Page 45 of Caelum

I had a feeling that would wane once I was used to the miracle that was a TV.

Still, because I wasn’t as absorbed as the rest of the room in the movie, I saw him first. He was a bit like Nestor in coloring, with olive skin and dark hair. But he was pale, a little washed out, and his cheeks were gaunt. His dark hair wasn’t as rich as Nestor’s and didn’t gleam like black silk. The clothes he wore hung on him, and there was something in his eye that had me nuzzling into Stefan.

The faint movement stirred Stefan’s attention. His gaze drifted from the movie and to me—he called it checking in on me—and when it returned to the screen, he froze when he saw the boy in the door.

When he released a kind of whooping sound, I jolted in surprise and lost my balance, tumbling into the cushions as he jumped straight up and rushed over to the boy hollering, “Alexandre!”

And even though I was relieved that Alexandre was finally awake, a part of me wondered if my time with Stefan, Eren, and Nestor had just run out.

What use was a dimwitted girl when they had their friend back?

TWELVE

STEFAN

As I rushed over to my bud, I knew Nestor and Eren were at my back. But seeing Dre, I realized that he’d been through the wringer more than I’d expected.

He looked like he’d lost about ten pounds, and considering we ate as much as we did and worked out like fiends, those ten pounds would be easily regained, but it was a testament to how bad his concussion had been that he’d lost it in the first place.

His skin was pale and his hair looked like shit. The guy used so much product on that damn hair that I wasn’t sure if it looked limp because it wasn’t coated in gel or if it was further proof of how sick he’d been.

I clapped him on the back when I reached his side. “Dre, what the fuck, man? You look like you should still be in sickbay.”

Dre grunted. “You’re as bad as the nurses. I’m okay. Just tired.”

“All the more reason to stay in bed,” Eren drawled, and Dre flipped him the bird, making me grin.

“I was sick of bed. I need to get back on my feet.”

There were two reasons why he’d want to haul ass. One: because he wanted to beat the shit out of Frazer and Reed as soon as possible. Two: because it would shortly be time to go to the mainland.

Neither was an option. Not with him looking as shitty as he did.

“Why did you sleep so long?” Nestor questioned, his brow puckering. “The nurses wouldn’t tell us shit.”

“You know they won’t until we’re official,” Dre excused, running a hand over his head so he could rub the back of his neck.

Packs weren’t allowed to be selected until we hit twenty. That was three months away. The second Dre hit that big 2-0, he could declare us his Pack. Didn’t matter that we were still nineteen, that was just the way it worked here.

“That explains nothing,” Eren stated, grabbing Dre’s arm and hauling him over to the sofa. I knew why too. Dre looked like he was about to fall down.

As we crossed the room, I saw Eve was watching us with those big eyes of hers that seemed to see way more than I wanted her to. The orbs were usually molten hot when she looked at me, and I knew she wasn’t aware of it. Wasn’t aware of the silent promise she made me every time she looked my way.

The tight bun she wore her hair in drew my attention to the sharp crests of her cheeks, and I longed to stroke that tender flesh with my fingers, to anoint it with my lips. Because those were dangerous thoughts, I let my gaze drift away. Noticing she wore a pair of black yoga pants that did fine things to her ass, and one of Nestor’s plaid shirts that he wore in winter, I knew I’d leaped straight from the frying pan and right into the fire.

Every part of her set me alight, and it was only the fact that she didn’t know it that forced me to control myself.

Seeing her in Nestor’s shirt, though, I had to hide a smile. I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t boiling hot in the thick plaid, but she seemed to prefer the swathes of fabric. I didn’t mind, mostly because my dick might implode if I saw her tits in a tight shirt, but also because I figured it made sense. Clothes were her security blanket, and I wasn’t about to take that away. Not when she’d already made a huge stride about wearing the pants, which I knew she loathed.

Her features were drawn, her expression fearful as she watched us move toward her, and concern filled me. Why was she scared of us?

The closer we became, the more on edge she seemed until, two feet away, she jumped up and said, “Hello, nice to meet you,” then scurried away.

I almost groaned at the sight of her butt as she moved. She didn’t know she did it, but each step had her ass cheeks squishing together like one of the strippers I’d seen in a titty bar one time. It was like she rolled her hips or something. Either that or it was because she had an ass at all. Most of the women here were honed from years of training. Eve, on the other hand, was soft and gentle.

My hands curled into fists at the thought of having access to all of her at some point, but for the moment, I just had to concentrate on getting her to stop running.

I leaped forward and grabbed a hold of her waist before she could head out and disappear into the library—again. “Where are you going?” I questioned, leaning toward her so my breath would whisper over her ear.

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