The color scheme in his permanent home was done in all neutrals: beige, white, light-gray, and cream. It was a simple design. Clean yet detached. In a way, it suited his personality perfectly.
And the impressive windows—which showcased the endless meadow that butted against the distant mountains—began in the living room and ran the length of the house. Sunlight poured in.
There was even a skylight above, which allowed additional natural light in. Since most of the first floor was vaulted with an open design, the light was so bright that lamps weren’t needed at all during the day.
“Tala? Did you sleep?” he asked again.
Oh, okay then. It seemed like he was intent on talking. “Well enough,” I replied curtly, then admonished myself, because the least I could do was act like a civil grown-up, but that was the extent of what our conversations would be, and I would not allow myself to notice how strong his forearms looked as he scrubbed the dirty pans. Yep, definitely ignoring that.
But speaking of dirty pans . . . “No fairy charms this morning?”
His gaze cut to mine, and my breath sucked in at the fire rolling through his irises, but more than that, I took in how horrible he looked. Unwashed dark hair stood on end from his head. Scruffy beard coated his cheeks. Blood lines shot through his eyes. He looked so tired, haggard almost.
I’d literally never seen him look anything but in control and strong.
But for a brief moment, that haggard appearance melted away and hope shone in his eyes. Pure, unadulterated hope. I figured it was because I’d made a joke about his fairy charms. It was the first attempt I’d made at joking with him in days, almost two weeks. Ever since I’d firmly committed myself to resisting him in Oak Trembler, not that that had turned out well. I’d still fallen in love with him despite my attempts not to.
And then the dude had turned me into a werewolf.
I shook my head. I wasn’t going to think about my unwanted emotions. Kaillen had betrayed me, and I was still firmly pissed at him.
“No charms,” he finally replied, his words thick. “Not this morning. I needed to . . . move.”
I guessed that explained why his cookware had taken the brunt of his aggression.
My breathing kicked up a notch at the look on his face, so I eyed the food again just as my stomach let out another huge growl.
My cheeks heated. Gods, I hoped this wasn’t my new norm, ’cause that sound was embarrassing.
And what the hell was up with how strong the food smelled? I swear I could practically taste the buttery eggs and crisp bacon that waited before me, even though I hadn’t tasted anything yet.
My stomach let out another growl, and I slapped both hands over it sheepishly.
“You should eat.” The hunter gave me his back again, but at least he’d stopped killing his cookware. “Since the full moon is tonight, your metabolism will be increasing with the impending shift. You’ll find that you’re going to have to start eating a lot more to meet your caloric needs.”
I picked up a piece of bacon. “Did you sleep well?” I asked awkwardly as I bit into the crisp fat. My eyes widened at the burst of flavors that melted over my tongue. Gods, it tasted amazing. Before I knew what I was doing, I was inhaling the rest of it.
“No,” he finally replied after he’d put the dirty pan that he’d near murdered onto the drying rack. “I didn’t sleep.”
I swallowed another mouthful of food. “At all?”
“No, not at all.”
I frowned, remembering how he’d been awake after his demon-ax had rendered me unconscious. The ax’s huge gush of magic had been needed to break through the glowing blue handcuffs Cameron had placed on me. But apparently, only I’d been affected by the ax since Kaillen had never fallen asleep. He’d also been sleeping poorly in Oak Trembler for the past week.
I cocked my head. “When did you last sleep?”
He shrugged. “I slept a few hours the night before you were—” He cleared his throat but didn’t continue.
My eyebrows shot up. “The night before I was abducted?” What had that been, two days ago now? That was the night he’d drunk a bottle of whiskey in his living room and hadn’t come to bed until the early hours of the morning. And the next day, we’d both woken up early and had our explosive interaction in which I’d accused him of not having real feelings for me. That had all taken place before Cameron had overpowered me and delivered me to Jakub-Dipshit’s sorcerers.
Obviously, it hadn’t been a good morning for either of us.
Kaillen’s jaw locked, but he didn’t reply.
I picked up my fork again. “That was two nights ago.”
“It was.”
“Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“I think you know why.” He pushed the second plate toward me. I hadn’t even realized I’d finished the first. “Eat.”
I frowned. “Isn’t that one yours?”
“No, it’s for you. I already ate, and I couldn’t fit all of the food for you onto one plate.”
My cheeks heated, even more so when I saw that the amount of food on plate two was just as much as what had been on plate one. He’d probably cooked me a dozen eggs, two pounds of bacon, and toasted an entire loaf of bread.
And the crazy thing was that I wanted nothing more than to reach for plate two. My stomach felt like a clawing empty pit. It wanted more, more, more.
“Gods, this is going to do a number on my grocery bill,” I grumbled as I reached for the damned plate anyway.
His lips twitched up, and for the briefest moment, the energy changed between us. It felt as it once had—before I knew of Jakub-Dipshit and before Kaillen’s wolf had decided that I was his mate. It felt like it had when we’d been hunting for Tessa, and bantering with one another had been our norm.
But that momentary lightening of his expression vanished when I plugged my nose and brought the fork to my mouth.
His lips tightened into a grim line. “You’ll get used to the new, stronger scents and will learn how to filter them out. All pups have to learn that when they first shift.”
My shoulders drooped. I was like a pre-pubescent boy about to go through his first shift. But despite that depressing thought, I began shoveling food into my mouth again.
“That’s good to know,” I replied while chewing. It seemed as though I could also kiss goodbye to any decent manners I’d once had, as apparently, I now talked with my mouth full. “Sounds like so much fun,” I added sarcastically in between bites. “I’m now like a child who eats like a horse and has the manners of a troll.”
I expected another lip twitch from him, but instead, his throat bobbed in a swallow. That ashy fragrance tickled my nose again, so subtle amongst the overpowering food smells that I almost missed it.
I swallowed and took another gulp of coffee. Kaillen’s expression hadn’t changed or wavered in the slightest, yet I could scent his guilt.
“It won’t stay this bad. The initial shift evokes the biggest changes. You’ll find that you’ll need to eat a lot in the coming weeks, but in several months it shouldn’t be as severe as this.”
“Months?” I balked. I was going to be eating like this for months.
“Yes.” Kaillen went to the sink and began drying the dishes. “By the way, Commander Klebus wants to meet us this morning.”
That comment had me choking. I coughed and managed to swallow. “She does? Why?”
“She wants to interview us, since we may have encountered Jakub.”