Page 159 of Caelum

When Eren found me as I headed out of the gym, I wanted to weep and sag into his arms. Instead, I hooked my arm in his—the most contact and affection I was allowed with any of the Packs in public—and leaned into him.

“Tired?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Exhausted.”

The details of the mission Damon and Merinda had been sent on was unknown to us all, but I wished, with all my heart, that they hadn’t gone today and that my first day of the new classes was beginning tomorrow instead.

“Hungry?”

I shook my head. “No. I just want a shower then a nap.” When he led me toward my room, taking me across the foyer and to the closest staircase to the front door, I stalled. “No. I want to stay with Nestor again.”

In the four days since Nestor had been released from the sickbay, I’d been sleeping in his room. Sure, it went against Academy rules and broke the curfew, but I wasn’t about to stop now. Even if my falling asleep early in the evening cramped his style.

Selfish, maybe, but I didn’t want to be alone. Not after the long day I’d had.

Eren hummed under his breath but guided me to Nestor’s room. As always, he was considerate. He didn’t speak much, just let me lean against him.

Today’s gym session had been much worse than any other I’d had. Until now, I’d been building endurance.

Apparently, it hadn’t worked.

Not if the fighting stances I’d had to learn in this afternoon’s class were anything to go by.

If this was day one, I wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow.

FIFTEEN

NESTOR

“You awake?”

My eyes fluttered open at her whispered words. “Yeah.” Then I cringed, figuring she was awake because she was sleeping on my sofa, which couldn’t be comfortable. I looked over at the clock and saw it was just after midnight, and I knew she needed sleep. “It’s okay, Eve, you can go back to your room if you want. You must be uncomfortable on the sofa.”

I heard rustling sheets and turned my head to look at her.

My room was a pretty simple configuration. There was a double bed on the back wall that looked out onto the ocean, and to the right of that window, there was a TV and the sofa facing it. The positioning meant I could see Eve, and that was why I’d kept my head turned aside. Watching her was too addictive, and I didn’t want to creep her out.

Somehow, I was her mate too. The mark on her palm was proof of that.

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop my excitement from surging to the front.

Now was definitely not the time to be thinking such things. Definitely not.

No.

More rustling sheets, then the sudden waft of her fragrance that had mygouillestirring. Ever since she’d claimed him, thegouillehad been stronger than ever.

I had to wonder if she was drawing my creature out of me as she hadwith Dre. Although, with Dre, she’d done that before she’d received the mark.

We had no theories as to what the fuck was going down, but we knew Eve was beyond special, and that something tied us all together. Something which was priceless and in need of protection yet would be frowned upon by the faculty.

I tilted my head to the side, aware she was standing there in a pair of sleep shorts and a shirt. She wasn’t dressed provocatively in any way, but she was my Chosen. She didn’t have todoanything provocative to entice me. She did that by fucking breathing.

Licking my lips, I asked, “Eve? Are you going to your room?”

She’d been sleeping here since I’d left the sickbay, and though it was both torturous and delightful, I was kind of sad at the prospect of her leaving.

“No. C-Can I get in with you?”

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