Page 71 of Wolfsbane

I climbed out of the tub and held a hand out to him. “You stay here. I’ll go get fresh clothes.”

His sleepy eyes narrowed in confusion, but I rushed off, not wanting to have him worry about the clothes. Maybe we’d clean them tomorrow, and maybe they were ruined, but they didn’t matter. They were just things. Things could always be replaced.

When I returned, though, he was still staring at me, confusion and maybe a little shock on his face. “You . . . you went inside.”

“Of course,” I agreed, holding up the fresh clothes, then setting them aside to grab the towels Mama had left for us. The whole outdoor bathing setup was under an awning beside the house, so they were still fresh and dry despite the continuing light rainfall. When I turned back to Daire, he was still staring at me, so I paused. Was I missing something?

“The tether,” he whispered.

My stomach dropped. Would he decide to leave just because we weren’t tethered anymore? I’d noticed it right away after his mother’s death, but I supposed it wasn’t a shock that he hadn’t. He’d had bigger things on his mind.

No. He wouldn’t leave. He still had my wolf, and he wouldn’t leave me as long as that was true.

I wasn’t sure why part of the spell had reverted and the other hadn’t, but in the moment, I didn’t care. My wolf was safe in his care. I was safe with him.

It was a strange feeling, and one I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced before. Even before I’d been taken by that last government raid that had broken the pack in Russia, we’d never been safe. There had always been the threat of a totalitarian government who wanted werewolves as soldier-slaves coming for us.

That danger didn’t seem to exist in the US, if only because most of their government seemed blissfully unaware of our existence, but I still hadn’t felt safe. Not even with Aleks as alpha.

But now?

Looking at this adorable man who probably could have been blown over by a strong wind in that moment, I was confused by the certainty inside me. He wasn’t tall or imposing. He didn’t even have his own magic, since it was inside me, but . . .

I felt safe in his hands.

Daire was safety.

I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the dread in me at the idea he might leave. He wouldn’t. He just . . . wouldn’t.

So I held the towel out for him and nodded, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. “It’s gone. I still have your magic, but the tether is gone.”

He nodded, stepping out of the tub and into my arms. Or into the towel. Same thing. I wrapped it around his body and for a moment, stayed there with my arms around him. Quiet. Peaceful. Together.

He leaned into me, and it spurred hope inside me. Maybe he felt safe with me too.

I dried him off, slow and methodical, making sure we’d handled all the mud, then finally holding out clothes to him, one piece at a time. I was mostly air-dry by then, so I shoved my own clothes on as fast as possible, and put my arm back around him, leading him into the house.

Mama was sitting downstairs in the kitchen with a pot of tea, which she tapped, and looked up at me, question in her eyes. Did I want tea? Not particularly, but maybe Daire could use⁠—

Pressure on my arm grabbed my attention, and I looked down to find Daire leaning hard on me, his eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. He was falling asleep again. So I shook my head at Mama and led Daire up the stairs back to my room.

Maybe it wasn’t necessary that we share anymore, but I had never much cared about that, and even less now. I just wanted him next to me, tether be damned.

He didn’t hesitate when we got into the room, just sort of crumpled into the bed, not even bothering to reach for the blanket. He had been through a lot that night, to say nothing of the physical toll of digging a grave. It had been fucking impressive, and while I’d wanted to help—and so had everyone else—it had been clear that it was a task Daire had set for himself.

Maybe it was from guilt, maybe some vestige of loyalty to a woman who’d had none for him, but that didn’t matter. I wanted Daire to know he had done that, completely. He was a good and dutiful son till the end, even when she hadn’t deserved a bit of it.

So I just lifted him lightly, pulling the blanket from under him and settling it on top of him before climbing into the bed.

Almost instantly, he moved forward, snuggling into me. I felt like a thief in the night, stealing his affection when he didn’t have to give it any longer.

But he did know the tether was gone. He just wasn’t awake enough to think it through and demand his own room.

For just this one night, I would be selfish and accept what that got me.

I fell asleep with Daire in my arms, and I didn’t remember ever feeling so settled in my own skin. Even with my wolf still outside of my body, everything felt fine in that moment, and I slept easily.

I woke with Daire’s beautiful green eyes already looking into mine. They were still sad, but I refused to focus on that. Daire was there, and he was fine, and the threat to him had passed.