Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hailey
Despite the fact I’d been spooning him for the better part of a week, Eric had insisted that I have the spare room all to myself.
He said I needed my privacy. It was so sweet and thoughtful…
and I hated it. I wanted him wrapped around my body.
I’d gotten accustomed to the soft sound of his breaths, and the way his heartbeat felt beneath my cheek as I lay on his chest.
Shaking my head, I pulled my sleep shirt on.
Talk about desperation. Maybe Eric was right.
Maybe I did need a little alone time to get my head on straight.
We were mate bonded, and we were still basically strangers, but my body defied my logic over and over.
It wanted him furiously, and it made a convincing argument that the arbitrary timeframes of human society didn’t apply anymore now that I was bonded heart and soul to the man—orc.
Climbing into bed, I stared at the ceiling, willing myself to sleep. Part of my insomnia was because I took a nap after unpacking, but the soothing scent of Louis’s home had been like a drug. It was warm and safe and smelled like home.
Now, I was wide awake.
Eric was on the couch, and even from here, I could hear the steady sounds of his breathing.
He’d been exhausted when he’d made it home, the full day after being so sick exhausting him.
He needed his sleep, and I wasn’t going to go out there and climb onto the couch beside him. That would be pathetically needy.
I doom-scrolled on my phone until it was one in the morning, and I was still awake. Screw it.
Standing quietly, I headed toward the kitchen.
Maybe Eric would be awake, and I could lure him back into my bed, codependency be damned.
As I made it into the living room, I knew I was out of luck.
He was sound asleep, his limbs flung over the edges of the large sectional.
Looking down the hall, I saw that Louis’s light was still on.
Frowning, I tiptoed toward his door, straining to hear if he was moving around. Maybe he was just scared of the dark and slept with the light on. I’d seen Syke appear from the shadows, so it wouldn’t be an irrational fear. I knew not all demons were like Syke.
“You can come in, if you like,” he called softly from behind the closed door.
I smiled, pushing it open. “Did I wake you?” He was sitting up in bed with a ball of yarn in his lap. “Are you crocheting?”
He laughed, holding up a large, square, black and white blanket.
On it was the face of a wolf. “Yeah. I’ve done it for years.
Even for a wolf, I was always a little too much.
I found it difficult to sit still, to not think or speak.
My poor mother was exhausted, so the old matriarch of our pack started babysitting me once a week for a few hours.
She taught me to crochet to keep my mind and hands busy.
She was just scary enough that I sat still and learned.
Now I do it when I have to think, if I have too much time on my hands, or if we had a particularly stressful shift.
” Giving me a lopsided smile that created butterflies in my chest, he shrugged nonchalantly. “I enjoy it.”
It was a dichotomy seeing this hot man, shirtless with more abs than I’d ever seen on a single person, crocheting, but fuck… it was hot.
I cleared my throat and hoped he couldn’t see the rapidly developing fantasy I was creating where he crocheted a set of handcuffs and tied me to the bed.
He cleared his throat. “So, are you okay? Why are you still awake?”
I chewed my lip. “I just can’t sleep. The bed seems too empty.” I frowned. “Too lonely, maybe? Is that because of the mate bond?”
He shrugged again. “Maybe. Maybe not. Wolves know that resting in a group is the best sleep you’ll have, because pack protects pack, even when you’re sleeping. Maybe you’re missing the safety of it all.”
I hummed noncommittally, but his words rang true. There was something about being squashed between two monsters the world feared, knowing they’d protect you, that was a little addictive. “Perhaps.”
He shifted over in the bed. “You’re welcome to sleep in here with me. No strings attached.” He gave me a rueful smile. “I also miss the companionship of sleeping with other people. It’s why I volunteered first for Eric’s close contact therapy. It helped both of us.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to tamp down the urge to immediately shout, “Yes!” and to think it through instead. It was an innocent, platonic offer, but I didn’t feel particularly innocent or platonic toward Louis, and I was newly bonded to Eric. Was it disloyal?
Shaking my head, I decided to stop overthinking it. I was still my own person who knew my own mind and body, and I wanted to sleep beside Louis. Eric didn’t own me, and I wouldn’t start second-guessing myself because we’d accidentally bonded.
Besides, if anyone understood Louis’s allure, it was Eric.
