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WREN

Locke pulled me onto his lap and nuzzled my neck. This was always his way of showing comfort—giving me the physical contact I’d lacked for so many years. But not even Locke’s cuddles could distract me from what I knew was happening.

I wasn’t ignorant of how the shifter world worked. As beautiful as it was, it could be equally brutal at times. And if you moved against someone’s mate, you paid the price. But there was information to be gathered first.

Locke’s fingers slid under the hem of my T-shirt and traced a lopsided figure eight on my back. “Want to watch a movie?”

“That’s okay.” I didn’t think I could focus on anything right now.

“We could play a video game,” he offered.

“No thanks.”

“We could make out.”

That had a surprised laugh bubbling out of me. I pulled back to take him in. “I do like making out with you.”

A hint of pink hit Locke’s cheeks. “Good to know.”

I brushed the brown strands from his face, taking in the beautiful gray eyes behind his black-framed glasses. “I love you.”

Sparks of silver danced in those eyes. “I love you, too. More than you’ll ever know.”

“I feel it,” I whispered. “Every single day.”

And it was true. It was like this foreign energy swirling around me at every moment. A reassuring breeze and phantom presence that was always with me.

“I’m glad,” Locke rasped. His hold on me tightened a fraction. “I hate that he could’ve hurt you tonight—or worse.”

“Hey,” I said, burrowing deeper into him. “I’m fine. Better than. I kicked his ass. So, I’m feeling pretty damn badass at the moment.”

One corner of Locke’s mouth kicked up. “As you should.”

I laid a hand over his heart, feeling the beat of it beneath my palm. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

Locke stared up into my face. “Having someone so vital to me walking around out there, exposed, is new for me.”

“I get that. It’s…unnerving.” I felt like that when I left the guys. And even on the days when Puck worked the bar with me, I still felt so…vulnerable.

“I was going to go with terrifying, but…”

I chuckled. “Okay, maybe that’s more honest.”

Locke brushed a strand of hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. “We’ll get used to it. And I think all of us will rest a little easier once we’ve dealt with Red River.”

My stomach cramped because it wasn’t just Red River. It was the Death Walkers and, even though we hadn’t heard a peep from them recently, the dark mages. Threats would always be circling. We just had to learn to live with it.

“I don’t want to hide away forever,” I whispered.

Locke’s brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”

“There’s always going to be danger out there. But I don’t want it to make us stop living. If we do…then what are we fighting for?”

Locke brought my head down to his, our foreheads touching. “You’re wise, you know that?”

“If the genius thinks I’m wise, I’m calling that an honorary college degree.”

Locke pulled back, studying me. “Did you want to go to college?”

I worried a spot on the inside of my cheek. “I did a couple of terms at Evergreen University. I wanted to finish and get a degree, but…”

“You had to run?” he asked.

I nodded. “When my friend Hayden got caught up in a dragon shifter war, it got too hot in Ember Hollow. Supernaturals of all kinds flooded the town, and I knew it was only a matter of time before someone put two and two together and informed Bastian of where I was.”

Locke threaded his fingers through mine. “I’m sorry, Wren.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but I still wish you could’ve finished your degree.” He stilled for a moment. “Would you want to? Finish it, I mean.”

I hadn’t thought about it in so long. When I was forced to leave Evergreen, I’d lost the scholarship that went with it—the only way to complete my studies. But now that I was living with the guys, I could save all the money I made at Arcane. I could afford classes if I really wanted to.

“I think I would like to,” I admitted.

Locke grinned and lifted me off his lap, setting me beside him. He reached for his laptop on the coffee table and flipped it open. “There are a ton of different colleges and universities not that far from here. What were you majoring in?”

I worried the corner of my lip. “I hadn’t declared yet.”

He turned to look at me. “If you could do anything , what would it be?”

I froze. When I started at Evergreen, my only thought had been to find a career that could make me decent money and keep me under the radar. Maybe accounting. But if those were no longer my guidelines, I could do anything.

Struggling to swallow, I cleared my throat. “I think I might like to get a degree in psychology.”

Everything about Locke gentled in that moment. “My little empath,” he whispered.

My lips twitched as I shrugged. “I guess it’s built into me. I just—I think I could help people with trauma. Maybe I can help in ways beyond just my supernatural gift.”

Locke leaned into me and brushed his lips against mine. “I love that idea. I’ll research all the schools with psych programs and send you a list.”

Warmth spread through me at his care. “Thank you. I’m so lucky to have you.”

A shy grin spread across his face. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. I was on my feet in a flash, ready for the guys as they entered the living room.

My stomach dropped at the sight of them. Their expressions ran the gambit from stormy to fury-filled. And they looked like they were all freshly showered. No, not showered. I scented creek water on their skin. Which meant things had gotten bloody.

“What happened?” I croaked. “Where is he?”

Ender’s eyes were almost black as his gaze slid to me. “Dead. And his heart is on its way to your father.”