Chapter 190
CAINE
I stare at the bathroom door, bemused by how quickly Grace shoved me out, like we’re teenagers caught in a compromising situation.
My tongue slides over my teeth as I adjust myself again, my body still raging with need. Especially after that brief moment where it seemed like she was about to—
A movement to my left catches my attention. Andrew. Coming out of the other bathroom with perfect fucking timing. Our eyes meet, and I catch the flicker in his expression before he manages to mask it. But there’s no hiding his scent: discontent.
He inclines his head at me before lying back down on the dinette-converted sleeping area.
He woke up at a convenient fucking time, didn’t he?
He’ll be gone tomorrow. Back to his master’s side where he belongs, Fenris reminds me, but the knowledge does nothing for irritation flickering through me.
I’d been so close to extending the intimacy with Grace…
It’s not just about tomorrow, I snap at my wolf.
The way she looks at him sometimes, like she trusts him even as she pretends not to, crawls under my skin. Granted, he seems loyal enough to the girl, and I have yet to find him attempting to contact his new Alpha, but I’m not stupid enough to trust a Blue Mountain cur.
He has clear feelings for Grace, even if he’s not acting on them. It isn’t good to keep him around, muddling the picture.
The quicker we can leave Blue Mountain again, the better for Grace. If it wasn’t for this damn energy transfer issue, I wouldn’t have allowed her to come back.
She doesn’t like her pack. You know this. Fenris’s voice in my mind is calm and reasonable, but it only serves to annoy me further. Control your temper before you scare her again.
My jaw tightens.
Besides, you should be more worried about how she’ll feel about you crushing the Alpha’s hand when she disappeared.
I bite back a growl. Sometimes my wolf is too damn helpful. We’ll make sure she doesn’t find out.
I’d like to think she wouldn’t mind, but she’d been devastated after killing Brax. The Alpha who’d treated her so poorly, and yet still became a wedge between me and my mate. Instead of considering me a savior, she’d seen me as a monster.
Grace is too soft-hearted, emotionally weak thanks to her human soul. My biggest mistake was letting her see the dark, gritty reality of pack life before she’d accepted our bond.
Fenris is silent in my head.
Then he suddenly drawls, Yeah, THAT’S where you went wrong.
I clear my throat as I settle onto the couch, already knowing this will be a night of restless, frustrated sleep.
Among other things, I admit grumpily, further irritated when Fenris snorts.
Across the living room, Jer suddenly flops on the bed. His new position causes him to snore.
I stare at the ceiling as lightning flashes, focusing on the sound of the rain against the roof and not the images of Grace’s sensual curves and the sound of her whimpers.
My already-aching cock refuses to settle, and I grind my teeth together, trying again to focus on the rain. On the annoying bastards I’ll have to see again once we officially return to Blue Mountain territory in the morning.
But instead I just keep hearing the way her breath hitched, my fingers twitching as they remember her heat, and all the things I wish I could have done to her if we weren’t so constrained by this damnable issue of ours.
* * *
As expected, I get no sleep, though my raging hard-on did fade—eventually.
An already tense morning is made worse by Grace’s obvious avoidance of me, even though it’s obvious she’s just embarrassed. Her red cheeks have been noted by even the children; Ron keeps asking if she’s okay and even privately pulls me aside to worry about her having some sort of fever.
The kid’s worried.
I sigh and pat Ron’s shoulder. “She’ll be fine in a few hours. Don’t worry about it p>
But it doesn’t ease his worry as he keeps observing her as we prepare to leave once again, our new normal.
I can’t help frowning at Grace as she carries Bun through the camper. The only time she’s met my eyes this morning is when I tried to take Bun away from her, and she gave me a defiant stare and said, “It’s fine p>
So, despite knowing how she’s probably mortified by our little connection last night, I’m on edge and irritated. Worried.
She hadn’t even eaten the four-pack of blueberry muffins I’d grabbed from the store for breakfast, handing them out to the children instead. Not that I mind, but the woman needs to eat something. She’s skin and bones, wasting away by day.
She looks the same as yesterday, my wolf observes calmly. It’s only been a few days, and you’re acting as if she’s lost fifty pounds.
There are dark circles under her eyes—
And yours.
—and she’s moving a little slower than usual.
Because you won’t stop staring at her. Aren’t you usually calmer after p>
I hesitate as I watch Grace and the younger children pile into Andrew’s car. Not my car. It rubs me the wrong way, more than ever.
Ah.
Scowling, I tear my eyes away from my mate as she clips Bun into her carseat and stomp toward the truck, where Ron’s already inside, fiddling with the radio.
Ah, what? I snap.
You know she won’t ever go back to that pathetic pup of an Alpha. Worrying about it is pointless.
Sharing your thoughts with a wolf makes moments like these particularly frustrating. “That bastard would never have the courage to approach her if Grace would just let me tell the pack she’s my mate p>
It takes all my control not to rip the door off its hinges as I hop into the truck.
Ah, Fenris goes, and then says, Well, it’s fine.
He sounds far too calm, and I snarl, “It’s not fine p>
Ron stares at me, then at the pillow between us—something I’d snatched from Grace’s bed during our preparations to leave—but then looks out the window instead of asking what’s wrong. He’s a smart kid.
It’s better if he approaches her, my wolf says, still eerily calm. Then we have a reason to kill him.
My bad mood lifts instantly.