Page 135 of UNAwere

Jude nods and takes my hand again, pulling away. ‘C’mon, Sybbie.’

We find another staircase at the back of the house, and when we reach the bottom level, I realise it’s close to the hallway that leads to my room.

‘Head back to your room, Sybbie,’ Jude says, letting go of my hand.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Warner will want me to go back, to assist with Nolan,’ he says.

‘You better go,’ Lucas tells him. ‘I’ll stay out here.’

Jude nods. ‘Thanks.’ He looks at me again. ‘I’ll see you later, okay?’

‘Okay.’

I watch him go down the hall, my chest heavy. Lucas sighs beside me, and I glance at him.

‘Go on,’ he tells me. ‘Before you get all of us into trouble.’

‘You’re not a fan of Warner, are you?’ I ask him.

He shrugs a shoulder. ‘Let’s just say, when your alpha wanted to see you just now and burst into Warner’s office unannounced, I didn’t stop him. And maybe it has something to do with the fact that my sister had a mate… And I saw what it did to her, to lose them.’

‘Thank you,’ I say, my heart hurting.

Lucas nods down the hall to my room. ‘Go on.’

Iwake up close to dinner, bundled under the covers, sweating and dry-mouthed.

Groaning, I sit up, throwing the blankets off me. I peer out the window, seeing the sun’s already set and the garden has been covered in a light layer of frost.

Someone knocks on my door.

‘Sybbie?’

‘Come in.’ I watch Hannah as she steps into the dark room and sees me sitting on the edge of the bed.

‘You look like shit.’

‘I just woke up.’

‘Dinner’s soon.’ She flicks on the overhead light, and I hiss.

‘Big light!’ I quickly turn on the bedside lamp. ‘Turn it off!’

She mumbles something under her breath but obeys, and I sigh when it’s shut off. She folds her arms across her chest.

‘Get in the shower. You’ll feel better.’

I stand, yawning. ‘I didn’t realise how tired I was.’

‘Confrontations will do that to you.’

‘You heard?’

‘I did,’ she says, following me to the doorway of the bathroom. She stands with her back to me as I strip down and turn on the shower. ‘This is why I wanted Jude to come stay with me.’

‘Warner didn’t want him to.’