Page 42

Cole

Tommy frowns, his eyes following Nadia through the door before they turn back to me. “Is everything…okay?”

“Oh, sure,” I say, shrugging. “Nadia just being Nadia. You get used to it.”

Tommy’s face twists in confusion at my words before his eyes flick down to the pillow and blanket in my arm. “Are you camping out?”

“Yup,” I say. “We’ve had some intel tonight that the Children of Solace might know a little more about this camp than I want them to. Until reinforcements arrive, I want a presence in the tent with the human volunteers, not just outside of it.”

I turn my eyes back to Tommy as his smile grows.

“I could use an extra hand. You wanna…sleep over with the girls?”

He beams. “Yup.”

I turn to Amory. “You good out here until the guard shift comes?”

He laughs a little and nods too, clearly relieved to have permission to sleep in his own bed instead of on the floor in the nursing tent. “Yes, sir. You’ve got it.”

“Cool,” I say, clapping Tommy on the shoulder. “Go get your blankets. I’ll see you in there in a few minutes.”

Tommy grins at me and sets off for his tent at a jog.

I sigh and move forward into the tent, steeling myself for what’s coming next.

Nadia

I’m about three feet away from my bed, headed for the bathroom with my toothbrush clutched in my hand, thinking that maybe Cole was just carrying his bedding around like some sort of weird wolf security blanket.

But my steps falter when I hear the tent flap.

I go still, my mouth dropping open when I see Cole stepping inside, his stupid bed bundle under one arm.

Livid words stack up on my tongue as Cole walks quickly towards me. But he slips his hand calmly over my mouth, silencing them.

“Quietly, Nadia,” he murmurs, perfectly calm. “You don’t want to wake up the whole tent.”

“Cole!” I hiss, stepping back and smacking his hand away. “You are not sleeping here!”

“Oh yes, I am,” he whispers, closing the distance between us. “I’m not letting you out of my sight until that further military arrives. Grace and Shayne too.”

“You cannot –“

“Nadia,” he says, quite stern, his voice a very low and dangerous purr. “This is happening – your only choice now is whether it happens quietly or with the entire tent awake and aware.”

I go still, nearly shaking with my anger, as Cole takes a very calm breath. “After you,” he says, nodding toward my empty bed.

I huff, full of rage and out of options, trying to come up with something to say that will make him not do what I think he’s going to do and – mortifyingly – sleep at the foot of my bed like some kind of stray puppy!

Grace mumbles something in greeting as I clutch my toothbrush, my mind turning frantically as Cole starts to lay out his blankets on the ground at the foot of my bed.

But I come up with nothing.

“Am I allowed to go brush my teeth on my own?”

“No,” Cole says. My eyes fly wide. “But you don’t have to take me.”

“What?”

“You can take Tommy.” I spin to see the other wolf guard starting towards us from the entrance, his bed supplies under his arm and a wide smile on his mouth. But when he gets close, his grin fades.

“Are we…not excited about our slumber party?” Tommy asks, grimacing.

“Nadia needs an escort to the bathroom,” Cole murmurs, reaching up for Tommy’s bedding, which he hands over. “I’ll get you sorted.”

“What’s happening?” Shayne asks, lifting her head and looking blearily around at us.

“Slumber party,” Cole says, turning to her with a smile.

Shayne gasps in delight, pressing her hands together.

“Would you all shut up? ”

The four of us turn toward the anonymous voice somewhere across the room. My shoulders slump as I realize that Cole is right – my choices now are to either just let the stupid wolf boys sleep on the floor or be a complete jerk and wake everyone up.

I glare at Cole, pointing a finger right at his face, letting him know that he’s going to pay for this.

He just grins at me and blows me a kiss before settling himself down on the ground and fluffing his pillow.

I turn bright red, glaring at him before I head off towards the bathroom, my entire concentration on not stomping so loud that I wake up every nurse in this tent. Tommy, ever diligent, calmly follows.

“Good morning, wolfies!”

I stutter awake, glaring over at Shayne, who lays on her belly, her fingers laced beneath her chin and her feet idly swinging in the air. She beams down at the wolf boys, who start to wake and turn to her.

I groan as I start to turn my head, the crick in my neck from sleeping without a pillow preventing me. I scowl and massage the base of my neck with my fingers, regretting now that I hurled the pillow at Cole last night when I got back from the bathroom.

He kept it, willfully interpreting it as a kind gesture to increase his comfort. But we both know it wasn’t.

“Good morning ,” Tommy says, turning towards Shayne and stretching his arms above his head. “How’d you sleep, gorgeous?”

“ Very well,” she says, glancing around at the room as the rest of the nurses start to get up, some of them peering over at the strange new additions on the floor. “I felt so safe and protected. Any idea why?” She bats her lashes.

“Because you’re an idiot ,” I mutter, bitter, my anger at war with my sleepiness.

Cole takes a deep breath, sitting up, his natural height allowing him to see clearly over the edge of my bed. “Morning, Nadia.”

I bare my teeth at him in a flash, which just makes him grin.

“What’s going on ?” Grace asks, sitting up, even angrier than me at having her sleep disturbed. But she gasps when she sees Cole and Tommy on the ground. “Wh- ! What are you doing here?”

“Did you seriously not notice?” I ask, turning to her. “You said hi to them last night.”

She stares at them, dumbfounded, shaking her head.

“Grace sometimes talks in her sleep,” Shayne says, still beaming at Tommy. “But you are a very nice sleeper. Not a single snore, which is very desirable in a man.”

“I do what I can,” Tommy says, flushing adorably and standing, stretching, making sure Shay gets a good look at every bit of his six-foot-two manly frame.

She ogles shamelessly, and I snatch Grace’s pillow from behind her, hurling it at Shayne next.

Shay shrieks when it hits her right in the face, ruining her cutesy pose and making her fall flat on her side.

Cole laughs, standing, holding his hand out to me.

I groan, sitting up, shoulders slumping. “You’re seriously going to escort me everywhere?”

“Just until reinforcements come.”

“You promise?”

“Nope.”

“Cole!”

The Prince laughs at me, shaking his head, hand still held out. “Just let me, Nadia. For heaven’s sake, you’re not the one who had to sleep on the floor.”

I scowl even as I slip my hand into his. “No one made you do that.”

“Just my natural chivalry,” he murmurs.

I scoff and pull my hand away, rolling my eyes as I turn towards my supplies, wanting fresh clothes after my shower.

“Here Cole!” Shayne calls, holding her hand up, grinning at him. “I need some chivalry! Help me out of bed!”

Cole laughs and steps towards her, getting into a fake argument with Tommy about who should do the honors.

Grace grins as she leans over her bed towards me. “He’s being sweet , Na-na.”

“I know,” I say, scowling and blushing. “I can’t stand it.”

“Let him be nice to you,” she whispers, petting a hand over my head.

I sigh, turning towards her. “But only you get to do that, Gracie.”

She grins at me and wrinkles her nose. “Maybe time to let someone else in?”

I sigh, glancing over at the two wolf boys, Shayne now up in Tommy’s arms and laughing hysterically while Cole makes a big show of pretending to want to rip her away, demanding that he alone has the right to carry Shayne around.

And I smile at them, wondering, just passingly…

If Grace is right.