Page 38 of How to Trust a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #4)

Josh

I woke up to Wilder’s hands running gently up and down my back.

When I blinked my eyes open, he smiled and gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead.

He’d figured out pretty early that I was a little shy about tongue kissing in the morning.

Because, you know, morning breath. Not that Wilder ever seemed to have morning breath, but I was sure I did, and then I would get in my head about it, and it’s hard to enjoy kissing if you’re busy thinking about your breath.

I wondered if after a dozen years I would still care. Even if you lived forever, you still had to worry about morning breath. I chuckled a little to myself at the thought.

“What has you laughing, Mei Ume?” Wilder asked, smiling at me.

“I was just thinking that we have, like, I don’t know how long together, and I wondered if I’ll still be worrying about morning breath in ten or twenty years.”

“I hope not, because I love your breath in the morning. I love all your smells,” Wilder murmured.

I laughed again, because it was such a Wilder thing to say .

Wilder loved me, and we were mated. I still wasn’t sure I had my brain wrapped around that. It seemed too good to be true.

“I love you, Wilder.” It felt good to say it.

He gave me a hug. “I love you, too, Mei Ume. You are my world.”

We lay tangled up together for a few minutes, just enjoying each other, before Wilder gave a sigh, announcing, “Thea is on her way.”

I gave his bare chest a peck and then rolled out of bed. “Let me make you guys breakfast, then. I’ll hop in the shower and then start cooking. And don’t you make food without me,” I ordered him. “I like cooking for you.”

Wilder held up his hands and smiled. He was sitting up in bed, the blankets pooled around his waist. He was so unbelievably sexy, and I had the urge to climb right back into bed and get my hands all over him.

He winked at me, like he knew exactly what I was thinking, and I sashayed out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

I don’t think I’d ever sashayed before, but knowing that Wilder was looking at me and appreciating my body gave me that extra swagger.

I hopped into the shower, soaping up and thinking about yesterday.

I felt… really good. Yeah, I still had trauma to work through.

I might flinch when people got mad or moody.

I might sometimes fall back into trying to fix things when nothing was wrong, or I might apologize too much when things weren’t my fault.

But Wilder saw me, and he knew I was more than those things.

I wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t perfect either.

The important thing was that we listened to each other.

The fact that Wilder had apologized was kind of amazing, too.

I knew I wasn’t the only one in a relationship who could say “I’m sorry,” but I’d kind of forgotten that with Rick.

I rinsed off the soap and turned the shower off, drying myself and then wrapping the towel around my waist to go throw some clothes on. Wilder wasn’t in the bedroom, and I hoped he hadn’t tried starting the coffee maker.

Wilder and coffee makers did not get along.

I chuckled to myself as I got dressed. I loved that he wasn’t perfect. I loved that he couldn’t seem to work the coffee maker.

When I walked out of the bedroom, I grabbed him and kissed him, and his lips were soft and pliant against mine. He let me take charge of our quick kiss, although he gave my butt a little smack when I pulled away. It made me smile and feel sexy and appreciated.

Agh, I loved this man so much. I felt near to bursting with happiness, like I was just gonna float out of my skin.

We chatted about the day ahead as I started on breakfast, and it was only about five minutes before Thea was knocking at the door.

Wilder hollered for her to come in, and she did, throwing a bag on a chair and then plopping down at the table.

She stared at me cooking breakfast for a moment, her gaze assessing.

“Well, looks like someone was well-fucked,” she said.

“Thea!” Wilder reproached, but I laughed.

“What?” she asked, motioning toward me. “He’s practically glowing.”

“Jealous?” I joked.

“Fuck, yes,” she responded right back. “Everyone here is all paired up and has this content, satiated look about them most of the time. It’s infuriating.”

“I don’t know—I wouldn’t describe Q as looking content and satiated,” I said, placing some eggs and bacon on the table.

“Yeah, well, Q looks like he’s about to eviscerate someone most of the time. And Liam just gazes dopily at him like it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen,” she said, spooning some food onto her plate.

I laughed again, because that was a totally accurate description.

“Ok, old man, what wisdom are you imparting to me today?” Thea said between bites, looking at Wilder.

