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He stood rigidly. “Then I’m going for a run.”
“Aren’t you tired of running from this?”
“I’m just tired.”
Much like a statue, he stood at attention with his back turned to me. My eyes were granted another divine view, yet I hadn’t the energy to truly remark on his handsome glory. I merely wanted to provide a shoulder for him to lean on.
Would he allow it? “Avi, look at me.”
“I don’t want to do this.”
“We don’t have to do anything. My ears are yours for whatever you want to say.”
He turned around, exposing his defenseless expression, a rather alarming thing to see on his face. Assuredness had been part of his personality since Ambersky. Now he seemed to be crumbling in the wake of his confusion.
I wanted to hug him.
Precisely what I desired was achieved. I hugged the man who had been a rough diamond amidst thieves. His lips didn’t produce much opposition, though I could feel in his body the twitching and longing, the mixture of colors and sensations. It wasn’t like he was ill or faint. I just knew in my heart that he needed physical contact, that the touch would soothe him.
Goddess, I felt all the colors too. I truly did. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of preventing my perception of them. Regardless of what our souls said—or whether they spoke to each other—I knew this moment was significant. He didn’t have a father on which he could rely, and his mother had one foot in the Great Beyond.
Who did that leave for him?
Yes, it had to be me. I wanted it to be me.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, my protection had to extend to this exhausted wolf man. I took him to the ground where I cradled him in my lap, the hard plane of muscles different from the usual flush of my curves. I held him hard and rocked him gently, allowing him space to exist.
Just space. That was what he needed, so I gave it to him.
Chapter 11 - Xavier
The boner was a surprise.
I mean, arousal was something of a side effect of Galanthia’s presence. So, technically, it wasn’t that big of a surprise. But my body’s response seemed to be on par with a trained dog. Any time Galanthia appeared and gave me the slightest bit of affection, my cock came to life with a mind of its own.
One touch, one look, seemed to be the only thing separating flaccid from boner. I had to relinquish control of that. Hardness was the least of my concerns when I was on the brink of having a huge breakdown, if I hadn’t already.
Shit, how much did she hear?
Galanthia stroked my head. “Your prayers are safe in my mind.”
Sure, it was relieving to hear that. But it wasn’t exactly relieving to think about how much she was able to hear me when I wasn’t speaking. Did we share similar thoughts or something? Were we on some funky wavelength because we had been in the same pack?
That was logical enough. Raven had told me about how packs often shared something of a hivemind—but that was usually when everyone was in their shifted form. Elderlings were always in their shifted forms to some extent, so I had to guess that Galanthia was able to use her skills whenever she wanted.
I just hadn’t thought that included mind reading.
Warm rays of sun blended with my irritation. Soon enough, I was feeling level again, back to a sort of ground base. I sat up and scooted away from Galanthia’s arms, despite my body begging to be held.
I felt like a weakling.
At the same time, I felt like I needed someone to hold me for a whole damn week.
“Thanks,” I spat. And then immediately regretted my tone when I saw her flinch. After a deep breath, I whispered, “It means a lot. Thank you.”
“We’re part of the same pack. It’s my duty to console you.”
I huffed with disbelief. “You just won’t let me thank you, will you?”
