Page 59 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

I shrugged one shoulder, unsure how to respond. I was confused, concerned, and about a million other things I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It wasn’t a good answer, so I kept it to myself.

“I’m better than expected,” Bri said with a forced smile. “At least now weknow. What the heck to do with this information… no idea. But we know, and that’s something.”

“Knowledge is power,” Leigh murmured, giving Bri’s arm a supportive squeeze.

“Exactly. And believe it or not, I got a message back from Aunt Kari earlier. She said she’d love to meet and asked when we’d be back in Johnson City.”

“That’s good news,” I said, finally summoning a smile. “She’s got to know something about… all this, right? At least the curse part.”

“I hope so.” Bri blew out an unsteady breath. Gael and Kane finished their conversation off to the side, and Gael took a position at the mouth of the hallway, ready to stand guard for the rest of the night. I pretended I didn’t see Leigh checking out his butt, even though sheabsolutelydid.

“We should all get some sleep, my love.” Kane spoke quietly as he walked up to Brielle’s side.

Leigh yawned, then nodded. “I agree. I’m beat. See you babes on the flip side.”

At first,I curled up in the giant king-sized bed as I waited for Dirge to come to our room. But then the nerves got to me, and I moved to sit on the edge. Being nervous was first-rate stupidity, but telling myself that didn’t tamp down the wild beaver that had taken up residence in my stomach. There weren’t any trees in there, so he was just gnawing on me instead.

So much had happened, and we’d had no time alone. Other than earlier, when we’d almost fallen into this very bed. But now there was the fact that I was at least some part fae, possibly immortal, and oh yeah, we had somehow created a fractured soul bond.

Nothing at all to derail a couple. Ugh.

Was he going to be weirded out that I might be immortal? That still worried me. He hadn’t seemed bothered when he’dbeen taking all the air out of my lungs with thatkiss. My panties got soaked just remembering how his lips felt on mine.

The nerves had me wanting to stand up and pace, but I didn’t want him toknowI was nervous. If confidence was sexy, then jaw-clenching, leg-shaking anxiety had to be a whole ’nother level ofun-sexy.

There was a soft knock at the door, and then he was there, letting himself into the room and stopping my mental gymnastics with his dominating presence. He was drop-dead gorgeous, and my pulse picked up as we locked eyes. I had to resist the urge to squirm, the heat building in my belly as he crossed the room.

“Hi,” I murmured.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said. The cocky half grin I’d already come to love was there, but there was a sadness in his eyes that didn’t mesh with the heat I was feeling.

“Everything okay?” I asked, even though I was suddenly scared the answer was no.

“Not exactly,” he murmured, stopping in front of me. He raked his hand through his hair, and I gasped when I caught sight of his hand.

“For Goddess’s sake, what happened? Did you and Reed get into a fight? Oh, shit. Did Finn’s sleuth come back?” I stood and carefully grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand closer so I could see his bloodied, busted-up knuckles.

“No, nothing like that. Just… got a little angry and decided to box with a tree.”

“Umm.” I stared at him, confused. What the hell had happened in the last twenty minutes that had him beating the fuck out of a tree? “Should I ask what you were angry about?”

His sigh was weary, and his shoulders were tense under my fingertips after I dropped his hand.

“You can tell me anything,” I whispered, searching his face as if the answers were written in the sculpted shape of hiseyebrows or the hard line of his jaw. The jaw I wanted to kiss every inch of.

Clearly not the time, Shay,I scolded myself as he slipped his arms around my back and buried his nose in my hair.

He drew in a few deep breaths, dragging my scent into his lungs as if it was what kept him upright.

“I don’t think we can take the bond any further, but I don’t know how to do that without hurting you.”

Shock and anger whipped through me like a tornado. Whoosh, there went a flying cow, because it was soft concern to unbridled fury in a second flat.

I jerked back like he’d slapped me. “What do you mean, we shouldn’t take the bond further? Why would you say that?”

Chagrin was on his face, but a solemn resolve too. And itreallypissed me off.

“It’s for your own good, Shay. I?—”

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