Page 67 of Blood and Trouble

After we got back to the cabin, I expected Poe to take the couch while Lycan and I went to the bedroom. My wolf didn’t like that idea. She wanted to stay firmly rooted in the space between them, knowing she was protected on either side by two males who made her feel whole and safe.

“Can we stay out here?” I asked softly, my voice hoarse from not having used it in several hours.

Lycan and Poe looked at each other. Without saying anything, Lycan nodded, and Poe grabbed blankets and pillows. We created a nest on the living room floor, and I settled in the middle. Lycan climbed under the comforter on my right, and Poe did the same on my left. I turned to my side, facing Poe, and Lycan wrapped an arm over my midsection, covering my back in his strong, steady form. Just before I closed my eyes, I saw Poe smile and soften his shoulders.

Despite being on hardwood, it was the best I’d slept in years.

CHAPTER 15

Poe

I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. Watching Lycan and Ava together twisted the knife in my heart, but fuck if I could look away. They were beautiful. The way he commanded her body reminded me of all the times he’d forced me to submit and how much I’d loved it. Even if he said he wanted me, even if she looked at me like I was a full fucking meal, it wouldn’t last. It couldn’t.

They’ll leave me.

Nothing’s permanent.

They don’t want me, not really.

Then why did he still stare at me like he couldn’t wait to devour me whole? Why did he tease me by suggesting he’d make me do something deplorable if I’d only asked nicely? And why did Ava keep going when she knew I was watching?

I couldn’t dwell on it. If I did, I’d lose my fucking mind.

The afternoon after the change, I woke up before them and watched them sleep for far longer than I’d ever admit. Lycan lost ten years of stress when his features were relaxed, and Ava’s lips twisted into the cutest grin while unconscious. I wondered what dreams made her smile like that. I wondered if Lycan even wanted me in this nest with them. Had he only agreed because Ava asked?

Lycan cracked his eyelids and met my stare, and in that liminal space between sleep and waking, his wolf called to mine. He seemed to ask what I was doing, and mine responded with a swift, “I have no fucking clue.”

He held a hand out to me, almost as if he was asking me to come closer, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t do that to myself again. Instead, I pushed up to standing, grabbed my clothes, and headed to the bathroom at the back of the cabin. They could have each other. They should have each other. Anything I’d have with them would be fleeting, at best. They’d choose their marriage in the end, and I’d be left alone like always.

Staring at myself in the mirror, my wolf rebuked that thought. He’d felt whatever happened between the three of us last night. The bond. The connection. The utter rightness of being a three instead of a pair.

I sighed and got in the shower. After I’d washed away any thought of a bond, I got dressed and disappeared into the woods, quietly shutting the door behind me.

I’d been brooding in my self-loathing and trying to focus on the next steps in our trip when my cellphone rang around five p.m. Seeing Channing’s name on the caller ID, I answered with a gruff, “Yeah?”

“Well, hello to you, bestie,” she said. “Don’t tell me you’re still all moody because of my stupid brother.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “This can’t be why you called.”

“Of course it is,” she said. “I want the details. Is he still playing hard to get? Or has he already coaxed you back into his bed?”

“I’m sure you heard he married her,” I said.

“Honestly, who hasn’t gotten shitfaced and married someone in a foreign country?” she asked with a laugh.

Was she joking? Knowing Chan, either could be true.

“Too soon,” I said.

“Are you out sulking in the woods?” she asked. “You should be with Ava and Lycan, trying to figure out what this Evelyn bitch wants.”

I narrowed my eyes and glanced around. “How the fuck⁠—”

“Because I know you.” A keyboard clattered in the background while she chewed on something that sounded like pretzels. “For what it’s worth, I’ve got nothing back from the Harlots yet. Whoever this witch is, she’s not in anybody’s records. That’s weird, isn’t it? Everybody’s in somebody’s records.”

“Keep digging.”

A brief pause passed between us before she said, “Hey, cheer up, okay? Go back to the cabin. I sent Lycan some updates I found in the archive, and I’d rather they tell you. It’s important.”