Page 35 of Cultivating Caden

The wolf closed the gap. Caden couldn’t escape now. Quade tried to blot out what was about to happen. He had no desire to see Caden die. But then the most astounding thing happened. The wolf jumped on Caden, and the two of them rolled around on the ground together, with the wolf licking Caden’s face and making him laugh. As Quade watched, the wolf shifted back into human form, and he and Caden were locked in an embrace. Quade peered into Caden’s sprite-ring eyes and leaned forward, close enough to feel Caden’s sharp intake of breath, and—

The knock at the door jolted Quade from sleep. Who the fuck would be knocking at…? Shit, it was almost seven. He should have been showered and dressed, ready to hit the road. He sniffed, then smiled.

“Come on in, Ten.”

The door opened and there stood Ten, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. He strode into the room and frowned. “You’re not ready to go?”

Was it wrong that Quade was ashamed of not only not being ready, but earning a dressing-down from a preteen brat?

“It’ll take me five minutes.” He turned to go to the bathroom and jump in the shower, then stopped. “Hey, I had a weird dream.”

“What kind of dream?”

He wasn’t sure how much to tell Ten. “My wolf chasing Caden through the forest.”

“Okay, what happened?”

That was it? No condemnation about learning control? Nothing about embracing your wolf?

He spun around and faced Ten, then told the mother of all lies. “I… I don’t remember. I woke up before he—I caught him.”

Ten went to the couch and sat down, his gaze locked on Quade. “I can help you remember, if you want.”

What Quade wanted was to know how the dream ended. Why he and Caden ended up on the ground together. Why his wolf didn’t tear Caden apart. But he knew that if he allowed Ten to help, the boy would see what happened too.

“Nah, it’s not that important.” His wolf whined. “Listen, I’m going to shower. If Caden shows up, tell him I’ll be ready in a minute.”

“Okay.”

He went into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. Hopefully whatever was happening with him, his wolf, and Caden could be cured by a frigid shower.

Hopefully.