Page 141 of Awakened

“I’ll find him, sweetheart,” I reply, frowning when the worry doesn’t disappear from the lines of her face.

“What if—will he—is he still here, do you think?”

Oh, my poor girl. She has no idea. None at all.

This is exactly what I was worried about. If her Omega were closer to the surface, if she knew how to lean into her designation and trust that part of her—she wouldn’t be anywhere near as worried.

She’d understand that there can never be jealousy or anger between Soren and me when it comes to her. Not her. The only thing either of us cares about is her happiness. Period

“Sweetheart,” I crouch down, taking her hands in mine. “I promise you—Soren’s fine. He’s not angry about what we did. There will be plenty of moments when you want to be with just one of us. There will also be plenty of times you’ll want both of us at once,” I wink, and she blushes. “There will also be times when you want to be alone for a while. That’s okay too. This is new for all of us, but the one thing you need to remember is that no matter what, both Soren and I want to see you happy more than anything else in the whole fucking world. That’s all that matters to both of us. Everything else, we’ll figure out.”

I don’t wait for a reply, standing and exiting the bathroom, making sure the door clicks shut behind me as I do. I don’t walk from the door, though. Instead, I stand next to it silently until I hear the sound of water sloshing in the bath.

I turn from the door, jumping when I come face to face with Soren standing right behind me, hands in the pockets of his jeans and a smirk on his face.

“Sorry.” His grin widens before he grimaces, explaining, “I had to leave, or I was going to—ah…” He trails off awkwardly.

I wave him off. “I get it. And thanks. For giving us that time together.”

He inclines his head, then gestures to the bedroom door behind him. “Your asshole Packmate says he found something he wants to speak to you about.”

“Which one?” I ask without sarcasm.

“The one who didn’t buy our Omega panties,” he responds flatly, making me groan.

Dax is the last person I want to speak to right now.

“Alright,” I sigh. “Let Idril know I’m checking in with the Pack if she asks. She’s taking a bath and relaxing.”

“Good,” Soren nods, crossing the room toward the couch in the sitting area. He snatches the remote off the coffee table and clicks on the TV, then—before I can stop him—throws himself down on the couch, right where Idril and I had just been.

Soren’s shoulders tighten. He angles his head to the side, nostrils flaring like—well, a fucking wolf. Wolven have way better senses than vampires, so when he lets out a low moan and reaches down to adjust himself, I cringe, raising my fist to my mouth and smothering my laugh.

Soren turns a narrow-eyed glare on me. “If I wind up knotting this couch, it’s on you.”

I bark a laugh and decide now would be a good time to hightail it out of here. Once I’m nearly at the door, I ask, “Need me to grab you a towel or should I add a cleaning bill to your tab?”

His growl is more wolf than man, and I barely dodge the pillow he whips at me, slamming the door shut right as it hits the wood with a muffled thud.

Even though I know I’m headed toward an inevitable showdown with Daxen, I smile.

Yeah… pretty sure I like the wolven.

Chapter 17

Vaelenor

Something’s watching me.

My entire life, I’ve relied heavily on my instincts. Almost every decision I’ve made over hundreds of years was made following my gut. Now I’m standing on my balcony overlooking the back training yard and the forest beyond, wondering why the fuck I ignored them the one fucking time it mattered the most.

I squint into the forest, using my enhanced eyesight to pick apart the shadows. Last night, I decided I won’t ever ignore my instincts again, and that starts now.

It’s mid-afternoon. The sun’s casting long shadows across the yard, but I fucking swear I saw yellow eyes blinking at me through the low brush a minute ago. But now they’re… gone.

It doesn’t really matter, though. I know what it was—that fucking cat from the Varenthrall Estate. I haven’t seen or thought about it since the night Idril arrived, but I know down to my very bones that it’s out there.

“Here kitty, kitty,” I murmur like a fucking psycho, leaning over the ledge like the extra ten inches might help.