Page 62 of Claimed By Blood

“Pause,” I add, helpfully.

“Abriefpause,” he stresses. “Now it’s been a hard few days. I’m getting some rest. So shut up or clear out.”

Good,I think.He needs it.

“You guys have a separate room across the hall,” Evie murmurs to her sisters and Mia. She extracts herself from Finn and Draven, then slides off the bed and heads for the door. “I’ll show you where it is.”

With her gone, Finn heads straight for the piles of our equipment, searching through it without paying the rest of us any further attention. Draven collapses into true sleep with a loud snore that makes me grin. I guess that leaves my brother and Frost to help me sort out what’s happening within our pack.

Making eye contact with them, I jerk my head towards the door.

“What’s going on with Gideon?” I ask, as soon as we’re all outside, with the door muffling our words. “Finn…”

Vane sighs and leans back against the wall of the corridor. “That would be my fault.”

I tilt my head to one side. “How?”

“Gid was hyper-fixating. I took him to Finn to see if he could snap him out of it… I’m not sure what happened in there, but when Finn came and got me, the room reeked of sex, and he was stressing.” Vane glowers at the door. “It’s Gideon’s mess, but I’m pretty sure the idiot has no idea how to fix it.”

Frost groans. “Just what we need, an alpha with hyper-fixation who’s pissed off the only omega who could do something about it.”

That just about sums it up. “Hopefully, some time with Evie will clear Finn’s head and the enforced R and R will bring Gideon’s intensity down a few notches.” At least, I hope it will.

If not, there’s a chance Evie might be able to distract him, but Gid has his thrall bond locked down tight.

“Do either of you feel like this is just…”

“Too good to be true?” I ask.

Vane grunts. “Yeah. How often does a Cain-free paradise pop up and open its doors to us?”

“Never.” Frost tugs at the scruffy stubble at the side of his face. “Keep an eye on them, though. I want this to be genuine, but there’s something… iffy about this place. And no one can remain hidden forever. I don’t want to be taken off guard if Cain somehow follows us here.”

Wise words. Vane nods once. “I’ll have a quiet look around,” he mutters. “Listen in on what people are saying.” He pauses, looking back at the door. “Silas, you need to keep an eye on Finn and Gideon. Try to keep them out of each other’s way until it looks like they’re ready to work on their issues constructively.”

I will not call my big brother bossy. I will not call my big brother—“Yes, sir.” My mock salute is the crowning finish which earns me a pointed glare from both him and Frost.

Tough. Someone needs to keep them humble.

It’s a good call, though. Finn isn’t combative by nature, but the omega has always had ways of making his displeasure clear when the pack has a falling out. Last time I pissed him off, he ‘accidentally’ used salt rather than sugar in the batch of biscuits he was baking. The time before that, a ‘laundry machine malfunction’ meant that all of my clothes shrank three sizes.

And, being the one in charge of shopping for the whole pack, he didn’t feel in the least bit guilty. If anything, he probably secretly relished the chance to go out and buy me a whole new wardrobe.

If Gid is on edge, our omega’s quiet displays of displeasure won’t help—no matter how justified they may be.

“I’m going to keep an eye on Immy and Morwen,” Frost mumbles, staring at the two doors opposite us. “I trust Mia, but those two… If one of them is a spy, they could ruin everything.”

“Cain hasn’t caught up to us yet,” I argue. “He’s not the kind of person to let Evie’s defection stand. If he knew where to find us, we’d be six feet under.”

Frost shakes his head. “Maybe.”

“If I were him, I’d use us to find Samuel and take care of the threat all at once,” Vane mutters. “Makes more sense.”

“But with multiple targets, there’s more chance of someone slipping through the net,” I say. “Besides, Samuel might have told other people. I would’ve done so in his position.”

Frost shakes his head. “If a whole group of people had a way to kill Cain, why haven’t they done it? I thought I understood it when we thought Samuel was alone and on the run. Now… have you seen this place? They probably have enough resources to pull off an assassination. Cain would never see it coming. He has no idea they even exist.”

That worrying thought leaves a grim silence in its wake. For the first time since Samuel’s survival was confirmed, I start to question whether this trip will actually prove fruitful.

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