Page 21 of These Deadly Dreams

“Where is he?” I ask tentatively. I’m still not sure where we stand after everything, or how I feel.

“Out for a run,” Cade replies.

“He does that a lot, doesn’t he?”

Cade studies me for a second. “Do you want an honest answer?”

“Always.”

“It’s the easiest way for him to keep his wolf in check. Right now, I’m willing to bet his wolf is ten times harder to control. It’s almost impossible for a wolf to not claim their mate, and it’s been hard on him. On both of them.”

“Well, doesn’t that just make me feel like shit.” I sit up and draw my knees to my chest. “I’m trying,” I whisper.

Cade sighs. “That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I’m not blaming you, Ellis. I get it, we all get it. But that’s why he stays away so much. Sterling can only remain strong for so long.” He leans forward to kiss my forehead, then pats Kai roughly on the cheek, earning himself a string of curse words, before heading to the door. “Hurry up. Library. Ten minutes.”

“When did he become a drill sergeant?” Kai grumbles as he slowly climbs out of bed. “Shower together?”

I raise a questioning brow. “I thought you didn’t feel good?”

He answers my question with a groan, clutching his stomach and hunching over. “I don’t, but water conservation is very important to me,” he says through gritted teeth.

I snort but follow him to the bathroom.

He eyes the sunken tub with longing. “Fucking Cade,” he mutters. “Ten minutes my ass.”

“Come on,” I say, and lead him to the shower. “You’re moving slower than a sloth, and we don’t want to piss Cade off.”

We shower together, and the only reason we are able to keep it PG is because Kai can barely stand up straight. It was a challenge of my self control that I managed to not jump him at the sight of him naked and wet, with water droplets sliding down his tattooed chest. By the time we stepped out of the shower and dried off, we were already late.

I shiver as I emerge from the steamy bathroom, a dull ache in my neck and shoulders making me wince. Before we leave the bedroom, I rifle through Kai’s closet and pull out a black hoodie with the white Altair University logo across the front.

“Are you cold? It’s the middle of summer.” Kai says as I pull the hoodie over my head.

“A little. The wet hair doesn’t help.” I lift the hood and snuggle into the warm material.

He eyes me, but says nothing. We walk to the library hand in hand, and I have to take a moment to think about how far I’ve come. Never in a million years would have I thought I’d be walking through Thorne Estate holding the Prince of Nightmare’s hand. I’m reminded of the conversation Allie and I had three weeks ago at the River’s Edge, the little cafe in downtown Altair. We’d been looking at a sexy picture of Kai and I told her Kai would make some woman happy one day. She’d said something about him eating her first. I giggle. Who’d have thought I’d be that woman whom he makes happy, and yeah, maybe there is some eating thrown in there, too.

“What’s so funny?” he asks as he squeezes my hand.

“Nothing. Just remembering a conversation Allie and I had a while ago.”

He hums. “That conversation wouldn’t happen to have involved me, would it?”

I slap a hand over my heart in mock outrage. “What? No! Never!”

“Mm-hm.” He shakes his head, but pushes open the library door and ushers me inside.

“That took longer than ten minutes,” Cade says from the couch. His face is lit up by the laptop screen, his violet eyes glowing.

Sterling snorts, but keeps scrolling on his phone. I have to force my gaze away from him and his naked chest. Always freaking naked.

“Sorry, mom. I’m moving at the pace of a sloth, according to Ellis.”

“It’s true, he is.” I plop onto the couch next to Cade, and stifle a groan. Damn, my neck is really hurting.

Kai sits next to me and tucks me under his arm. “So, what did you find?”

“Well, Aunt Madge said to look for a building that caused a lot of controversy when it sold ten years ago. I dug through some old news reports, and there was one incident that created a stir eleven years ago.”

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