I stepped toward the bed, and Louis lifted the blankets so I could slide beneath them. “Thank you,” I mumbled as I curled up close enough to feel his warmth, but not so close that we were touching.
“Anytime, Hailey.” He pushed my hair back from my face. “Go to sleep, we have a big day on pack land tomorrow. I’ll guard your dreams.”
I believed him. With every fiber of my being, I believed him.
* * *
“Now race Orla!” A baby werewolf, who barely reached my hip, grabbed my hand and dragged me back to the starting line of our arbitrary racetrack.
My face was flushed, and I was panting softly, but this was my seventh foot race, and I’d lost every single one.
Werewolves were fast, even as children, and apparently they didn’t meet too many humans out here until they got older, so I’d been a bit of an attraction.
It started with a race against ten-year-old Connor. When he smoked me, he found me younger and younger competitors. I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to outrun a toddler at this rate.
“Can’t you give me a headstart or something?” I complained to Connor. Orla giggled beside me, making me smile. She was so cute and sweet.
Connor shook his head solemnly. “It has to be a fair race.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, because nothing about this was fair. “On your marks. Get set. Go!”
Orla and I took off, the other kids cheering. She was fast and small, but my stride was longer than her whole body, so I finally might win… against a four-year-old. As I started to outpace her just a tad, I leaned down, scooped her up, and held her in front of me as we crossed the finish line.
“Aw, drats, I lost again!” I complained, falling onto the grass, Orla leaping onto my solar plexus like a tiny John Cena. “I can’t do it anymore. Werewolves are the fastest creatures ever!”
The kids cheered, and I panted. A shadow fell across my face, and I looked up at Otis. He was smiling down at me in his man form. I hadn’t seen him since I left the Creature Crisis Center, and my heart did a weird little flip-flop in my chest.
“I see you got sucked into a werewolf foot race.”
“Who knew they were so fast?”
He reached down, helping me to my feet. “Everyone, I think.” I brushed the grass off my body, and he shook his head at the kids. “You look well. Are you happy in Louis’s home?”
I tried not to flush, thinking about the way I woke up plastered to Louis’s chest this morning, his overly hot body making us stick together. “Very. He’s a great host. A wonderful person too.”
Nodding, Otis put his large hand on the small of my back, directing me to the long tables where the werewolves gathered for their pack lunches.
Eric was talking to their alpha, and he didn’t seem stressed.
I was starting to look inwards, at that kernel of something in my chest that I knew now was my bond with him—the one that had screamed he wasn’t alright when he was struck down with clan sickness.
Louis was with him, and whatever he said made them all laugh.
I looked up at Otis. “I didn’t realize you’d be here.”
He arched an eyebrow at me. They were darker than his chestnut hair, and they accentuated the strong lines of his face. “Disappointed?”
Rolling my eyes, I stopped walking. “No, not at all. I enjoy your company. It’s just that you’re the only non-werewolf here beside Eric and me.”
“We have an open invitation. When Louis joined our team, he started bringing us out here. He didn’t like his two worlds being separate, and it’s always good to be comfortable with the packs in your area.
I have a lot of respect for Puck and how he runs this place.
He helps me out when leadership seems… too much. ”
“The others come out here too?” I tried to imagine Syke having a foot race with the tiny cubs.
“Sometimes. Ilyas more than Syke, but they’ve both been known to accept the invite. They’ll both be here today, I believe.”
I smiled widely as we made it to the table where Eric sat with Louis and Alpha Puck.
Eric stood and shook Otis’s hand. “I didn’t know you’d be here.
” He flushed a little. Did Eric have a crush on the large minotaur too?
I mean, not too. I didn’t have a crush on Otis.
I just appreciated his large, uh, form and the way he carried himself so gracefully, that his glutes were pure muscle, and his thighs were bigger than my head.
Okay, maybe a small crush.
Louis cleared his throat, his eyes dancing with laughter. “Glad you could come, Big O.”
“Agreed,” Puck said, his lips turned up in a smile. “It’s good to see you, Otis. Will Ilyas and Syke be joining us too?”
Otis nodded, reaching out to shake Puck’s hand respectfully. “I think Ilyas would race the children all day if it got him out of having to see the French gargoyle delegation.”
They laughed and settled in, and someone appeared with drinks. Relaxing into Eric’s side, I let myself be surrounded by something that I’d never felt before—the contentment of family.