my window, casting colors into the room that bounce off some of the objects I have in here. Sleep didn’t come easily last night. Between worrying over having strangers in my house and keeping my ears open for any sign of Kade waking, I’ve only had a few solid hours at best.
I stretch and get my ass up, knowing there is absolutely no point in staying in bed. Grabbing a t-shirt and shorts, I take a quick shower. I get dressed and leave my room, shutting my door behind me and listening for any sounds in the cabin before knocking on Kade’s door. A snore answers from the other side, letting me know he’s still sleeping, so I pad downstairs to the kitchen.
I round the banister and nearly halt in my tracks at the sight of Darius sitting at my dining table. He’s bent down, lacing up his boots, and I try not to look at the way his muscles flex in his arms. When did I suddenly become someone who notices these things? I ignore him and head to the kitchen.
“Morning, little wolf,” Darius practically purrs, and I shiver at the sound. Why did his voice have to sound like that? Deep and low, like a caress on my skin. I mumble under my breath and ignore him, but he doesn’t appreciate that. The way he’s at my back not a few seconds later, practically breathing down my neck, clearly gives that away. “I said, morning, little wolf.”
“It’s morning? Shit. I didn’t even realize, I thought it was midday you know, with the sun just rising,” I snark out, moving to grab a pan. Filling it with water, I put it on the stove and set the flame.
“Not a morning person I see,” he says, and I feel a touch on the top of my head, causing me to freeze a second. Why is he touching me?
“I wonder what gave that away,” I mutter, moving away from him and grabbing a mug before filling it with some coffee granules and the now hot water. Moving around Darius, I head for the table and take a seat. Darius follows me and sits back down across from me, watching me. I ignore him and pretend he’s not there while I drink the elixir of life and look out the window.
“Why don’t our stones work here?” he asks suddenly, and I nearly jump out of my skin at him breaking the silence.
“Eridian is protected. We mostly can’t use magic inside the settlement, whether from objects or ourselves. Unless it’s powerful enough and the land lets you. We can’t go to our wolf forms either unless you are in the forest.”
Out of the corner of my eye, he slouches back in his seat, his dark t-shirt pulling tight across his chest. “Unless the land lets you?”
I roll my eyes and finally let them go to him. We lock eyes and heat starts to spread at my chest. “Yes, the land. It’s living and breathing, just like you and me. It chooses what can be used and what can’t.” I take a sip and watch him acknowledge what I’ve said.
“It sounds like you live in the way our ancestors did hundreds of years ago, when the old ones were around.” I shrug because we do live like that here. They would be wise to start too. “What does it let you use then, this… land?” He rolls his green eyes, and I can tell he thinks I’m being ridiculous.
“That’s not for me to decide,” I tell him, and hear a door opening from upstairs and then hard footsteps coming down the stairs. “I can’t tell you what it deems worthy.” A throat clears, and I turn my head toward it as Kade comes into the dining room, scowling at Darius.
I check him over. He’s only wearing dark pants, which lets me get a look at his injuries on his bare torso that are healing, thankfully. He looks a little pale and tired, but otherwise okay. He comes over to me and rubs his cheek against mine before heading into the kitchen. I grab his arm before he gets far, and he huffs back at me. He humors me as I stand and run my fingers around the wound on his shoulder that’s been stitched up before looking at his throat and temple closely. The wounds have closed nicely, and apart from some redness, they’re healing well.
“I’m okay, Rhea,” he whispers softly, and I look into his blue eyes, a shade different from mine, as he gives me a small smile.
“Go grab some food and we’ll talk, okay?” He nods, and I squeeze his arm before I drop it and let him go.
I return to my seat, shifting uncomfortably as Darius looks between me and Kade with far too much interest. “I’m sending Elites out to search The Deadlands. Since we can’t use our stones as they have been drained of their magic, what is the best way to keep track of locations there?”
“I can send Taylor with you, he knows The Deadlands better than any of us and can make sure your men don’t get lost. I also need you to make sure anyone staying behind keeps their distance from my pack members and make sure they keep their aura low. If they need to speak to them, do it with care and at least with a good amount of space between them. If any of us see your Elites crossing the line, we will act. You can understand that, right?”
He nods, his eyes bouncing between mine before he stands. “Although, I don’t know why you are Alpha of this pack,” he starts. “I understand that when the need arises, you need to take care of things. You have my permission to do so if the circumstances call for it, and only then.” He places his hands on the table and leans forward, bringing his face closer to mine. “But don’t try anything you shouldn’t, little wolf. You are already in deep shit, and you won’t like the extra consequences.” He stands and walks away without another word, the front door closing behind him as he leaves.
