* * * *
Snuggled against his side, I traced my fingers through the hair on his chest, content and peaceful. No dreams tugged at me. I hadn’t looked at him yet. I wasn’t sure if he would regret what we’d done.
“You lied,” he said quietly, turning to kiss the top of my head.
“The last lie I’ll be able to get away with now. Well, with you anyway.” I didn’t need to ask if he was mad at me. I knew he wasn’t. I could feel his contentment blending with mine.
“Was there even a boyfriend?” he asked softly.
“Not a serious one,” I admitted. “Still wish we would have waited for the magic eighteen?” I had to know.
He turned on his side to face me, his expression tender. “Yes,” he said simply. “You are worth waiting for.” His love flooded me, but I felt no regret. I leaned forward to kiss him.
“You’re worth waiting for, too,” I said softly. “But I didn’t want to risk dying without feeling this.” The connection between us grew, bursting with love and life. It wasn’t just the impressions I had felt with Joshua. It was so much more. There was no room for self-doubt. With Luke, I could endure anything. Be anything. Even a Judgement.
My stomach rumbled, and a thread of concern flowed through our link.
“Let’s get dressed and eat,” he said. The concern kept growing.
“What’s wrong?” The depth of what he felt washed through me.
“You never eat right.” He rose from the bed.
I forgot to breathe. I’d seen him in the all-n-all before, but now he was mine. I just wanted to jump on his back and pull him back under the covers with me. I wanted his touch. Needed it. I blinked as I struggled with my feelings and realized with a smile, they weren’t just mine, because concern still flavored them.
“If you don’t stop, we’ll never feed you,” he said with a smile as he strode to the bathroom.
* * * *
We met everyone downstairs for dinner. Nana glanced away from her conversation with Charlene to look at us, then did a double take. Her sudden wide smile told me she knew.
“About time he pulled his head from his...” Grey started to mutter, but a nudge from Carlos cut him off.
Four new members had joined our group. Michelle’s brothers clung to two faces I recognized. Paul and Henry. They spoke to Gabby with a long time familiarity as they entertained the boys. Michelle and Emmitt spoke off to the side with Gregory and Mary. Michelle’s eyes were red from barely restrained tears.
When Paul looked up and saw me hand in hand with Luke, he smiled and nudged his brother. Heat rushed to my face.
Dinner moved slowly, just the way we needed it to. Michelle agreed to let the boys go on a long holiday with Gregory and Mary. Or as the boys thought of it, with Paul and Henry. We spent the time talking about nothing important, though I caught Gabby’s unfocused gaze as she constantly monitored the Urbat progress.
After dinner, we all agreed to meet in the lobby early the following morning. The next day’s travel would bring us to Peace.
I went to bed eagerly and looked forward to another good night’s sleep. But I didn’t get what I wanted.
“Daughter,” she said, standing beside the bed dressed in her usual taupe gown. “You are so blessed to have finally Claimed a Mate worthy of you.”
I stood at the end of the bed, looking at Luke on his side, curled around me, his arm resting over my waist. I looked so small compared to him.
I glanced at the Taupe Lady. “I thought I only dreamt of the past.”
She smiled. “This is the past. Just minutes old.”
“Why am I dreaming this?”
“I’m bound to the past as much as I’m bound to the present, floating in the shadows in between. This is the only place we may speak. You must hurry to find your sisters. His anger is growing and even she won’t be safe much longer. Tread carefully, loved one.”
She smiled and reached out to pat Luke’s bare arm. He shifted in his sleep. Then, she leaned over him to place a kiss on my sleeping self’s cheek.
I bolted upright, eyes wide, the feeling her lips lingered on my skin. The place beside the bed was empty, but I couldn’t shake the creeped out feeling.
“What is it?” Luke asked, instantly awake and sitting up with me.
I turned worried eyes to him. “I don’t think I’m done dreaming, yet.”
He kissed me gently, coaxed me back under the covers, and encouraged me to lay my head on his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair and rubbed my back until I relaxed again. Still, I lay awake long after he started snoring.
She was worried about Courage, I was sure of it. If she lived in the past and the present, she had to know what we planned and where we were headed. I bit my lip thinking of what Courage might be enduring despite Michelle’s vision of gentle treatment.
Luke inhaled long and loud just then, his fingers twitching in my hair. I smiled at the sound before closing my eyes again. We would never need to share a room with anyone else with the noise he made.
Epilogue
The morning brought heartache for the group. We all witnessed Michelle hold back tears as she pasted on a bright smile and said goodbye to her brothers.
I glanced at Nana and wondered if she’d reached my mother. She met my gaze briefly, but her expression gave nothing away other than how she felt about the current situation.
Liam gave Emmitt a hug and asked him to watch over Michelle. Everyone heard his loud whisper. “I think she’s sad we want to play with Paul and Henry.”
Emmitt smiled and hugged the boy until he protested. Then, Emmitt promised to take care of Michelle, always.
“You too, you know,” Luke murmured close to my ear.
Puzzled, I turned to him.
His eyes looked slightly green in the morning light. He wrapped his hands around my arms and pulled me close. “I promise to take care of you, always,” he whispered just before his lips brushed against mine.
“Always is a long time for a girl who keeps coming back,” I said leaning into him.
“Forever isn’t long enough,” he said enfolding me in a warm embrace and taking the kiss to the next level.
Nana cleared her throat. “All right you two. We need to travel today.”
Luke pulled back with a sassy grin and clasped my hand. I needed the support after that kiss. My head spun and heart stuttered.
* * * *
We arrived at the last hotel I hoped we’d need to stay at. Well, in our search for Peace anyway. There was still a lot of traveling and waiting to do when—if—we exposed werewolves. The Elders still hadn’t given us their official decision.
“It seems like she’s staying in one spot now,” Gabby commented sitting on the edge of the bed in Nana’s room.
“I think it would be best if just a few of us go,” I said. “Gabby, since you can locate her, an Elder, and myself.”
Nana looked worried about that but didn’t need to comment. Gabby did for her.
“We’ll need more than that. There are more Urbat here than there should be,” Gabby said.
I wrinkled my nose. It was a big city. We didn’t have much of a choice. We needed to be here. I understood the need to protect ourselves but didn’t like how it would look to Peace. Having a large group of strangers come up to you and try to convince you to leave with them...I didn’t see that going over well with her.
“What do you suggest?”
“Six of us. Grey, Carlos, Clay, you and Luke, and me. It’ll give us better protection and still leave enough protection here for the rest,” Gabby said.