Page 61 of Broken-Hearted

We spend another day together, mostly in bed napping, talking and getting crumbs everywhere because we don’t eat at the dining table like we should. It’s nighttime when I let Nathan bully me into going to his pack’s run.

“We can go together,” he says.

“Nope. I missed Martha’s call, so I want to speak to her first. Oh, and you keep forgetting your phone here,” I remind him.

He kisses me. “I don’t forget it. You need it more than I do.”

I smile. “Thanks.”

“I can hang around and we can shift here together,” he offers.

I poke him in the chest. “You just want to see me naked. I’ll see you there.”

“Or we could stay?” he suggests.

“Now, who is the sex-crazed monster?” I quip.

“We’re meeting by the lake.” He flashes me a grin, and I laugh when he nearly walks into a wall as he leaves.

I watch him go, and I don’t realize I’m smiling until my cheeks hurt.

After lying in bed for a bit, I drag myself out of bed to call Martha, who does not pick up, then have a quick shower before I join the Blackshaws for a run.

I shift before I leave, arriving to find a pack of wolves relaxing beside the lake. Everyone gets to their feet and angles their head toward me, a sign they were waiting for me.

I’m not sure I would have volunteered to come to this pack run if Nathan hadn’t insisted, but after a two hour run through their forest, I’m glad I did.

It was more fun than I thought I would have.

I retreat a little further away from the Blackshaws to shift back, taking the shirt that Nathan presses into my hand. He’s in a pair of board shorts and I’m trying very hard not to be caught staring at his chest. “You can wear this, if you want.”

I have a feeling it’s less about covering up my nudity and more about him wanting me to smell like him.

But I slip the shirt over my head. “Thanks.”

After everyone has finished dressing, Talis suggests we go to the house for a snack.

Marshall and Jenna missed the run, opting to watch the twins since she’s so close to giving birth now. She won’t shift again until after her baby is born.

I’m walking toward the house with Nathan when Dayne calls out my name.

“Yeah?” I twist to face him.

“Can I have a word?” Dayne asks.

Instantly, I assume I’ve done something wrong. When the pack alpha requests a word with you, it’s hard not to think you’ve messed up. “About what?”

Nathan hangs back, frowning. “Dayne?”

Dayne glances at him. “I need five minutes with her, Nate. You can go ahead.”

Nathan hesitates.

“That was not a question.” Dayne looks at me. “That okay with you, Clara?”

I bounce my gaze between them and nod. “Uh, sure.”

As long as it doesn’t end with me being chewed out for something.

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