I slid my phone away. “I’m always right. Give it some time. Everything is pretty raw.”
He groaned dramatically and chucked his huge bag back in the boot. “I’ll do it for you.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand.
I couldn’t lose this last connection to the tribe yet.
When they succeeded, I felt triumph and relief. The thought of them failing seared me with ice-cold horror.
Unless that changed quick, it could be a big fucking problem.
“If you won’t let me make a dramatic declaration of friendship, then how about a drink?” Wade leaned into the Jeep and drew out a chiller box. “Figured you’d need one, and I’d like to run an experiment on Luthers and the effects of alcohol.”
“I humbly consent to be your test subject.”
“Good. Because I want to know what Rhona did to you. Everything. You and Cameron are sugar-coating the truth. I don’t cope well with falsehoods, Andie.”
Understatement.
I held out my hand. “Better give me a few of those then.”
3
I wrapped a towel around my body after the second shower of the day. How did Luthers stay clean all the time? That should be the topic of Wade’s next study.
“I hoped to catch you so we could run together.” Sascha stood in the doorway, clad only in worn jeans. Tangled, dark-brown hair fell just shy of his muscular shoulders. His honey eyes were almost impossible to look away from.
I inhaled his tantalising mix of pine, river water, musk, and sweat. “I didn’t know when you’d be back.”
I dug through the bags of clothes Wade packed for me.
Sascha’s hands gripped my shoulders, and we both relaxed at the contact. For a few breaths, I enjoyed the feeling of rightness.
Then the old wolf’s words came tumbling back.
Sascha kissed the back of my shoulder. “Wade visited?”
I shivered. “We tried to get me drunk.”
His lips twitched against my skin. “How did it go?”
“Not well.”
“It takes a lot of strong alcohol to overwhelm our accelerated healing process. Even then, your wolf won’t get drunk. Just you.”
Huh, go figure. I gathered my clothes and walked back to the bathroom.
“Why are you changing in there?” he called. “You’ve never done that before.”
I towel-dried and stepped into underwear and then a bra. “No reason.”
“I like seeing you naked.”
“Believe it or not, I gathered that.” Tugging up high-waisted black jeans, I shrugged into a pink midriff jumper.
I dumped my towel in the hamper and returned to find Sascha sitting on the bed with the duchess comb he gave me.
“Will you let me brush your hair?” he asked.
I lowered my gaze. “Not tonight. It’s tangled.”
Sascha handed over the comb without a word. “Let’s test the mind-speak again.”
We stared at each other.
Hello? I thought at him.
He smiled after a leaden moment. “Not yet.”
“Guess not.” I took the comb from him.
Sascha tilted my chin. “Beautiful wolf, is something the matter?”
My cheeks warmed under his intense focus. “A wolf came to me at the stream today.”
“What wolf?” His hands swept my sides. “What did he do?”
Whoa.
“Uh, not whatever you’re thinking.”
Sascha closed his eyes and opened them after a long exhale. “I thought your presence here would help me control the mating call, but the presence of other unmated male Luthers is doing the opposite. Forgive me.”
I struggled against a grin. “You think someone else will catch my eye?”
His shoulders tensed. “More that you will find a worthier partner.”
“Nature doesn’t work like that.”
Sascha faced me. “You and I both know nature isn’t everything.”
Didn’t I know it.
I sat on the bed beside him. “I’m not sure you understood what I meant when I told you the tribe were still my people.”
“You meant that anything you see and hear on pack lands that could help the tribe will be conveyed to them.”
I blinked at him. “You…”
He crooked a smile. “Is there anything else?”
“You’re giving me permission to pass on pack strategies?” This was not how I envisioned the conversation going.
“I know what I would do if our situations were reversed. You don’t need my permission.”
Sometimes, I felt like I needed another fifty years on the clock to follow him. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that it would be foolish of me to hold you to silence when that would tear you in two.”
My chest rose. “Where did you come from, Sascha Greyson?”
“The same place we all do, I’d gather.”
I leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”
He regarded me with complete seriousness. “I realise this is a huge adjustment, but I’d like for you to give pack life a chance. That’s the one thing I ask.”
“I will. I want to.”
“Good. Then be assured, we’re using frequency generators during pack meetings. Until you tell me things have changed, that practice will continue. I know when you give your word, you mean it. So when you give it, I’ll hold you to your promises. Between now and then, consider me warned.”
He spoke of my promises and change of heart like they were certain things. “It’s just a lot to get used to.”
“Pack is a foreign concept for your wolf. I understand what you feel more than anyone.”
It wasn’t my wolf. It wasn’t the move to pack lands.
“You know I’m here.” He swept my wet hair back over my shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
And neither was I.
I placed the comb on the bedside table. “Where should I put my bags?”
“The second wardrobe is empty. There are drawers in there, too, ready for you.”
Was I about to unpack my stuff into Sascha’s bungalow? Shit, I was. “I might do it later.”
Sascha stiffened. “What’s wrong?”
Dammit. “Well. Uh. Putting stuff in your wardrobe feels a lot like moving in with you.”
“You have moved in with me.”
Yeah, and I’d just grasped that now. “I guess I did.”
His heart thumped faster. “Is this moving too quick?”
Too quick in some ways. Too slow in others.
“No.” I gestured at the bags. “I’ve just never…”
This was a line that I never crossed with past boyfriends. Caring for Ragna was always my reason, but looking back, I saw that was just an excuse to keep my distance.
I’d crossed more lines with Sascha than anyone else.
This shouldn’t feel so strange.
It wasn’t strange.
“I’d prefer you stay in my bungalow.” His eyes darkened.
And I could guess why.
The thought of me jumping in bed with another male Luther was laughable, but the mating call must whisper all kinds of things in Sascha’s ear.