Page 25 of Binding His Fated Mates

He stirred, blinking up at me with unfocused dark eyes. “Wha—I wasn’t sleeping. I was just—”

“You were snoring.”

“I don’t snore,” he mumbled, even as his eyes were already drifting shut again.

“You one hundred percent do,” Hunter said from the doorway. His voice was gruff but not unkind.

I got Daniel on his feet and steered him toward the ladder to his loft. He climbed it with clumsy, sleep-heavy movements, murmuring something incoherent about continuing our research. Neither Hunter nor I dignified that with a response. Within seconds of reaching the top and collapsing into bed, still fully clothed, his breathing evened out into the deep rhythm of genuine sleep.

I grabbed my jacket from the back of the kitchen chair I’d hung it on, and then laid it out on the floor, positioning myself between the door and the ladder leading up to Daniel’s loft. Hunter eyed the arrangement without comment.

“You should take the couch,” I said.

Hunter didn’t protest that it was still too early for sleep. If he had, I would’ve pointed out that we ought to match Daniel’s sleep schedule, given that he’d likely wake up early now. He seemed to understand that without my having to say a word, because he just said, “The floor is fine.”

“Hunter, don’t argue. Take the couch. We can switch tomorrow.”

He looked like he did, in fact, want to argue. But something in my expression must’ve stopped him, because he sighed heavily. Then he dropped onto the couch without further protest, pulling the throw blanket over himself.

I turned off the lights and lay down on the wooden floor, using my jacket as a pillow. The cabin settled into quiet. Above us, Daniel’s soft breathing was a reassuring metronome. So long as it continued, everything was going to be okay. No matter what else happened.

We’d have the conversation tomorrow, I told myself.

If I was being completely honest, I wasn’t quite ready, either. That wouldn’t have stopped me, but I was almost glad to have to wait.

What if there was no good explanation? What if Daniel simply hadn’t trusted us enough to tell us the truth? What if our entire relationship had been a lie, all along? Not just that Daniel hadn’t told us about his true identity, but what if the way we’d always felt about him had always been one-sided? What if he had always mattered more to us than we had to him?

I was almost asleep when Hunter’s voice came from the couch, barely above a whisper. “Lee.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

I wasn’t sure what he was thanking me for. It could’ve been for any number of things. For taking the floor so he could have the couch. For saving Daniel at breakfast. For the conversation we’d had outside. It might’ve even been for helping pull him out of his bullshit. Or it might’ve been because he’d sensed my intentions and knew what was coming.

“You’re welcome,” I said into the darkness and let sleep take me.

* * *

The dream was almost the same as always: the clearing, the ancient pines, the impossibly large full moon overhead. But the light was different now. Warmer. It was almost golden instead of silver, as if the moon itself had shifted colors, and the air was soft with the delicious smell of summer: wildflowers, warm grass, and the sweet, resinous scent of sun-heated pine.

Daniel stood at the center of the clearing, apart from Hunter and me. He looked uncertain, his dark eyes wide.

My twin was there too, standing a few feet away with his arms crossed. But his posture was looser than I’d ever seen it in the dream. He seemed less guarded, almost relaxed.

“This again.” Daniel’s voice was thick, his expression so tight he looked halfway ready to cry. He settled down onto the ground and turned his face away from us, wrapping his arms around his knees and pillowing his head down on them. “We’ll just wait it out. It’ll be fine.”

This was what we were doing to him. We were making him miserable. We had been making him miserable all along.

I shot Hunter a dark, angry look. It was his fault, and mine. And it stopped now.

For the first time in two years, I fully crossed the distance and dropped into a crouch beside Daniel. “Hey. Let’s not do that tonight.”

Daniel straightened up, his lips parting with surprise. “What are you doing?”

A fair question, but one I didn’t have the answer to.

“Take my hand,” I said, reaching out for him.