Page 26 of Dead Wolf Falling (Bad Moon Academy 2)

Draco, Everett, and Carter are staring at the wall when I look over to see if they notice I’m about to cry, saving me the embarrassment of making an excuse. Clearing my throat, I sit on the bed and force every ounce of sadness deep inside of me and lock it away the same way I did after rehab. Your feelings can only hurt you if you let them.

Adler returns after a minute, looking more like himself in the new clothes, and sits next to me on the bed. A bit later, after an awkward silence fills the room and we all stare at each other like we don’t know how to behave in social settings, Brayden returns with a cart which holds six cots with pathetically thin mattresses. No one is going to be comfortable, but I’d rather know they’re all here than worry about whether Jinx has returned to feed on them.

After helping get Layla tucked into my bed next to Bea, I climb onto one of the cots with a grim face. Any mattress, no matter how uncomfortable or thin, is better than sleeping on the floor.

Adler squats near my bed, dropping down low enough that we’re eye to eye.

“I’m sorry, Raven.” His face pinches, and I can practically hear him berating himself inside his head.

Reaching out and grabbing his hand, I give it a hard squeeze. “You tried, Adler. You came back like you promised. That’s all that matters. It’s not your fault I rushed back in.”

He sighs and tosses a glance over his shoulder, taking in the shifters who all peer at us with unabashed curiosity. When he turns back to me, his amber eyes are filled with sadness. I wrap my arms around his neck and yank him toward me. He inhales, and I can’t keep a little smile from tugging at my lips.

“I hate to say it, because it’s selfish, but there’s no other fae I’d rather be imprisoned with.” I make sure to stress the word fae so as not to upset the other guys.

Adler chuckles, and his hands cup my cheeks, tilting my head so I’m forced to meet his gaze. One of his thumbs brushes over my bottom lip, and he sighs.

“I knew you were trouble when you walked in.”

I frown, and his lips twitch. He drops his hands from my face, stands, and heads to his cot.

Everett takes in Adler like a man who realized there’s someone else the woman he’s after might be interested in, and the look has me on edge.

Didn’t you say there were five?

Joan hums.Oh, so you were listening.

Of course I was. Are we going to have a problem here?

No.She chuffs.The eagle is your nurturer. The harem will not work without him.

I volley my gaze between the men who are supposedly mine. Draco gives me a cruel smirk and runs a knuckle over his lip. Brayden side-eyes his twin, watching my reaction before giving me a smile which manages to be more inviting and all the more vicious than Draco’s at the same time. His eyebrows draw down over his eyes, hiding what he’s thinking from me, but his thumb gently traces over his cheek. A reminder of who and what he is.

Unable to stare at him longer without feeling thoroughly unsettled, I swing my attention to Everett who nods and yanks his shirt over his head, revealing his ripped stomach and chest before crawling under the sheet on his cot. Carter scoffs and shakes his head, meeting my gaze with a steady intensity which worries me most of all.

Truly accepting them means opening myself to the possibility of heartbreak.

Then again, how can they break something that’s already shattered?

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