Page 15 of Wulf’s Pack

The shower turns on, and Nora reappears at my side.

I expect some teasing, but I get compassion.

I shouldn’t be surprised. Nora is excellent at reading people, and I’m in no mood for games.

She slides her arm around my waist, squeezing me in a side hug.

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and lean my cheek on the top of her head. “You doing okay?” she asks softly.

I sigh. “I don’t even know.”

“If you need to talk about it, I’m here.”

I swallow a lump in my throat. “I think I just need time to wrap my head around it.”

She leads me out of the room toward the kitchen. “You can decompress a little while you make your mate some dinner. Grilled chicken, bacon, ranch sandwiches sound good?”

I glance down at her with a wry smile. “Are you asking me to make them for you?”

She grins at me. “Well, I mean, if you’re already going to be making one for Skylar, what’s one more?”

She bats her lashes playfully, and I laugh. Nora isn’t much of a cook. She’s trying to get better, but any time she can finagle a meal out of one of us, she will.

The rest of the evening is more relaxing.

Nora talks about life with our clan while Skylar devours her sandwich like she hasn’t eaten a meal in ages.

I make a mental promise to feed her well and often.

After that, she goes right to bed. It’s not that late, but she had a lot of healing magic done on her, and I don’t know how long it’s been since she felt safe while sleeping.

I lie awake for hours, trying to process my new reality. I need to come up with a plan, but I’m not even sure where to start. Hopefully, things will fall into place on their own. I don’t know when I finally pass out, but I must sleep hard because I don’t wake up until breakfast is nearly ready.

Laughter spills into the hallway from the kitchen.

When I enter the room, I smile to myself.

Charlie is sitting at a massive table reading the news on a tablet.

Enzo is leaning against the counter nursing a cup of coffee, Nora and Oliver are setting dishes and utensils on the table.

Rook and Terrance stand at the stove. Rook is pouring batter onto a griddle, and Terrance is stirring a huge pan of scrambled eggs.

Mountains of pancakes and bacon are piled up in dishes beside them.

Ren is at the fridge, and when he starts to drink directly from a carton of orange juice, Nora smacks him and takes the juice from his hands. “Stop it, you heathen. Use a glass.”

It’s all very domestic, and for once, a wistful feeling sweeps through me.

I can feel the unity. Our clan really is a family.

I know I’m part of it, but seeing them together like this, for the first time, I feel like I might be missing out on something I never knew I needed.

My life at home suddenly seems very lonely.

Will Skylar want this? Most wolves need a pack.

True lone wolves are rare. I might have to seriously consider moving into the den.

“Afternoon, sleepyhead!” Nora chirps.

“Morning. Anyone see Skylar yet?”

Nora nods. “I knocked on her door five minutes ago to let her know breakfast is ready. She’ll be out here in a minute.”

I push my way into the kitchen and take a seat at the table. I’d offer to help, but it looks like they’ve got everything covered.

A startled yelp has all of us turning around.

Skylar is standing in the entry to the kitchen, clutching her chest, while our clan brother, Illren, stands too close behind her.

The damn faerie has personal space issues and is sneaky as hell.

Illren is a fae assassin. A ruthless one.

He’d give me nightmares if he weren’t the most loyal killer on the planet. He’s a psycho, but he’s our psycho.

“Illren.” I groan. “Do you always have to creep up on people like that? You scared the shit out of her.”

Illren ignores me. “Hello, little sister,” he murmurs to Skylar in his quiet, slightly chilling voice.

She sucks in a gasp. I jump up from my chair and pull Skylar away from Illren before he gives her a heart attack. I don’t mean to pull her close, but before I know it, we’re toe-to-toe, staring at each other. I gulp. “Hi.”

She blushes. “Hi.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you.”

My hand lifts of its own volition, and I push her hair back behind her ear. She bites her lip and looks up at me with her big, blue eyes, and my mouth goes dry. I want to taste her. I want to pull her into my arms and drown her in a kiss that would curl her toes.

A throat clears behind us, breaking us apart. I pull in a deep breath through my nose and take a quick step back. I’m surprised at myself. She had me completely enthralled.

Skylar’s eyes widen when Illren smiles at her.

The man is terrifying without trying. He has long, silky black hair pulled back, showing off pointed ears and ethereal violet eyes.

He has a sort of graceful look about him, but it’s a deadly grace.

The man has a darkness to him that usually has people’s survival instincts going haywire.

You can just sense the danger the man poses.

He's looking at Skylar with intelligent, calculating eyes, cataloguing every detail about her. I slip my arm around her and pull her close to my side. Her small hand clings to my shirt as if she needs me to calm her nerves. “Skylar, this is Illren.”

Illren lifts his hand, and Skylar flinches. I release a soft warning growl, but Illren continues to ignore me. He pauses and quirks an eyebrow at Skylar. “You’re a jumpy little thing.”

I grind my teeth.

“No, you’re just that terrifying,” Nora quips. “Quit terrorizing her, and come sit down. Breakfast is ready.”

Illren shoots Nora a bored look, as if he disagrees with the terrorizing thing.

He reaches toward Skylar again, and she places her trembling hand in his.

He bows low and presses his forehead to the back of her hand.

Skylar glances at me, shocked, but all I can do is shrug.

Illren does what he wants, and usually you just have to go with it.

When Illren lifts out of his bow, he looks at Skylar with an intense gaze. “You have nothing to fear from me, little sister.”

As dangerous as this man obviously is, there’s no lie in his words, and strangely enough, Skylar gives him a shy smile back as if she likes being referred to as “little sister.” I’m definitely going to have to consider moving us into the den.

She needs a family. She’s probably never had one.

At least not a good one, if her parents were willing to sell her off.

“All right, introductions are out of the way,” Rook says, pulling out a chair for Nora. “Let’s eat this breakfast before it all gets cold.”

When I hold out a chair for Skylar, she smiles at me and sits. She covers a yawn with a fist and asks, “What time is it?”

“1 p.m.” I take the seat beside her. “With the club being open so late and the FUA open 24 hours, we’re all on a sort of swing-shift schedule. Typically, we’re up around noon and go to bed around 4 a.m.”

“It also helps us accommodate Parker a little since he’s completely nocturnal,” Nora adds. “We’d never get to spend any quality time with him otherwise, and he gets a bit lonely. Vampires are very social, but he’s not in a vampire clan, so we do what we can to make sure he gets family time.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you all.”

Nora shrugs. “He’s family.”

Everyone takes their seats and starts grabbing food.

I hold up a scoop of eggs and give Skylar a questioning look.

She nods, so I drop the spoonful of eggs onto her plate.

On her other side, Rook sets two pancakes on her plate as well.

She looks a little bemused at being served, and her eyes gloss over.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, worried we’ve somehow offended her.

She swallows. “I’m fine,” she says, but her voice is thick and raspy. Everyone stops eating to look at her. Their concern seems to tip her over the edge, and moisture gathers in her eyes. “I’ve never been treated with such kindness,” she admits. “It’s a little overwhelming.”

When I stiffen at this, she pats my leg as if I’m the one who needs comfort. “I’m free now. I’m with you.”

That calms me. I nudge her arm with my elbow. “Eat. We need to put some meat on your bones.”

She blushes, but digs into her food. My wolf is satisfied, happy to be taking care of her.