Page 65 of Found Objects

I stared up into those gorgeous gunmetal eyes of his, noticing the silver flecks in them as well. “You don’t need to be sorry, it’s none of my business.”

“It is your business,” he argued, moving a piece of hair that was tangled in my lashes out of the way.

“No, it’s⁠—”

“I want it to be your business, because I, me, Cole Swann, want to be your business. I want your help with everything, so don’t give up on me ’cause I made a mistake and lost my temper, all right? Please, Mere.”

It would be so clean if I cut all ties with him right then and there. Honestly, there was no place for me in his life, not really. He was going to have to lead the pack someday, probably sooner than he thought, and he would need someone to stand beside him, to help guide the pack, and most of all, to give him an heir. I was always logical, never wishful or deluded, and to change now simply because⁠—

The gentle brush of his lips over my forehead brought me instantly out of my thoughts to focus on the beautiful man smiling down at me.

“Your brain is running at a thousand miles an hour, I can tell. But before you start doing all my thinking for me, deciding what I need in my life and who’s best for me, maybe you’ll let me sit and talk to you for a bit.”

“It’s not…smart,” I told him.

“I disagree. I think having you invested in me, in my future, is the smartest thing I’ll ever do.” He took a deep breath. “But at the moment, I just want all your attention. The whole time I was walking down your steps the other day, I kept thinking, ‘this is so stupid, why are you leaving that man when all you’ve wanted since the first time you saw him is to just sit and watch his mouth move when he talks to you?’”

“Cole, you⁠—”

“Just let me have a do-over.”

“You were clear,” I told him. “And change is hard, so I get why⁠—”

“Please, Mere, just give me a chance to fix what I broke.”

“You didn’t break anything, you just gave me the reality check I needed.”

“Nope.” He suddenly grabbed me, crushing me to his chest, his arms wrapping me up tight.

After a few seconds, I couldn’t stifle the laugh, and I snickered into his shoulder. “What’s your plan here?”

“To hug you until you stop talking about what I didn’t mean and start thinking ‘God, he’s a pain in the ass, but damn, I sure do like being held in his arms.’”

I liked it a bit too much. “This is not a good idea.”

“You never know unless you try.”

I couldn’t really argue that point.

SEVEN

When we got back to Coille, I took Evan home with me, and Narah, Abel, Justin, and Fletcher came along, wanting to see my house.

Cole said he would grab stuff for himself and his brother and be there shortly, and that Reggie was going to help him carry. He left me with the parting words: “I’m very much looking forward to my sleepover, Mere.”

I shook my head at him, but his wicked grin was infectious, and I had to smile in return.

We had to stop by the shelter so I could have Diane check Evan over. Everyone was pleased to meet her, as she was them, but she was very confused as to what had been wrong with Cole’s little brother.

“He was having seizures,” I explained to her.

She wanted him to follow up with his regular doctor, and when he told her he didn’t have one yet, she recommended a woman she liked in Lewisburg. I took the card, even though wolves never got sick as a rule. Injuries had to be purposely inflicted, or something supernatural had to have occurred. I wasn’t worried about much happening to Evan again.

After we reached my home and I walked everyone up to my front door, Evan stepped inside, took off his shoes, and stumbled forward a moment before getting his feet back under him and walking straight over to the hearth, which was blazing away. He snuggled up on the end of the sectional closest to the fire, wrapped himself in a blanket, and closed his eyes.

“Okay—” I smiled at Narah. “—I think he’s good for the night.”

“Oh, Merritt,” she breathed, staring straight up into what I thought of as the atrium of my house. It didn’t hurt that it was glass in the middle. “You have an enormous skylight. Aren’t you afraid that it will crack from the snow or ice or if it’s ever hit by a falling tree?”