AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shot me one of those gentle, sweet smiles that always made my heart flutter, and I followed him along as we strolled.We didn’t gothatfar, which made sense, but it was just enough that we were likely out of hearing range of Tristan and Mad Dog.
“I wanted to apologize to you.”
Apologize? It seemed that there’d been a third option the whole time. Who knew?
“I shouldn't have entered your living quarters without permission, and I realize I shouldn't have invaded your personal space. I hope you know that I understand my actions were inappropriate, and I won’t be repeating them.”
Why did he have to be such a good, decent guy?! Why couldn’t he just be an asshole, or an egomaniac? That would've made thingssomuch easier.
Then again, if he was any of those things, he wouldn’t have been my fated mate.
“I do very much hope that this mission is fruitful, and I will be eternally grateful for you saving so many of our citizens. Maybe it’s foolish of me, but I'd hope that we could end up as pals.”
Pals? I wanted to be so much more than that, but I couldn’t afford to risk it. The less we interacted, the better.
“I know you were busy healing people across the battlefield before you collapsed in the southern quadrant, but did you happen to see anyone with me when I was unconscious?”
It took everything in me to keep my face straight and my heart from shooting out of my ribcage. “Uh, no, I didn’t see you at all. I wasn’t anywhere near that area. Why do you ask?”
“I…it’s stupid. I thought I sensed something, but now I’m not so sure.”
Shit.
He must have sensed me once I'd broken the curse between us. I knew that was a possibility, but I'd hoped…
Well, what I hoped didn’t matter, because clearly he’d been at least somewhat aware of my presence.
“I hope you find whatever it was, then,” I said. “But I’m going to head to sleep, all right?”
I was playing with fire being so close to Kai for so long. It was making my inner wolf restless in a way I didn’t really want or need.
“Good night, Everton. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” I said.
Sleeping so close to my fated mate suckedass.
I normally didn’t use that phrase, but this was just an exercise in torture.
I’d spent so much of my time worrying over days traveling so close to Kai that I never thought about what it’d be like, sleeping just a few scant feet away from him with only a couple of sleeping bags and bodies between us.
I didn’t get any rest, constantly waking up and being either on edge, or aroused, or both. If I hadn’t literally doused myself and my clothes in scent-blocker, I'd have been sure the entire team could smell just how excited I was, even Darla.
As one could imagine, this wasn’t exactly a great way to spend my time, so I was quite cranky the next day. I dreaded getting back on the saddle, my thighs screaming just like I knew they would. But I did anyways, and on we went.
At least I had Darla, who stuck to my side like glue. She fielded more conversations from Tristan, Irina, and Mad Dog, allowing me to learn about the whole team without having to directly engage with them.
Now when it came to Kai, it seemed like he hadn’t slept that well, either. Our captain was more agitated and quieter than he’d been the previous day. I hoped it was just because he was on highalert, and not because he was upset about my quick exit the night before.
I knew his hating or being upset with me would actually make things easier, but I just couldn’t stomach the idea. I wanted to be forgotten by him, not loathed. There was only so much a girl could take.
But his silence did allow Darla to control the flow of conversation even more, and by the third day of our journey, I’d actually been able to pick up quite a few things about my escorts.
Tristan was very polite, which was contrary to everything I’d heard about him. I expected someone immature and smarmy—the type of guy who needed to be removed from a barroom floor with a mop. But he wasn’t like that at all. He was the quietest out of the group, even Kai, and I got the feeling that I wouldn’t have heard anything from him at all if Darla wasn’t so good at drawing conversation out of people.
As for Irina, she’d accepted the mission because she was eager for anything that would help bring an end to the latest shifter war. Apparently, she was quite the avid traveler and wanted to go back to gallivanting across whatever countries she wanted, visiting historical sights, and siring the occasional progeny. She was quite the imposing figure, and if we’d met under different circumstances, and if I wasn’t cursed, I wouldn’t have minded the woman being my mentor. I wasn’t really interested in being a vampire, but who wouldn’t want to learn from a badass femme fatale who'd been alive for several centuries?
Then there was Mad Dog. His name was cheesy, yes, but he was honestly adorable. I was aware not everyone shared my opinion, but that was just how I found him. He was rough around the edges, no doubt about that, but he was actually a huge gossip that loved sipping and spilling tea, as other, younger folk liked to say. More than once, Irina made a joke about hisears being huge so he could hear secrets, only for the burly man to just laugh it off. I found myself cracking up right along with him. I’d never had an uncle, but I liked to think if I did, he would've been like Mad Dog.
