Page 118 of The Hunt of Night

“Pizza, then more books?” I offer, and she shakes her head again.

“Pizza, but no more books.”

“No?” I ask, not bothering to find my clothes as I grab the bag with four small pizza boxes inside. I place them on the bed beside us, and Addi waits until she has my full attention before she speaks again.

“No, I want to do that again.”

46

CASSIAN

The familiar scent of Janie’s hits my nose the second I slip through the back door and hide in the dark corridor that leads straight into the kitchen. I take a moment, listening to my surroundings, but all I can hear is the sound of the steak grill sizzling. It’s talking directly to my stomach.

Remembering why I’m actually here, I run my tongue over my bottom lip and push through the doors.

“It’s been too long,” I state, locking eyes with Jake, Janie’s husband, and he leaps out of his skin as he whirls around to face me. His spatula is raised and aimed in my direction. I cock a brow at him and he waves me off.

“Warn a man, Cass,” he gripes, and I scoff.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You like it when I keep you on your toes,” I insist, stepping farther into the room as he works through the order on the ticket in front of him.

“If you say so,” he grumbles, a hint of a smile on his lips.

I take another tentative step toward him. The quiet that surrounds him isn’t laced with calm. I can feel the tension rippling from him.

Clearing my throat, I cut the remaining distance between us so I’m standing by the grill with him. “How have things been?”

He pauses but doesn’t lift his stare from the steak that has his full attention. “You want the everyday bullshit or the truth?”

“The truth, always the truth,” I breathe, stealing a breath as I brace for his words, but he keeps them clipped.

“It’s fucked, man.”

I sigh. “I had a feeling it would be. What can I do to?—”

“You will do nothing, Cass,” he interjects, turning his spatula in my direction again.

“But—”

“The way you care, the way you think, it’s the way of a leader. Not like…” His words trail off, refusing to admit that my father, his alpha, is not fit for the job. He doesn’t have the best interests of the pack at the heart of his actions. Just himself and his fully inflated ego that seeks more and more power.

“I can’t keep leaving you all to this,” I admit, scrubbing the back of my neck, and a second later, he pats me on the back, spatula forgotten.

“You’re not, man. You’re preparing us for a better future. We’ll feel the benefits of it eventually,” he insists, his words taking root in my bones.

“But what if I don’t?—”

“What if you don’t what?” he interrupts again, eyebrows raised as he waits for me to spit it out, acutely aware that I have his undivided attention.

My gut twists as I think about my pack and the innocent people I left behind. “What if I’m not the new heir?”

Thoughts of Adrianna shoot to the forefront of my mind. My gut knows who the true heir is, who it should have been all along, but what does that mean for my people?

“You thinking about that fae girl Janie keeps rambling on about?” he asks, eyes searching mine as the door to the main dining area swings open.

“I donotramble,” the lady herself says, wagging a finger at her husband before her concerned eyes flit my way. “What are you doing here? It’s not safe,” she rushes out, cutting the distance between us to wrap me in her arms.

I bask in her familiar warm embrace as she rocks me from side to side.

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