Page 143 of Piece You Saved

“But it’s not just Rylan, is it?” I don’t know what she and Harley said to each other in the garden that day, but he hasn’t been back since, and she’s been sad and fighting to hide it.

“Dariel was talking about taking you for a run this weekend,” he says, changing the subject.

I decide if it’s worth pushing the issue because Saige is the very opposite of okay. If Kade is being this stubborn, it won’t be. “A run?”

He glances up at me, his gray eyes as fiercely direct as always. “Let your wolf run free.”

I take Saige’s seat at the table. “What’s wrong with the backyard?”

It’s where I’ve run for an hour each day, learning how to gain better control of my wolf, who still fights me whenever I want to shift back. The idea of letting him loose where I might run into people isn’t something I’m close to being ready for, no matter how much Kade might say it’s just an issue of being firm.

His eyes search mine, and he grins. “You have better control than Dariel or even me. You’ll be fine.”

I snort. “Well, that isn’t saying much.”

He smacks the back of my head before I can dodge. “Prick.”

“The backyard is fine.” I flash him a smile, which soon fades. “But out in the world… I don’t know about out there.”

For the first time in a long while, he’s serious. “Your wolf is still you, Aden. A wilder, less give-a-fuck version, but he’s still just a part of you. Look what happened with Dariel when he started treating his wolf as if he were so feral he had to keep locked him up.”

I raise my brow. “You know he can probably hear you from the garden?”

Kade glances toward the backdoor. “Good. Maybe he’ll stop hiding out in the garden and start using his brain.”

I wait for Dariel to say something. The only sound to reach us from the garden is more silence. Saige is hiding in her room, and Dariel is doing the same in the garden.

We can’t live like this.

I shove myself to my feet. “I’m going up to speak to her.”

His eyes find mine. “About Harley?”

“So, you acknowledge thereisa problem, then?” I raise my eyebrow.

He scowls at me and returns his focus to his laptop.

At the doorway, I shove my hands in my pocket. “Have you got any further with—”

He growls in frustration and scrubs a hand over his brow. “Nothing concrete.”

“You should call the cop,” I suggest. “You know, like Dariel suggested days ago.”

He gives me a look that feels like the equivalent of a slap to the back of the head. “You mean the cop who now knows what we are and who could bring down a shitload of trouble on us?”

“He hasn’t so far, so maybe he won’t.” It’s optimistic of me, but Detective Morgan seemed like a good man. I have faith he’ll keep our secret.

“Yes, because cops are our friends,” Kade says sarcastically as he focuses on his laptop.

“Remember when you said Detective Morgan was a brother and a man before he was a cop? I think there was some wisdom in that. I’ll be upstairs.” Turning, I walk out of the kitchen. “You should think about talking to Harley.”

“Should I?” he asks blandly.

Shaking my head, I leave him with a project that could give Saige a piece of her past she was missing before, and which is turning into a series of dead ends.

I move upstairs quietly. It isn’t intentional. My body is different. I have better balance, I’m faster, and my senses are more highly attuned.I’mdifferent. In almost all ways. One day, I’ll get used to those changes and they won’t feel so strange.

When I reach Saige’s bedroom, I pause at her open doorway. She’s on her side in bed, facing away from me. “Saige?”

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