Page 82 of Smoke and Moon

Pull it back, man, for a bit.

When she arched a brow at him, and a flirty smile stretched her beguiling lips, Aodh realized he had not shielded his thoughts from her.The link was still open from him being in his dragon form, and he’d forgotten to monitor it when he shifted with so much going on.

“How are you doing right now?”He reached beside him and placed a hand on her thigh, more for comfort than to start the seduction that he had plans for later that night.

Kai sat still momentarily as she stared down at her hands in her lap.There was quietness around her, and he could tell she was taking a moment to assess herself before she spoke.When she looked up, the corners of her eyes were tight, but there was still more peace in her gaze than the hurt that had been there before they made it up to their suite.

“Better.”She glanced toward the dark window; their view wasn’t in the actual direction her sister had gone, but he understood that her glance was more metaphoric.“I don’t know how I’ll get on without her around daily.We’ve never been apart if we don’t count the days she lay locked in your glass tank.”She gave him a side-eye, but the soft curl at one corner of her lip eased the blow that would have been there weeks ago.

He nodded, acknowledging her words but giving her space to process them out loud.

“Will he be good to Morlie?”

Aodh knew this was coming, and he could hear that question in multiple forms rolling around in her mind.He brushed his thumb along her thigh.“I can’t promise many things outside of my Thunder, but Chanin is an Alpha I respect.His taking over the Lupines had been beneficial in many ways since the wolves’ last leader.I’ve no doubt Chanin will care for her and place his mate first in every possible way he can.”

“That’s good to hear.”She leaned toward him and covered his hand.

He marveled at how much smaller hers was than his.

“May I contact her?Isn’t there a cross-territory radio at the communication center?”

He knew she referred to the various radios that Hugo’s teams monitored.When he’d given her a tour, Comms had been one of the places he’d shown her.He didn’t like to tell his mate no and realized he needed to be delicate in his reasoning around denying her request.

“Not at this time, mate.”

Kai removed her hand from his and linked it with the other one in her lap.It was clear he’d not given her the response she wanted.“Why not?”

Refusing to allow her to place distance between them, he slid his hand up her thigh until he could wrap it around her clasped fingers.“Do you recall how it was for you when I first brought you into our territory?”

“Well, my sister was sick, and her failing health stressed me.”

“And?”he encouraged her to dig deeper.

“Well, it was strange here...”She swallowed, then rushed on, “I mean different.I didn’t know anyone.”

He smiled, letting her see he wasn’t offended by her accurate description.He couldn’t fully relate to her feelings because even though the humans did many things differently than his kind, they had lived among them for over a century.Even if only one percent of the population, the world governments knew they existed.

“And how did you feel?”

“Scared.Very scared,” she repeated.“And uncomfortable.Like a honeybee in water, I felt stunned because I didn’t fit in your area and the world outside of the Wall.Nothing appeared as it did in vids or as described in books and records in the archives.I didn’t know how to navigate your size, the spaces around me, or the fright in seeing how your kind could breathe fire and smoke at will.”She turned one of her hands up and laced her fingers with his.“Also, for a while, I was pretty sure Ninki wanted to kill me.”

Aodh chuckled.“But it’s not the Drahks’ style to harm another’s mate regardless of previous relationships.”

“Thank the Great Spirit for that.”She exhaled dramatically.

“Right.Well, since you all have been here, Morlie, just like you, needed to learn the world around her, who my people were, and the Drahk way of life.”He brought their linked hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles a few times before continuing.“However, she’ll be the same as you were on day one in the wolf-shifter environment.Morlie will need time to find her place and adjust.”

“Are you telling me that contact with me will make that more difficult?”

He released her hand only to take her by the waist and haul her from her chair and into his lap.

Kai gasped but settled against him quickly.

“I’m saying it will be harder for her to navigate her way if she can use you as a crutch.A reason to give up if it gets hard and escape back here.”

“Is my sister not welcomed on dragon land since she went with the wolves?”A small crease showed between Kai’s brows as she pushed against his chest and stared at him.

“It’s more complex than that.But, right now, I’m saying Morlie made her choice...the right choice for everyone involved.Still, she needs time to come to terms with all the facets of that decision.”

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