“And his time is almost up,” I state, even though it’s not necessary. Kim made it clear that not only is the pack looking for its leader, but there are plenty of others out there who would be happy to take advantage of Torin’s situation to take over his pack. I have no idea what kind of a leader he is, but it would seem that Kim and many others must think pretty highly of him, or they would have just let him rot away up here. Plus, I would have known if she had been lying about wanting to save him.
Calix pushes off the wall with his shoulders. His face is drawn, he looks tired, and our day has barely started. “Yes, it is,” he confirms, before giving my fingers a gentle squeeze and releasing me to head back toward the bathroom. The door snaps quietly closed behind him.
I’m still in the same spot when the door opens again, and this time Torin exits with a towel around his very narrow waist. I stifle a gasp when I see his body, he looks emaciated. He’s so thin that his stomach is damn near concave, and something tells me heroin chic isn’t his normal look.
I avert my gaze before he can catch me staring. The sound of his damp feet shuffling down the hall fades, telling me he’s heading in the other direction. When I look up, Grim is standing before me, his eyes soft and concerned. I have so many things I want to ask, like why would he do this to himself, and why would someone let this happen to him? But the words get caught in my throat when I meet Grim’s soulful gray gaze.
Having only recently found him and the others, I don’t know how I could go back to life before them. I have no idea how long Torin had with Louise, but does it even matter? Would their only having a few months together lessen his pain? I swallow the lump in my throat and realize the answer is no, it would not matter, and that realization terrifies me.
I feel Calix at my side. I’m so distracted, I didn’t even sense his approach. I avert my gaze from him and Grim, feeling far too exposed. Sensing the retreat, Calix reaches out and cradles my cheek in his palm, encouraging me to look up. Just as he begins to speak, I see Torin over Calix’s shoulder. His steps falter when he sees the intimate way Calix is touching me. For just a moment, I see something in his eyes that looks way too familiar: longing. “It’s going to be okay.” Calix leans forward, obscuring Torin from view, and places a featherlight kiss on my lips.
By the time Calix pulls back, the wolf has walked past us and is making his way back to the sofa we originally found him on. His clothes somehow mask the fact that he’s not much more than skin and bones.
I give Calix what I hope is a thankful smile and return to the living space, taking a seat on the edge of the couch, even though this spot feels scarred with pain and loss. Grim and Calix follow me over, and Calix situates himself next to me on the sofa so he’s between Torin and me.
The look I saw on the wolf’s face in the hallway is gone. It’s been replaced with hopeless indifference. The silence in the room is thick, as if no one knows what to say, or at least how to say it. I’m tempted to open my mouth and blurt something out, but I bite the inside of my cheek to make sure I don’t give into the temptation. I’m way out of my element here, and I don’t want to say or do something that would make matters worse.
“I get why you’re here… but there’s really no point.” Torin breaks both the silence and my heart, if I’m honest, with his words.
Calix gives a barely discernible nod as if to say he understands. Surprising me, he asks, “Do you have a successor in mind?” I can’t believe he’s going to accept the fact that this man is willing to die so easily. I open my mouth but snap it closed when I feel Calix place his big, warm hand on my leg. Instead, I focus on Torin and his reaction to Calix’s question.
The wolf’s eyes go a little unfocused as he thinks. After a long pause, he says, “Maybe, but I’m not sure they would win a challenge from an outside threat.”
Calix sucks in air through his teeth, making a whistling sound. “Not strong enough to secure the pack? That’s a lot of upheaval if outsiders think they have a chance to take a pack this size.” Torin’s brow furrows deeply, and he frowns at Calix’s statement. “That could mean challenge after challenge. Someone will have to protect the females, maybe we could see if another strong pack would be willing to…”
“Wait a fucking minute,” Torin growls, interrupting Calix. It’s the first time I’ve seen the wolf show any fight.
One corner of my crafty, scheming lion’s mouth tips the tiniest bit before he schools his features. “Do you have another solution? An alliance with another pack maybe?”
“Do you ever shut up?” Gunnar’s snarled words make it to the room before he does. The door gets bumped open hard enough that it hits the wall. No one seems to notice or care.
“I was only pointing out the obvious,” Kim replies as she enters the room, her nose turned up in the air.
“Well don’t,” Gunnar snaps while glaring at the back of her head like he wants to rip it off. I can’t help the little grin that graces my lips. I like the fact that my kitten doesn’t seem to like the shifter.
Kim ignores Gunnar’s comment for the most part. Her eyes are now glued to her alpha as she slowly steps over with a tray in her hands. The smell of soup isn’t nearly as unpleasant as usual. It actually causes my stomach to let out a small growl. Calix’s head snaps around in my direction, his eyes a little wide. “Was that you?” It comes out more like an accusation than a question.
I place my hand over my belly, feeling like it betrayed me. “Shut up.” I half pout that he called me out.
Torin leans around Calix. “Are they not feeding you, little dove?”
A crashing noise draws my attention just as I’m about to answer. I look over to see Gunnar close to full Berserker mode as he glares at Torin. Oh, I think I might wait this one out and see what happens. I’m usually the one who gets all jealous. Of course, I’ll stop it before anything happens to the wolf. A fight just wouldn’t be fair for him right now. Plus, I have every confidence Gunnar would kill him, even on Torin’s best day.
“If you would like death that badly, I can assist.” Grim’s cool, detached voice detonates much like I would expect a bomb would, and everyone in the room stops breathing—including me. The sexy fucker. I can’t help but get all excited about his willingness to kill for me.
“Aren’t they the best?” I whisper to Kim, forgetting we are not anything even remotely close to friends.
She has her fingers curled around the fork that was on the tray as if she’s ready to use it to defend Torin. Maybe she’s not as unredeemable as I thought. I guess I should get a handle on this before they end up killing the guy we kind of need to save. “Kitten, come sit down before you break anything else.” I pat Calix’s hand, which is still wrapped around my thigh. His movements seem ultra-slow as he tilts his head to examine the wolf next to him. “No need for concern, Wolfy, they take very good care of me.”
Gunnar’s jaw is still squared out when he stomps over to the couch and takes up residence behind me with his beefy arms crossed over his chest. “Quit calling him that,” he demands. I pretend not to hear him and cover my smile with the back of my hand. Leave it to him to be territorial over a nickname.
“You can hold on to that if it makes you feel better, but I think it would serve a much better purpose if you gave it to him for eating. It wouldn’t help you anyway,” I advise Kim just above a whisper. I don’t mean for it to come out as a threat, but that’s how it sounds, even to my own ears.
Kim takes one slow step backward after placing the fork back down on the plate. It’s the first time I notice there’s much more than soup and rice on the tray. I roll my eyes but don’t say anything. I’m sure she knows much more about a shifter’s diet than I do. The slab of meat might be just what the doctor ordered for Torin.
“Food makes them much less dangerous,” Torin tells Calix, as if he’s departing some sort of wisdom on how to take care of a woman.
“So, we were talking about new alphas,” I blurt, to get them off the topic of my stomach. I eye the soup again, wondering why it looks and smells so damn good.
