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I have to get off the fucking couch. It’s ancient, smells like an old lady, and I’m pretty sure I just felt water hit my forehead. I stare at the ceiling until I see the small drip where rainwater seems to have made its way in.
Just fucking great.
The rain woke me up hours ago, and it’s been pouring outside ever since. It’s taken every bit of willpower I have to not walk back to the bedroom where Tasha is sleeping. Now that I really can’t stay on the couch any longer, my willpower gives out.
She left the door cracked when she went to bed. I push it open far enough for me to slip into the room. I know she’s going to get all worked up again if she catches me creeping on her while she’s sleeping, but I can’t help myself. She’s so hot and cold all the time that this is the only chance I get to look at her without all the dramatics.
I can’t see her as well as I like since there isn’t any morning sunlight streaming in through the window, but I can see enough to satisfy my need for her. For now.
Every minute that passes, my wolf grows more agitated. It doesn’t help knowing she still has a different shifter on her mind.
I don’t care that he was her mate first. I’m not competing with a ghost.
I lean against the wall and watch the steady rise and fall of her chest as she sleeps peacefully. She isn’t as restless in her sleep as she was yesterday. I hope that means maybe she’s feeling safer now. I would never let anything hurt her. That should be reason enough for her to embrace our bond.
There shouldn’t be so much baggage between us. I was pissed that Peter spoke with her about our family, but she would have figured it out eventually—besides, it’s not like she seemed particularly bothered about my family’s history.
I almost wish she was. It would give me something concrete to blame for her not accepting what’s right in front of her.
It’s a fucking mate bond. It doesn’t just go away if she ignores it.
“Are you serious?” A soft groan comes from the bed, and Tasha rolls over as if burying her face in the pillow will make me disappear. She says something else, but it’s muffled by the pillow.
“The roof is leaking in the living room.” I sound like an idiot.
At least that gets her attention. She turns over, bolting upright on the bed, and gapes at me. “Seriously? That’s the kind of stuff the Sovereign Pack is supposed to fix.” She grimaces.
“It’s okay. I’ll put a pot under the leak for now, and then when the rain passes, I can fix it.” She gives me a dubious look. “I’m perfectly capable of fixing it, Tasha. How many wolves do you know that have never worked a construction job?” It’s one of the things we’re best at. Between our abnormal natural strength and the fact that no one ever asks too many questions as long as you can do a good job, construction is a favored field for shifters everywhere. Even as a rogue, I’ve managed to pick up jobs often enough to keep money in the bank.
Despite the doubt in her eyes, I can actually fix a simple leak just fine as long as I can get my hands on the right materials. I’ll call Dominic if I have to. He doesn’t seem to care for me much, but he’ll obviously do anything for his mate’s sister.
“It’s raining pretty hard out there.” Tasha frowns as she stares toward the window, the curtains open just enough for her to get a good look at the rain coming down in sheets.
“It’s been raining like that for hours.” Why are we talking about the fucking weather?
“Hm.” Tasha throws the covers off so she can stand, and my mouth goes dry. The purple nightgown she sleeps in has ridden up to show off a whole hell of a lot of skin.
She follows my gaze before jerking the hem down to cover herself. The material falls halfway to her knees, but it’s a little late for her to cover up now.
“Stop staring,” she hisses as her face flushes.
Not a chance.She startles when I speak over mind link. I have to do something to remind her that we’re more connected than two strangers reluctantly sharing a house.
She doesn’t respond as she paces across the room and flings the curtains open the rest of the way. She stares out into the rain, her mouth twisting nervously.
“What is it?”
“I think there’s a storm coming. A bad one.” She glances over at me, tucking her hair self-consciously behind one ear.
“You don’t have to look at me like that. If you say there’s a storm coming, I believe you. That’s kind of the way the whole Luna Sovereign thing is supposed to work, isn’t it?”
“It’s also supposed to include me living in this house alone.” She gives me a pointed look that I carefully ignore. The last thing we need is to be at each other’s throats if a storm is going to trap us in the house together.
Not that I would plan to go far if it didn’t. Maybe as far as the garden at most. There’s nothing she can do to actually get rid of me. And I’m not going to leave her another opening to run, though she doesn’t seem like as much of a flight risk here in the Luna Sovereign house as she did when I dragged her to Leah’s.
“You’re staring again.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, and I somehow manage to keep my eyes on her face. Mostly. If only she were a hideous, boring, weak little thing. Then maybe it would be easier for me to just accept how little interest she has in me.