Wilder didn’t rise to her bait; I guessed he was used to attitude and snark.

We finished up breakfast while they went over Thea’s knowledge of weaponry.

Apparently the bag was full of guns and knives and other things I didn’t really care to think about, so when my phone rang and I saw it was Sebbie, I excused myself to take the call.

“On the way to work or on the way home?” I asked after our greetings.

“Ugh, on the way home. I worked an overnight shift at the hospital, and I’m exhausted. It seems like people always die at night, and every nurse and doctor seems to call me in for the final moments,” Sebbie grumbled.

He did sound tired, but he wasn’t really in a bad mood. Then again, Sebbie was never really in a bad mood.

“They know you aren’t afraid of death and that you’re really good with patients,” I answered.

“Well, yeah. There’s nothing scary about death. It’s just a transition, and people deserve to feel safe and comforted in their final moments here. I’m honored to give that to them. It’s really a beautiful thing,” Sebbie stated.

Sebbie wasn’t religious, per se, but he definitely believed that death was not an ending, as he always told us. He was probably the only person I knew who seemed totally comfortable with the thought of dying.

“Well, I’m glad you could help people, but I’m sorry it was a long night,” I answered. “Hopefully you have tonight off? Because it’s really late to be getting off your shift.”

“Yeah, I stayed with a patient for a bit after my shift ended. I have the next few days off, so I plan to head home and sleep for like fifteen hours,” Sebbie joked.

He did sound drained, despite his cheery tone.

“You okay driving? If you need a ride…” I trailed off, ready to get someone to pick him up if necessary.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m tired, which is why I decided to talk on the phone. So distract me with details about the sexy silver fox staying in your cabin,” Sebbie said .

I blushed, but I did just that, gushing about Wilder a bit to Sebbie.

He knew that we were seeing each other, but I got to fill him in on the “I love you” exchange.

I left the whole mate thing out, though, because Sebbie didn’t know about hellhounds.

Honestly, even if he did, I kind of preferred to ignore the whole supernatural aspect of things.

Sebbie let me gush, but I made sure to ask him questions and keep him talking, too, so he stayed awake. He yawned a few times, but he sounded alert enough that I wasn’t worried about him falling asleep while driving.

“Thanks, Josh. I’m pulling in at home now…” Sebbie trailed off. “What the hell?” he mumbled.

“What’s up?” I asked. “Did Toby order you sex toys to get delivered again or something?” I joked.

Sebbie didn’t laugh, though, and I heard the car door open and shut. “Rick? Is that you?” he said.

My heart froze. I had walked outside to chat, but I hustled my way back inside. “Sebbie! Don’t go near him!” I insisted, Wilder and Thea looking up as I rushed in the door.

“Josh, he’s hurt. I think… Oh, Rick,” he murmured, and I could hear movement and rustling, then the sound of birds through the phone.

“Sebbie is home and Rick is apparently outside his place,” I told Thea and Wilder, and they both stood up from their chairs.

“Let’s go,” Wilder said.

I turned my attention back to the phone, following Thea and Wilder outside. “Sebbie, don’t go near him, okay?” I said.

Thea’s car was in front of the house, and she opened the passenger door and motioned me in as Wilder got in the driver’s side.

“Sebbie?” I asked. I could hear groaning and rustling, and there was still the sound of birds cawing in the background, but Sebbie hadn’t answered me.

“It’s okay, Rick. You’ll be okay now. I’m here to help you,” Sebbie murmured, his voice soft and gentle. I thought the moaning was coming from Rick, and I wondered if maybe it wasn’t just a ploy to get to me. Maybe Rick was actually hurt.

“Sebbie, what’s happening?” I asked.

Thea climbed into the back, and Wilder started the car.

“He’s badly hurt, but he won’t die,” Sebbie said, and his voice was gentle.

My stomach flipped nervously. I still felt like this was some kind of ploy. Wilder started driving, but I was only vaguely aware of what we were doing.

I heard Sebbie gasp, and I croaked out, “Sebbie?”

“Who are you?” he said, his voice strong, and I knew he wasn’t talking to me.

