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My heart burst with that prospect.
While Shane was upstairs, I started dinner and made the carrot cake with Minsi. She helped me set the table in the breakfast nook, and Tyren sank on the couch in the family room and watched a superhero movie.
I had put the chicken pot pie and the carrot cake in the oven when Shane entered the kitchen from the mudroom. I turned to him with a smile, but that faded and my breath caught. He wore gray sweatpants and a fitted black shirt that molded to his hard chest and strong shoulders. He was barefoot, his hair was damp, and now I noticed the fine stubble covering his chin and jaw, as if he hadn’t shaved in a day or two.
My heart sped up.
But then I saw and felt the tension in the knot between his brows, in the rigidness of his movements.
“I thought you had gone for a run to clear your mind.”
He crossed the kitchen and halted right in front of me. “I did, but it didn’t help.”
I reached for him, then lowered my hands. Tyren knew about us, but what about Minsi? I didn’t want to scare her. It was one thing to have me as a friend, but her brother’s mate? That might spike her anxiety and give her a panic attack.
I glanced at her. She offered us an I-know-what’s-going-on smile before sneaking into the family room and sitting beside Tyren with a book in hand.
I almost smiled too, but my mind was now on Shane. “Talk to me.”
He leaned back on the counter beside the oven and crossed his arms. “We’ve spent hours trying to take the crystals from the damn vaults, and nothing worked.”
I nodded. It had been stupid of them to even try. Lavinia and Almae had tried before, with brute force and magic, and it hadn’t worked. Using shovels, screwdrivers, and whatnot wasn’t going to do the trick. But I knew Shane had to try. He had to get it out of his system. It meant he was doing something, being proactive instead of waiting for the worst.
“You’re doing everything you can,” I said.
“My everything is not enough.” His jaw hardened. “I tallied up everything that’s going on right now that I can’t fix. The crystals, the barrier, the poison, the dragon, the attack yesterday and Nortrix's threat this afternoon, and the fact that Conri might be a pawn in a bigger plan and someone is messing with us.” He sighed and told me about his meeting with the alphas.
“That’s not good,” I said, my voice low.
Shane shook his head. “Perhaps Nortrix wanted to get in my head and make me feel worse. If that was the case, he succeeded.”
I inhaled deeply. Yeah, the cards were stacked against us. And there was one more bit he either had chosen to forget, or he hadn’t mentioned on purpose: my lineage and my newly awoken powers. Lavinia and Almae had given me a suppression potion I was supposed to drink every few hours, but could I do that for the rest of my life? Shouldn’t I woman up and face the truth?
When listing everything like that, it felt like we were doomed.
I leaned into him, my head on his shoulder, my hand over his crossed arms. “I believe in you.”
He scoffed. “At least one of us does.”
“Shane …” I lifted my head and looked at him. “You’re not alone in this. I’m here for you. Killian, Lavinia, Dom, Vallin, Rue … so many others. The entire pack. If it comes to that and you explain how dire the situation is, I know the pack will unite. We’ll fight everyone and everything, and we’ll win.” The words came at me, and even though I probably needed a push to believe them myself, I felt inspired at the moment. I rose on my tiptoes and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Because I choose to believe in us.”
He turned his face to me. “You’re too good for me. By the moon, you’re too good for the entire pack. We don’t deserve you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t like it when you say that. I don’t feel like that, and when you say that, I feel like I have to live up to this perfect image of me you created in your mind.”
Shane turned his body to me and placed his hands on my waist. “Just keep being you, do your thing, and I guarantee, this perfect image of you in my head won’t ever change.” He lowered his head and touched his lips to mine. I melted into him.
But I felt too self-conscious with his siblings in the other room, so I kissed him for three seconds, before the heat and desire overtook me, and I stepped back.
Shane locked his arms around my waist. “Where do you think you’re going?” The oven dinged. He chuckled. “Saved by the bell.” He pressed his lips to mine one more time before letting me go.
He called the kids to the table, and I grabbed the chicken pot pie from the oven. Then I sat down at the table with the three of them, and despite all the odds against us, I felt happier than ever.
* * *
During dinnerwe played I-spy-with-my-little eye, and afterward, we stayed at the table playing Uno. Even Minsi participated, though she said only a handful of words the entire time. Still, the huge smile on her face warmed my heart.
But most of all, I was relieved Shane seemed a little better, a little less heavy. He even smiled a few times, and cracked a joke here and there. When Tyren tried cheating at Uno, as if that was even possible, Shane pulled him into a wrestling match, and Minsi and I pretended to be cheerleaders—for Tyren, of course.
