Chapter 43 — Bree
The door clicks shut behind Rainn’s dad, leaving us alone in the now-empty kitchen. The smell of coffee lingers in the air, along with the scents of the people who have just left, but my senses are focused on Rainn. His arms are still around me. Gently, he turns me back to face him, his eyes boring into mine, searching, yet gentle.
“I feel like I need to apologize again,” he says quietly. “For even entertaining the thought that you were spying on me or working for Gage.”
I make a scoffing sound. “There’s no way you could have known better. We were keeping too much from each other.”
“You’re right.” He smiles and places one finger under my chin, lifting my face up to his. “Never again.”
“Never.”
I barely get the word out before his lips meet mine. A sigh escapes me, and my body relaxes into his. His lips are gentle, and under the fabric of his clothes, his muscles are hard and firm. My fingers twine in his hair, pulling him closer, deepening our kiss. This time, I never want it to end.
“Bree.” My name is like a soft prayer on his lips. Without warning, he lifts me off the ground and sets me down on the marble top of the island. Still kissing him, I wrap my legs around his waist, holding on tight, wanting so much more.
The sound of tearing fabric pierces my mind enough to break our kiss. Startled, I look down to see that I’m clutching Rainn’s t-shirt, and I’ve torn it from the neck almost all the way down his chest. My clothes have fared little better in Rainn’s hands. He takes a quick step back, his breaths coming hard. With one hand, he touches the rip in his t-shirt, while I examine the tiny tear he made in mine.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yes, I…” I shake my head in wonder. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“Me neither.” He touches the rip in my shirt. “I don’t usually go around ripping people’s clothes.”
“So just mine,” I tease.
Rainn grins. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I sigh. “I was also literally tearing off your clothes.”
“It’s not like I mind you tearing off my clothes.” He touches a finger to my cheek and sighs. “I don’t want to lose my head around you, though.”
I frown. “You mean you want to be gentle with me.”
“Always.” He shrugs, as if that’s already a given.
“Ugh.” I push at his chest. “I’m not made of glass.”
“Hmm,” he says vaguely, then raises one hand to smooth my hair. I close my eyes and exhale. His touch feels like home, like love, like I can finally just be…myself.
“Do you think Sheri knows about you?” he asks suddenly.
I shake my head. “I don’t think so, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she does. She knows things.”
“I guessed. From what Emily-Rose said.” Rainn nods thoughtfully. “She’s probably a seer.”
My eyes widen. “Seers really exist? Like people who see the future?”
Rainn chuckles. “Asks a wolf-shifter.”
I push his chest playfully. “Seriously, I can’t believe how little I know about stuff. No wonder my mother really wanted me to get out of Falling River.”
“I’m glad you did,” Rainn says. He drops a careful kiss on the corner of my mouth, moving back almost as soon as his lips touch my skin. He ignores my muttered complaint and, leaving me sitting atop the island, begins to tidy the kitchen. After a moment, I slide down and join him. We put back the chairs and clean the cups in companionable silence.
“Why do you think Leonidas Gage came to the bookstore to scare you?” Rainn asks after a while. “I still don’t get what his motives could have been.”
I think for a moment. “Reverse psychology? I think he wanted me to be scared, to panic and go back home. It just makes me wonder why Hugo wants me back so badly, to the point of coming all the way out here to get me. I’m not so important.”
Rainn straightens and comes over to me, turning my face to his. “Bree, you are important.” He’s using his firm alpha voice, and it makes me smile.
“Thanks, Rainn.”
My smile relaxes him somewhat. “Seriously, I don’t just mean important to me. You are important in the entire scheme of things. Think about it. You defied him when others couldn’t. You left.”
Maybe he’s right. The thought makes me even more determined to challenge Hugo and destroy the hold he has over my pack.
“There’s something I need to ask you,” Rainn is saying. “Aside from your dad, did your pack have any other losses that night ten years ago?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Something’s not right,” he says, his brow furrowed. “There’s no way Hugo, even with trained shifter soldiers, could have killed my mother’s entire pack without even a few casualties on his side. The Sierras didn’t lose any wolves that night either. None of the packs did. It would have been a major red flag. Whatever my mother fought…the only dead wolves belonged to her…my pack.”
“Do you think it was the mooncursed?” I don’t know anything about the creature Professor Denton described, but if Rainn’s mother tracked one all the way to Falling River, then there’s a chance it’s what attacked her.
Rainn shakes his head. “Even a mooncursed isn’t strong enough to kill an entire pack of shifters.” He sighs. “I’m just concerned. If there’s a danger to us in those forests, if Hugo has a weapon…I don’t want to go in blind like my mother did.”
“I understand.” I place one hand on his shoulder, feeling the tenseness of his muscles. He’s worried about his pack, as any alpha would be. “I never heard of Hugo having any kind of weapon,” I assure him. “He trains the males in our pack brutally, but outside of that…nothing.”
Rainn sighs. “Maybe we’ll learn more tonight.” He smiles at me. “You should go get some sleep.”
“I will,” I reply. I’m not sleepy though, just tense and a little excited, my mind still running over all the events of the night. Outside, the sky is already turning to gray. Rainn’s eyes follow mine to the windows. Then he takes my hand.
“I know I’ve said this before, but…” He grins, looking just a tiny bit shamefaced. “I want to show you something.”