“Who’s there with you?” I asked, and I could feel Wilder’s eyes on me. Thea reached up from the back seat and rested her hand on my shoulder.

“Death,” I heard a voice say, the bird sounds getting louder for a minute, and then there was silence.

“Sebbie? Sebbie??” I cried out, but the line was dead.

Wilder slammed on the brakes, and I was glad that someone—Thea, maybe?—had put my seat belt on, because I jerked forward in my seat. I looked up, dazed, and Corbin and Jude were standing in the middle of the road. We were out of the woods and near the main houses.

They both rushed over and got in the back seat, and there was a crow on Corbin’s shoulder. It got in the car, too, and just cawed once at me.

“Let’s go,” Corbin stated, and Wilder started driving again.

I felt like I had fallen down some weird rabbit hole and was in an alternate dimension. There were hellhounds and a crow in the car, and Rick was hurt and someone was at Sebbie’s who had called themselves Death. Would they hurt him? Would they kill him?

Wilder’s hand grabbed onto my thigh, squeezing. I hadn’t realized I was shaking until that moment. Thea’s hand was still a solid weight on my shoulder, too.

“We’ll get there in time,” Wilder said, but he couldn’t really know, could he?

Sebbie didn’t live far away, but the fifteen minute drive felt like it took an hour.

He had a small house on the other side of town.

It was somewhat private, with thick trees separating him from neighbors on both sides.

Sebbie always said he loved the privacy of his place, but I was cursing it right now.

If it was less private maybe his neighbors would have seen or heard something and intervened.

My thoughts were a jumbled mess, and finally we were pulling up the driveway to Sebbie’s house. We barely came to a stop behind Sebbie’s car before we were all piling out. Jude and Thea stopped at the bottom of the stairs to his small front porch, where Rick was laying in a heap.

I kept going, calling out Sebbie’s name as I ran up the steps and threw open the front door.

I ran through the house, checking the living room, kitchen, and small bathroom downstairs, then I was pounding up the stairs, still calling out for Sebbie.

I ran into both bedrooms and the bathroom upstairs, but they were all empty.

“Sebbie!” I yelled again, turning around and bumping into Wilder. He grabbed onto my arms, holding me steady, his eyes soft as he looked at me.

“No, no, no, no,” I mumbled.

“He’s not here, Mei Ume. I’m sorry. We can find him, though,” Wilder said.

Wilder led me down the stairs and out the front door. Thea and Jude were still hovering over Rick, and Corbin was standing in the middle of the yard, crows surrounding him.

He looked up when we came out. “They’ll lead us,” he stated. I don’t think I’d ever seen Corbin anything but completely calm, but he looked anxious. It only made me more nervous for Sebbie. Did he know something ?

“Is Sebbie okay?” I asked, although I don’t know why Corbin would know that.

Corbin nodded his head once, and then he went to the car, getting in the driver’s seat. Wilder led me towards the car as well. Thea and Jude were talking quietly, but Thea got up and headed toward the car too, getting in the passenger seat.

“Jude?” Wilder asked.

“He’ll be okay with human intervention. I’ll stay here and call for an ambulance. It’s more important that you get to Sebbie than worry about this asshole,” Jude answered.

Wilder gave a nod and opened the back door, ushering me in and climbing in next to me.

Corbin had already started the car, and there was a crow on his shoulder.

His window was open, and I had the crazy thought that the crow would escape.

But it wasn’t exactly a pet anyway—at least I didn’t think so?

Corbin made a K turn in the driveway and started out toward the road, pausing at the end of the long driveway. His crow ruffled up its feathers and gave a soft caw, and Corbin turned left. Wilder reached out and pulled me in close, and I pressed my face into his chest, letting his scent comfort me.

“We’ll find him, Mei Ume,” Wilder promised.

“I know you will,” I answered, my voice muffled by his shirt.

I kept my face pressed into Wilder, breathing in and trying to calm my racing heart. The car occasionally slowed, and then we’d turn or pick up speed again. The cawing of crows was a constant sound outside in the trees, but I didn’t ask. I didn’t care, as long as we got to Sebbie.

I trusted Wilder. We would find Sebbie.

I just hoped we found him in time.