Page 82 of Blood and Trouble

Poe grinned and pushed his palm back through his hair, ruffling the fringe near his twinkling eyes. They lit up his entire face, and I instantly wanted him to do it again. My fingers itched to run through it myself, my wolf howling to get closer, to touch him, to claim him.

“I guess I’m trying to say I didn’t mean to intrude on you and Lycan,” he explained as we cleared the treeline and walked closer to the cafeteria building. “It got a little out of control.”

I shrugged and shot him a flirty smile as I opened the door. “Maybe I like being a little out of control.”

The sounds of the pack settling in for dinner drew my attention, but I thought I heard him whisper, “I can see why he calls you trouble,” under his breath. Inside, the room smelled like garlic and roasted meat, and my stomach grumbled.

“There she is.” Madeline skipped over to us and linked her elbow with mine, steering me toward a few people I recognized from the night out at the pub. We filled our plates with food and settled in while conversation drifted around us, half of it in Danish. Poe had been right. It was nice to get out of the cabin and see other people.

Sometime around the end of dinner, Poe got up to refill our drinks, and Madeline leaned closer to me.

“What’s going on with you and him?” She nodded at Poe. “I thought you were with Lycan.”

I opened my mouth to tell her I wasn’t with either, but the words skidded to a halt in my throat. “What makes you think something’s going on?”

She gave me a knowing look. “His bonding scent’s all over you.”

“Oh?” I tilted my head toward my chest to inhale, recognizing both of them. Which made sense. We’d been shut in a cabin together for a few days.

“Oh.” Madeline mocked with a knowing look. “Are you fucking both of them?”

“Maddie,” said her friend, Astrid, from the other side of her. “Don’t be so crude.” She admonished Madeline in her native tongue, but I picked out spit-roasted and threesome from the syllables. A flush snaked up my neck and into my face as I focused on the table, my blood running hot from the visual.

“I’m just curious,” Madeline said. “Besides, she doesn’t have any friends here. She might need someone to talk to.”

“Thank you for your concern,” I said. “It’s…uh…complicated.”

“Those are the best kind, huh?” Madeline bounced her eyebrows, and I laughed, giving her a friendly nudge in the shoulder.

Poe came back, set down a glass of water in front of me, and eyed the two other women like they’d been plotting something nefarious in his absence.

We hung out until most of the pack left before saying our goodbyes and heading to our cabin. Poe was quiet on our way back, occasionally checking his phone before shoving it back in his pocket.

“No word?” I asked. Lycan hadn’t texted me, either, nor had I reached out to him. I didn’t want to distract him. If things got ugly, I didn’t want him to worry about what was going on with me. With Evelyn Vane on our tail and whatever other business the Bastards got into, the ride would be dangerous enough.

“No,” he said. “Which isn’t a bad thing. He’s probably fine. He’s with a bunch of shifters. They’ll protect each other.”

“But they’re not pack.” Not like him. Not like the other Helena Bastards back home.

Poe didn’t say anything else, just put an arm over my shoulders and hugged me closer while we walked.

When we got back to the cabin, the absence of Lycan hung heavier between us. His scent had dissipated, and my inner beast whined, panting in the back of my mind, desperate for a sign of him. I kicked off my boots and glanced around, eyes landing on the covers still balled up in the center of the living room floor. Only then did the realization hit. It would be my first night without him in weeks…since he’d taken the night off to hook up with that submissive in Copenhagen. I hadn’t noticed how attached I’d gotten to always having him here, and the massive void he’d left clenched around my energy like a vise.

What if he didn’t come back? What if Evelyn got him while he was out there? What would I do without him?

Poe seemed to notice. He walked in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders.

“He’ll be okay,” he said. “It’s only a night or two.”

I blinked back the sudden burn in my eyes.

No. I would not cry. It’s fine. It’ll be fine.

“You want a drink?” Poe angled his body toward the kitchen.

“Sure,” I said.

“Sit down. I’ll make it.” He walked to the opened bottle of whiskey on the counter while I slumped in the blankets from the night before, basking in the small remnants of Lycan’s cedar and leather lingering on the fabric. When Poe returned, he handed me a glass and sat next to me on the blankets, taking a long sip before pushing his journal out of the way on the end table so he could set his drink in its place.