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Abi gave me a stern look. “We’ve only been gone, like, a few weeks. No big deal. You arenota terrible friend. You discovered…well, magic! And then you were kidnapped. I’m sure if you explained it all—”
“I can’t.Wecan’t,” I said, cutting her off. “We can’t explain any of that, but we can at least check in with her. And it’s been more thana coupleof weeks, Abi; it’s been, like, two months.” I sighed and shook my head, attempting to release the guilt. “I’ll see if Fenris is planning on going back to the United States soon. Maybe he’d be okay with bringing you along.”
Abi nodded, giving me an appraising look. After the silence stretched on for too long, I squirmed. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Abi,what?”
She shrugged. “Just noting that you seem tolikeFenris now. For a while, you seemed pretty venomous toward him. Hate is a strong word, but…” Her expression went from casual observation to something more wicked. “If anything, I’d say it seems like the veryoppositeof hate now.”
I didn’t like feeling watched like a bug under a microscope. Abi had a point, though. I tried to reflect on the past few weeks, wondering exactly when I stopped actively disliking Fenris, but I wasn’t sure there had been a single moment. Fenris may have made a terrible first impression, but I’d come to realize that he’d done so intentionally. He didn’twantto get attached to people, and there were a lot of reasons behind that mindset.
“I think he’s a good person,” I said after a few moments of introspection. “I also think he’d deny that vehemently, but he is. He’s so standoffish because of his past, but I think…I think he’s really caring.”
“Aww,” Abi said, smiling earnestly. A moment later, her expression turned impish. “It probably doesn’t hurt that he’s gorgeous and powerful, and there’s that whole ‘destined mates’ situation.”
“Fated mates?”
Her eyes glittered. “Yes, that. It’s kind of dreamy. You two would have the cutest babies.” She paused. “Wait…do wolf shifters have babies, or do they have puppies? Oh my gosh, do they havelittersof puppies?”
I made a gagging noise at the idea of having an entirelitter. “Shut up,” I said, swatting at her. “You ruined the moment.”
Abi snickered before straightening up. “In all seriousness, though, I’m glad he’s not the asshole he seemed like when we first met. I was totally on board with Team Hate Fenris’s Guts, but…he’s grown on me, too.” She grinned. “Like a fungus! And who knows, maybe you would’ve been head over heels if you’d gone on a date instead of being whisked away to his private island. Which was, you know, totally normal behavior.”
She’d meant to be funny, but I paused. “I guess we really haven’t had an actual date,” I said, frowning.
“Well, you should!” Abi slapped my shoulder playfully. “Go have a picnic if you can’t leave the island!”
For once, I didn’t argue with her. It wasn’t a half-bad idea.
Chapter12
Fenris
Fenris’s Private Villa
Isla Lobo, Panama
The sand churned beneath my feet as I galloped down the far stretch of the beach, the gentle rolling of the waves serving as the backdrop to my pulse. It always felt good to patrol my home territory when I returned from my full-moon excursions in Antarctica, but today, I found I had more pent-up energy than usual. My wolf should’ve been exhausted, but he already seemed to have recovered most of his stamina. It was irritating at best, and while I suspected learning our fated mate wasalsoa wolf shifter had really thrown him for a loop, there was nothing he could do about it but accept it.
Of course, he still refused to be pleasant to work with, so I had no real reason to be surprised.
The fact that I’d spent most of the day contacting members of the Order of the Stars alongside Walter probably hadn’t helped matters. My wolf always resented anything even remotely resembling “desk work,” but it was simply too big of a task for Walter to manage on his own. I’d actually handled the last several calls myself. Now that I was back and Celeste was safe, I needed to see my brother’s state for myself. The fact that Celeste had seen Lyka when disconnecting herself from Sabine’s mind was extremely concerning, and it still wasn’t clear to mewhatmy brother had done to her orwhohe’d killed, except for one thing Sabine had said.
Her sister…
That still wasn’t ringing a bell, though. All I could do was hope Lyka was lucid enough when we arrived that he’d be able to clear some of this up. If he wasn’t…
My wolf snapped to attention as another paranormal presence caught his peripheral attention. I came to a halt, lifting my head toward our home just in time to see Celeste step out the door.
“Fenris!” she called.
She’d barely gotten the words past her lips before I was trotting in her direction, bushy tail waving over my spine as I pressed my ears forward. My wolf may have been unsettled, but he was always pleased to see Celeste, especially once we were past the full moon. Once closer, I shifted back to my human form, taking the last few strides on two feet.
Celeste sighed as I leaned in to kiss her cheek, looking me up and down. “I’m so jealous,” she said, motioning at me.
“About what?” I said.
