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“Come on,”Lucas told me, grabbing my hand and towing me out into the forest. It was already dark out, but we could both see fine. “I want to show you my fort.”
Kai snagged the little guy by the arm. “Uh-uh. It’s already past your bedtime, and you’ve got school tomorrow, Bubba. You can show her in the morning.”
Lucas groaned, and argued a little, but he reluctantly led me to the trailer instead.
I caught the gazes of a few of the pack members, and one of them nodded at me. That was already better than the last time I’d been there, so I nodded back.
In the trailer, Lucas explained his bedtime routine to me while he got ready, and then asked me if I could read him his book. After Kai agreed, I said yes, and ended up snuggling the little man in his bed while I read the longest damn kids book ever. He was snoring by the time I made it to the last few pages, but I was already invested in the rhyming story, so I finished it anyway.
When I eased out of the bed as quietly as possible, I found Kai sprawled out on his couch, watching me.
Studying me.
“Sorry if I took over a little bit,” I whispered to him, glancing over my shoulder to make sure the little guy didn’t move. He was still snoring away, so we were good.
“Don’t apologize. You didn’t take over; he asked you, and you agreed.” Kai’s hand caught mine, and his chest met my back as he led me past the bathroom and into the small area that was apparently his bedroom. “Here’s your bed.” He gestured to the mattress.
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “I was told that I was allowed to make you warm it up for me.”
His lips curved upward. “You were.”
“So? That bed is clearly not warmed. Get to work.” I made a shooing motion, and he gave me a soft, rumbly laugh.
He slid the thin door shut to separate our space from Lucas’s, then wrapped his arm around my waist and dragged me into the bed. The blankets were heavy and comfortable, and the place smelled so thoroughly like Kai that I sighed happily.
Both of us were quiet as we got cozy, with my head resting against his chest. I could feel his eyes on me, though mine were on the simple window on the wall across from me.
“So where do you want me to feed from you tomorrow?” I murmured. “Where do you want my scent?”
“I don’t think I care anymore,” he admitted. “As long as you’re with me like this, I get to smell you all over my skin.”
My lips curved upward.
His fingers stroked my hair for a few minutes, and my eyes closed as I thought about everything that had happened during the day. It was a huge change… but in the best way. Completely unexpected, and yet entirely perfect.
“What made you change your mind?” I asked him quietly.
He didn’t reply for a long moment, but when he did, he said softly, “I rejected you.”
My throat swelled a bit.
“I hadn’t… If I’d realized that sooner, I would never have said any of that shit to you. At least, I don’t think so. I know what it feels like to be rejected. Elle’s wolf was pulling away through the entire chase—the entire pregnancy. They both hated me. It was bad, in every way. If she hadn’t been pregnant, and dying, I would’ve asked her wolf to just reject me completely and get it over with. But even knowing that she didn’t have long, she wanted nothing more than to tell me every way I’d ever failed as a man, and a mate.”
My heart ached for him.
I couldn’t imagine going through that.
“I understood why you didn’t want to try. It wasn’t like you were cruel to me; I would never have held it against you,” I said quietly. “I was just angry, and sick, and sad.”
“And yet you were never hateful toward me. You could’ve insulted the hell out of me, and I would’ve deserved it.”
“For trying to protect your son? I don’t think so. You were worried about him.”
“I’ll always worry about him. If I’d realized how good you’d be for him, with him, I would’ve dragged you back here sooner.”
A soft laugh escaped me. “I’m not that good with him.”
He made a noise of disagreement. “He hasn’t talked that much to me or anyone else in months, Spitfire. If ever. He hasn’t stayed in his human form for this many hours, either. The teachers are constantly getting on me about it, but nothing I’ve done has worked in so damn long. And then you show up, with all this sexy orange hair and that big smile, and hewantsto stay human. I don’t understand it, but I’m really, really glad.”