Well, that was interesting.
I reach out to Josh, our links now, thankfully, open again. “Send Taylor with the Elites that are going into The Deadlands. I’m sure Taylor will know how to navigate them around without them being able to track exactly where we are. You can stop by when you’re done if you want.”
“Got it. Is Kade awake?” he replies.
“He sure is.”
“Good,” he says, and the link closes as Kade sits down next to me, still not sitting in his usual seat where he used to sit with Cassie. I nudge his shoulder before drinking my coffee again.
He eats his mountain of food in silence, and he gets down to the last of his fruit on his plate before I ask him, “Are you done?”
He nods, putting a gooseberry in his mouth before pushing his plate away from him. “I am now,” he exhales, patting his stomach.
“Good.” I put my mug down and grab his ear, pulling him toward me. “Now you can explain why the fuck you were in The Deadlands,” I growl, dragging him up out of his seat and toward my office.
“Ow, ow, ow, shit Rhea that hurts,” he whines as I pull him with me.
“You’re lucky I’m only trying to rip your ear from your head and not kicking your ass all over Eridian. Plus, you won’t miss an ear, it’s not like you listen anyway.” I open my office door and bring him with me, shoving him down in the chair at my desk. With him sitting, I start to pace.
Kade rubs at his ear, watching me with a scowl on his face. “Rhea–”
“No. No, Kade. Don’t you Rhea me, you little shit. Do you have a death wish?!” I shout. “Was it not enough that you decided to risk your life with rogures before we left? You had to come into The Deadlands where you could have died?”
“It wasn’t like that,” he protests, but I’m not ready to hear it.
I tug at my hair before shoving it into a knot on top of my head. “It was like that, Kade. You know how dangerous it is out there, and you knew what we were doing,” I hiss at him. “You knew you were putting yourself in danger by going in there. And not only that…” I point at him as the front door opens. “You put our pack at risk. I put you in charge because I trusted you to look after them. But instead, you left them alone and vulnerable, and went searching blindly in The Deadlands for who? Me? The fucking Elites?”
Josh enters the office and spots the shitbag in the chair, seeing Kade’s eyes burning as he looks at me. “Ah.” That’s all Josh says, before moving to sit down near the windows.
Kade says nothing, just continues to stare at me, his lips pressed in a hard line as I fume. I fling my hands out. “Answer me!” I demand.
He sighs, running a hand through his hair before he stands. He winces slightly, trying to not show it, but I see it. I instantly feel guilty for doing this right now. But fuck, he nearly died. What he did was reckless, stupid and so damn irresponsible.
Kade shoves his hands into his pockets. “I know you probably think my decision to go to The Deadlands was impulsive, but we had a vote.”
“A vote?” Josh repeats, his brows raising.
“Yeah,” Kade nods. “You had been gone for days. We were all getting worried. Josie suggested maybe a few of us go and look for you guys. I didn’t like it, but the rest of the pack agreed. It was either I go alone or some were likely to sneak out to go find you, regardless of whether I told them not to. I picked what I thought was the best option in a shit situation,” he sighs, looking down at his bare feet.
Well, that changes things. It’s Josie’s ass I will beat next. Why would she even suggest this to him and the rest of the pack?
“That’s really fucking stupid,” Josh mumbles, and I nod. “Looks like Wrath Rhea is going to be aimed at someone.”
I point at him. “Hey! I can aim it at you if you want.” I hate that nickname.
“I would do it again,” Kade pipes up, and I look at him.
I sigh, the fight going out of me. “I understand what you did and why. If this was any other situation I would be on your side. But Kade, the situation is dire, and there is too much at stake. Whether you like it or not, me and the guys going out was to prevent them from coming here, but yours and the pack’s decision sealed that fate when you nearly bled to death.” My voice hitches at the memory, and Kade steps closer to me, pulling me into his body and holding me tight. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now, but you have to look at the pros and cons before heading into an unknown situation. You have to be sure it’s what has to be done. You can never put yourself in danger like that again.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” he mumbles into my hair. “I messed up.”
I shake my head against his chest. “I’m sorry, too.” For shouting at him when he’s hurting. For bringing the Elites here and putting him in danger. For fucking failing.
“Come on, Carzan,” Josh says. “I still need to chew your ass out, but we will leave Rhea here and do it somewhere else.” Kade grumbles as he lets me go and sulks out the room, Josh on his heels. I close my eyes and just breathe.
Good fucking morning to me.
