Page 71 of Crescent Warrior

Dru was pouring a glass of dark liquid, lifting it toward her. She took it, cupping the cool tumbler in her hands, wondering if she could even sip it with her throat closing the way it was.

Dru sighed, swirling his own glass and then lifting it to his lips. “He learned the hard way, just like you did. With great struggle comes—”

“Great reward,” Hippolyta finished, her voice hoarse as she quoted his favorite saying. She lifted the glass anyway, taking a hefty glug of the port. It burned on the way down, but she didn’t care. “He’ll hurt me, Theios Dru. He’ll break me.”

Dru chuckled, moving to one of the plush armchairs and sinking into it with a deep sigh.

“Break you, my little one?” He tipped his head back to watch her with his steady blue eyes, their intensity dimmer than usual, but still holding the quiet strength she had known all these years. “You are unbreakable. If you do not know this by now, how can I teach you?” He shrugged, tilting his head back to look at the portrait on the far wall.

She remembered coming into this very room and playing with Cole when they were younger. They would find Dru in here often, with his mate across his lap as they whispered to each other.

Hippolyta felt her heart pang and she turned her own gaze to look at the beautiful woman smiling back at them, immortalized in oil paint. Her smile was gentle and her eyes twinkled with mischief.

“You carry the same fire as my Iris. Nothing can put that out.” His eyes held the sheen of tears and he sighed, sinking even deeper into the chair, looking tired to his bones.

“I have already given you my advice. You know what you have to do.”

“But I’m scared,” she whispered, closing her eyes as she moved toward him, sinking to the floor and pressing her forehead to his knee. The admission spilled from her like a confession. She wasn’t even been able to say it to herself, but she knew she was safe with Dru. “I’m so scared.”

“We are all scared,” he murmured, patting her head lovingly. “I feel fear every day. I fear for you, Damen, the pack. But I must overcome it, or else I will never have my reward.”

He gestured toward his mate’s portrait with his glass, a wistful smile on his face. Hippolyta sniffled, nodding and breathing in Cole’s scent that was permeating the room.

“What was he doing in here?” she wondered, glancing around.

“He made the library his command center,” Dru chuckled, pointing toward a small room to the side, where she knew Dru had once held his private collection of books before moving it to their new home.

She staggered to her feet as Dru kept sipping his drink, happy to contemplate his mate’s face while she explored. Cole’s scent deepened with each step she took closer and she almost swooned on her feet, having missed it in the short time they were apart.

“He’s bad for me,” she whispered.

“He is the best thing that will ever happen to you,” Dru called, making her huff out an annoyed breath. “And I will not lie to make you feel better.”

“You never do,” she muttered petulantly, but she was too busy opening the door to the room where his scent was the strongest.

A bank of computers and screens filled the small space and she was immediately overwhelmed by just how much work he probably did on a daily basis. She knew he took care of all of their technology, ensuring they were up-to-date with security and their state-of-the-art systems, but now she staggered, wondering how much actually fell to him.

Peering at the screens, her eyes widened as she saw the camera feed from their home in Minnesota. There were cameras around the forest, strategically placed to monitor encroachment by Bloodthirsty.

She was aware that Ares and Pearce had worked with him to get the cameras working properly, adding more as the threat has grown, but she didn’t realize just how many there were and what it would mean for him.

How long did he watch these? Her eyes narrowed at the camera that she now saw was pointed directly at the door to her suite as well as the training center feed next to it.

Heat flushed her skin as she thought about him watching her all this time. She lifted her hand to clench her fist against the pang in her chest at the thought.

Another two screens were filled with gobbledygook that she couldn’t begin to comprehend. She knew, over the time that he was visiting their home in Minnesota, as well as the days they were in Greece so far, he had grumbled about the number of e-mails and requests he was receiving, but she was so focused on him and their mutual enjoyment of each other that she hadn’t paid attention.

All this time, she was focused on herself and her own growth, not really considering him at all. To her, he was the same boy who broke her heart.

Sitting in the chair that was shrouded in his masculine scent, her eyes went blurry. He wasn’t a boy anymore. He was a man now. A man that she didn’t know. Not really. One that she wanted to learn about so badly it made her heart ache.

She saw frames holding photos all around the table, cluttering the space, and she focused on them. A few held pictures of Castor, his mate Penelope, Nyx, and Pollux all hugged around a serious-faced Cole. All the others, dozens of them, held pictures of her. They were mostly candid, but there were a few posed, that she knew had to have come from Dru or her own parents.

The first time she held Niles, her eyes trained on his precious face was front and center. Her heart throbbed, wondering if he ever thought of her holding their own child. Pictures of her laughing and smiling crowded the space and she frowned.

Did he think I was happy without him? Is that why he stayed away?

For what felt like the millionth time, her heart shattered. It just wasn’t true. Every moment without him was torture, but she had shoved it to the back of her mind, pretending all was well instead.

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