Page 75 of Knotted By the Triad

I won’t lie, my heart broke a little at the look of disdain in her gaze.

“It rained recently,” I started, not bothering to say it was last week. “If you want, I can carry you inside.”

She rubbed her eyes and whispered, “Rained?”

“Yes. I’ll carry you since you don’t have any shoes on.”

She looked down at her feet and then wiggled her toes. Such cute toes.

“You’re right, I seemed to have forgotten my boots,” she whispered.

She’d forgotten all her clothing! More jealousy shot through me.

“Okay,” she whispered, surprising me.

“I can carry you?” I asked.

She nodded, then moved across the seat and straight into my arms. The jealousy melted away as I scooped her up and held her close. My eyes met Daemin’s, who was shaking his head and smiling.

Through our connection, he was calling me a liar. I wasn’t lying. It had rained. Last week. Zuri rested her head against my chest, and my ordinarily insane dragon calmed instantly.

Home, it whispered.

Was that what this feeling was? Home. I’d never felt at home anywhere. Not at my own estate, where I’d mostly felt lonely. Not here, where the loneliness followed even though the princes’ manor was bustling with servants and even my pack brothers were here.

Nothing had ever felt like home to me. Not even the house I’d grown up in with my strict father and brothers after my mother passed away. But holding Zuri Bane in my arms, knowing she was safe and sound, this felt like home.

Zuri rested against my chest as I carried her through the manor, one arm beneath her legs and the other wrapped securely around her back. Her weight felt right in my arms. My dragon had been strangely quiet since I'd picked her up, no longer growling about Daemin or demanding that I steal her away from him. He seemed content simply knowing we were the ones holding her now.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Better,” she said, shifting closer against me. “A lot better, actually.”

Relief moved through me. I hadn't been there when Daemin found her. I hadn't seen what happened in the forest, but I'd felt enough through our connection to know how close we’d come to losing her.

The thought had been tormenting me all night. Well, I guess it was morning now, though the sun wasn’t up yet. Zuri lifted her head and glanced around as I turned down another corridor.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To Kai's office. He wants to talk to all of us.”

Her brows drew together. “About what?”

“He didn't say.”

But it had to be serious. I could sense through our bond that he was anxious. Whatever he'd discovered at the warehouse had left him stunned. He'd locked himself in his office as soon as he returned to the manor, going over the documents we'd recovered.

As for the smugglers, they were still being interrogated by my guards. I’d rushed back to the manor as soon as I sensed something was wrong. Zuri looked over my shoulder. I didn't have to turn around to know who she was looking for. Daemin was following close behind us.

“He's still there,” I told her.

“I was just checking.”

My dragon grumbled. She likes him.

“He's her mate, too. She’s supposed to like him.”

She likes him more than us.