjust,” Cade says, his grip tightening around my hand as we head toward the front of the house. “These crazy people aren’t going to scare your father off.”
Gods, is that what I’m really worried about? Maybe. Possibly.
“I should go see him anyway,” I murmur.
Cade nods, already shifting mental gears. “Elias hasbeen reaching out all morning. Pack business. I should deal with it.”
“I could join you,” I offer, chewing on the inside of my cheek. I don’t mean to invite myself, but I also don’t want to be the kind of luna who hides while her mate carries everything alone.
