Chapter 3
The cabin wasn’t what I expected. Maybe I should have taken Thane’s words to heart a little more. From the outside, it resembled any old cabin in the woods. Utterly unremarkable. But inside, it was a different story.
It was spacious and cozy. Dim lighting from a fireplace on the far side of the room, and an open kitchen with a baker’s block island in the middle.
The entire inside appeared to be one giant room with a single door on the far wall.
The room was divided into a living space and a sleeping space.
Two recliners and a sofa in front of the fireplace and TV mounted to the wall, and then a king-sized bed across from that on its own separate half of the room.
It was like a rustic studio apartment in the best way.
“Rustic” might not even be the word for it.
Everything was clean and kept up, and along the walls were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stacked with not only paperback books but random trinkets and collectibles.
The floor was covered in thick, furry carpeting in the living room and, in the kitchen, a sort of aggregate that looked like a bed of small pebbles.
Hands clamped down softly on my shoulders softly, and breath tickled my ear as Thane whispered, “What did I tell you, love?”
I huffed a laugh as I leaned into his touch. I couldn’t help it. There was a magnetic sort of pull between us that I could physically feel, like a buzzing barrier that ran along my skin wherever he made contact. Yeah, we were going to have a serious conversation once I got settled.
A blur of movement had my heart in my throat.
It came out of nowhere, blowing my hair back from my shoulders.
In the blink of an eye, Warrik was towering over me, shirtless, wearing an old, ratty pair of blue jeans and a scuffed-up set of workboots.
I swallowed thickly at the sight of him.
So thick and yummy and... Fuck, already I was sweating.
He pulled me toward him, wrapping his tree trunk arms around me, and crushed me to his chest. “Don’t you ever fucking do that to me again,” he forcefully whispered against my hair. He breathed in deeply, letting out a full-body shudder.
“Way to steal a guy’s thunder, mate,” Thane grumbled, passing us both and heading straight for the kitchen.
Warrik’s hold was tight, but I was a wolf and could break free easily, even after so many hours without food or water.
I pushed off his chest slowly so that I could meet his eyes.
They were blackened, with little veins spreading out through the skin surrounding them.
I called it ‘vamping out.’ It happened to Serenity whenever she either got pissed or horny, and I teased her endlessly for it.
“Next time, I’ll just ask the arresting officers to kindly let me go.” I smirked, laying a palm over his heaving chest.
A muscle in his jaw tensed, as did his fingers, still braced on the small of my back.
“There won’t be a next time.” He held my eyes, as serious as I’d ever seen him since we met.
“I mean it, Trix. They’re not taking you again.
I’ll kill them all before they lay a fucking hand on you.
I should have done it. I should have...”
I shook my head. “They would have killed you if you tried, War.” The sentiment had me swallowing thickly with emotion. “We need to do this the right way. I didn’t do what they’re accusing me of. I just need to find a way to prove that.”
Thane scoffed from the kitchen, and I peered around War’s shoulder to see him pouring three glasses of wine. “Like those bastards give a shit about innocence. They just want someone to blame.”
I stepped out of War’s embrace, and surprisingly, he let me.
His eyes were still black, so to attempt to tame him a little, I squeezed his hand before lacing our fingers together.
We joined Thane in the kitchen, the three of us crowding around the island as he pushed glasses our way.
I took a tentative sip of mine, and the burst of flavor on my tongue after so many dry hours nearly had my eyes rolling back in my head.
I sat on the bar stool, pushing my empty glass toward Thane, who refilled it without me asking.
“The cops that questioned me were humans,” I said after another beat of tired silence.
War and Thane looked at me and then at each other.
“They were fucking assholes, too. They slurs and shit because I’m a shifter.
Is that normal? I thought Sol was supposed to be this progressive haven or something? ”
Thane laughed. “What kind of propaganda are they feeding you Noc City people?” He shook his head.
“Every sanctuary city is the same as the bloody next one. The coppers are no different. The human ones like to pretend they’re on our side, but a lot of them are just in it for a badge, aka 'license to hunt down darklings without repercussions.’
I glanced at War, and he only nodded, taking a sip from his own glass. The dark liquid coated his lips a bit more thickly than wine would have. He licked it clean a moment later. “I thought you were on the side of the law now, Mr. Executioner?”
He rolled his eyes as Thane choked on his swallow of wine. “She’s got you there, brother.”
War ignored him. “I’m old enough to toe the line without stepping over it; unlike Thane, I try not to fuck around.”
Thane scoffed. “You mean you’re boring and predictable?”
“No, I’m smart.” War shot back, a thick, dark brow raised at the warlock.
“The police and the army are two different entities, Trix. It’s not like the old days before the sanctuaries.
The army protects the people, but the police run the streets.
Corruption is literally embedded in every aspect of police training.
At least for the human ones. They’re trained to distrust Darklings because of how powerful we are compared to them. ”
I sighed, placing my elbows on the wooden countertop and placing my face in my hands.
My eyes were growing heavy with the need to sleep, and any minute now, I was going to crash.
“I’ll never understand why there has to be a divide in the first place.
” I looked up at the two brothers. “Maybe Estelle was onto something.” Silence fell heavily between the three of us as the weight of what I just said settled.
“I’m not saying I agree with her methods, obviously, but maybe having more hybrids out there wouldn’t be such a bad thing. ”
In the end, that was Estelle’s goal. To create a master species. Taking the strongest traits from each species and meshing them into one single person. Serenity was proof that it could work.
“Ignore me,” I said with a groan, shoving myself off the barstool. “Where’s Gareth? I need to see him.” I sniffed the air, but the smoke from the fire was too much and masked everything else.
“He’s been out there all day,” War said. He strode to the far window and peered out into the darkening forest. “We'll coax him back to the cabin tomorrow, but for now, let’s let him work things out on his own.”
“Is he alright?” I asked tentatively. I couldn’t see much outside the window save for a dark line of tall pines that opened into an endlessly roaming sea of green and shadows.
War’s brows dipped, and he rubbed the back of his neck with his palm as he faced me again. “I don’t know.” I was glad he didn’t bother placating me with empty words.
“The bathroom is just there,” Thane said, coming up behind me and nudging me toward the only door in the cabin. “I took the liberty of packing your belongings; I hope you don’t mind. You've got a fresh set of jammies waiting for you if you'd like to get cleaned up.”
I peered up at him, my lips twisting into a smirk as I raised a single brow. “Jammies?” His electric-blue eyes narrowed, and he gave me a playful little zap of magic as he touched my belly that had me yelping and hopping away. I laughed, raising my hands and backing away. “Alright, jammies it is.”