Page 45 of Virtually Guarded

“Most days are.” That was probably the least profound thing I’d ever said, but I was too tired to think of anything else. He had a point about going to sleep. “Fine, but not because you said so.”

“I’m good with that.” He kissed me and nudged me away. “If you turn over, I can hold you. That isn’t an order.”

I grinned. “Fine. But not because you said so.”

Within a minute or two of lying with my back against him, his arm draped over me as usual, I fell asleep. Too bad all of the dreams I remembered were nightmares about being left behind, rejected as the others headed to the Anax’s home.

Chapter Ten: Xavier

I was wrong about the Anax wanting an early start. I hadn’t taken into account the fact that driving toward Boston, which we had to do to get from the hunt house to Winthrop, on a Monday morning wasn’t something to do between six and nine. Or, really, at any time, but those were the hours when traffic into the city was the worst. The Anax and Kyle stayed in bed late, unsurprisingly since it was the day after their wedding. We finally left the hunt house around ten.

I had the honor of driving the Anax and Kyle, with Davion as a second guard. On the way out to the hunt house, it had been just the Anax and me; he’d wanted to run, and he had insisted he only needed one guard. This time, because Kyle and the Anax were both with us, Seth insisted two guards accompany them. The Anax didn’t argue.

Ordinarily, he would have sat in the front passenger seat, but for this trip, he chose to sit in the middle seat with Kyle. Davion took the back seat. Since the front seat was available, I assumed there wouldn’t be a problem with Ren coming back with us, but I asked the Anax’s permission anyway. “Anax, given that we have room, is it all right if Ren rides up front with me?”

“Of course.” He raised an eyebrow. “You think I’d refuse to let your mate ride with you?”

“No.” Yes, because I hadn’t declared Ren, let alone claimed him, and I wasn’t sure how valid that made us as mates. I didn’t say that, of course. “Thank you, Anax.”

“You’re welcome.”

Ren was standing by the back of the SUV looking uncertain. As the Anax and Kyle settled themselves, I went over to him. “You can ride with us. You’ll be sitting up front with me.”

“Oh.” He looked up with a slight smile. “Okay. Good. I mean, I like it here.” He gestured at the house. “I can’t just stay, though.”

“You’d be alone. And Chloe wouldn’t be here to cook for you.” And he would be away from me, something I wouldn’t be able to stand. I didn’t say that, either.

He snorted. “I do know how to cook. Not that I’ve had much practice. Streets don’t have kitchens. But I’ve learned a few things over the years.”

“That’s good. Chloe can always use an extra hand.” I touched the SUV. “Everyone else is ready. You good?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess.”

We didn’t have much opportunity to talk during the drive. Speaking to each other in front of the Anax and Kyle would have been rude, and sometimes Davion paid a little too much attention to others’ conversations. Of course Ren and I had our bond, but driving, particularly as we got closer to the city, took most of my mental bandwidth.

As the Boston skyline came into view, Ren inhaled sharply. “This is where we’re going?”

“I told you Winthrop is by Boston, didn’t I?” The Anax sounded concerned. “We don’t live in the city, Ren, but we’re quite close to it. That’s why we also have the hunt house. Can’t run and hunt near a major city.”

“Yeah.” Ren wet his lips with his tongue. “Cities. Um.” He shook his head. “It’ll be fine.”

“If you have any issues, you can always come to me,” the Anax said.

“Or me, because I’m less intimidating.” In the rearview, I saw Kyle leaning forward slightly. “Anytime, Ren, seriously, you can come to one of us. You are one of us now.”

“Thanks.” Ren looked down at his hands. Clearly Kyle’s words weren’t as reassuring to him as Kyle had probably intended.

You can come to me, too, I said, choosing our bond in the hopes that Ren would feel less like the center of attention if others didn’t know I was speaking to him. Even if I’m on duty, I’m not always doing anything.

Thanks. His thought was just as much a mumble as when he’d said it out loud. Clearly something was wrong, but this wasn’t the time to ask him what was going on. It would have to wait until we could actually speak in private, and that wouldn’t be until tonight.

Traffic through the city was as monstrous as usual, and I had to turn my full attention to navigating the too-narrow four-lane highway while people either acted as if lane markings were an option rather than a guideline or changed lanes with inches to spare. After the third near-miss, Ren whimpered and closed his eyes, tightly gripping the sides of his seat. In a corner of my mind, I ranted and cursed the drivers who were upsetting my mate, but I couldn’t really spare the mental bandwidth for much of that either.

Fortunately, we arrived home with no issues. In the circular driveway, I drove up directly in front of the house’s door, as befit the Anax.

“I have a few things to attend to before lunch.” The Anax sounded displeased. “Following up on issues that were brought to my attention during the gathering. Lunch will be informal so Chloe doesn’t have to rush to prepare anything. Eat when you’re hungry; there’s food in the kitchen. We’ll have supper as usual.”

“Anax?” Ren said in a tremulous voice. “What do I do?”