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“I know it’s not the same, so please don’t be mad at me for trying to relate. But I do sorta get it. When Reece’s parents died and he went off to be the kid-alpha, I felt like the world ended a bit. It was a hard transition.”
“How did you cope?” she asked with a soft and low voice.
“Well, for starters, Atlas and I got a little closer. And I started just taking pleasure in the little things.”
She turned toward him, confused. “The little things?”
“I love to sit on my porch. Watch the forest change through dawn or dusk.”
“And that makes you feel better?”
He shrugged. “A bit. Why doyousit on your front porch?”
She considered his question for a few moments. “I’m actually not sure. It just feels nice. And I can see if a car is coming up. I think part of me was expecting Lil to just drive back into my life.” She clicked her tongue. “Which is insane because even though I told her where I’m living, it’s not like sheknowswhere I am. That cabin doesn’t exactly have an address. It’s in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s a good cabin,” he pointed out.
“Yeah. It’s better than the estate I grew up on. With one notable change.”
“It doesn’t have your sisters,” he guessed.
“I really want to bring her back home. I don’t want her to be a pawn for the vampire council. I don’t want her to be trapped in that life, married to a vampire who won’t love her.”
“We’ll find her,” he said.
“You sound very sure.”
“I’m good at finding things,” he shrugged. “It comes with the territory.”
“Which? Wolf or sheriff?”
“Both,” Nero smiled encouragingly. “Your sister is really lucky to have you in her corner.”
“It’d be nice if she knew she was lucky.”
He chuckled. “People don’t know they’re lucky until they lose that luck.”
Valentine smiled at him. “You’re pretty wise for a wolf.”
He grinned at her and wrapped one of his hands on her thighs. A very naked thigh. Her breath caught in her throat, and she met his eyes. The brown hues melted with all kinds of emotions she couldn’t name. Unless she was losing her mind, he was holding his breath.
The moment was charged. So charged that Valentine felt herself leaning in as if she was going to kiss him. But that was insane. She couldn’t kiss him.
Not again.
It would only be a major distraction.
After all, Celestine had her man now, and she had flat-out refused to help Val look for their sister. “She made her choice, and there is nothing we can do. We can’t force her to come back if shechoseto leave.”
Valentine was still mad at Ceecee for that. It felt like giving up, but Valentine didn’tdogiving up. Not when it came to her sisters. She’d had too much loss in her life already, and she wasn’t going to take anymore.
That’s why, as Nero seemed to be leaning in to kiss her, Valentine hopped off the bed. She grabbed a pillow and one of the extra blankets she’d asked for at the front desk and curled up on the couch.
“What are you doing?” Nero asked.
“I’m going to bed. You should do the same.”
He gaped at her, apparently shocked that she hadn’t fallen for his charms. To be fair, she wasn’t exactly sure how she had been able to walk away from him without kissing him.
