“You seem to be taking this all in stride.”
Matt shrugged. “Kieran loves the supernatural. He talks about it constantly, especially after he’s finished reading a book that tweaks his interest. Guess I’m just used to it. I won’t say I’m not freaked the hell out, but….” He shook his head. “Leave it to you to be different.”
“It’s not something I went looking for, believe me.” Caden paused, unsure how to say what was on his mind. “I can’t leave here, you know.”
“What? What the fuck does that mean?”
Closing his eyes, he told Matt the story of the bikers and how he’d killed them.
Kieran sat up, his eyes wide. “You killed them?”
Caden’s stomach clenched. “I didn’t mean to. I don’t even know how I did it. Quade thinks it has to do with fear or anger, but tonight I was scared shitless and couldn’t do a damn thing to help him.”
“Oh, honey.” Kieran snaked his arms around Caden’s waist.
“And then Quade wanted to show me I could be a threat to….” He swallowed hard. “You and Matt.”
Matt gasped. “If there is one thing I’m certain of, it’s that you could never hurt us.”
“Don’t believe it.” Caden drew in a shuddering breath. “Quade wanted to show me I could be a danger, so he took me out and goaded me into attacking him. I never thought I was a violent person, but I could have killed him because I lost control of my temper. I really, really never wanted to hurt Quade.”
Matt leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Caden could—should—deny it. He’d only known Quade a few weeks, but thanks to Ten, their whole lives were intertwined. “Yes.”
“Does he know?”
He wanted to laugh, to cry, to… something. All this was too much. “No. Quade’s people are… savage. He told me they can’t be with humans because they’d tear us up, literally.”
“Oh, that’s bullshit.”
Caden gaped at Kieran. “What do you mean?”
“In every romance novel, a wolf finds his fated mate and the wolf wouldn’t ever hurt him. They would die before they’d let something happen to their mate.”
Tamping down his irritation, Caden held up a hand and ticked off the points as he made them. “One, this isn’t a romance story. Two, Quade is not my ‘fated mate.’ Three, he’s a lycan, not a werewolf. This isn’t a story, Kieran, It’s my life, and right now, it’s in the shits.”
Kieran bit his lip. “I’m… I’m sorry.” He turned to Matt, who wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. “I guess I’m kinda stupid.”
“Aw, no.” Caden got up and sat beside Kieran, taking his hand. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just… two weeks ago, I was planning a trip to see my best friends. I thought I’d found the perfect life. My own shop, which is probably filled with dead flowers by now, an apartment I loved, and an area that struck me with its amazing beauty. Now? We were attacked by Sasquatch, I’m living under a mountain with people I never even knew existed, and I’m in love with a lycan who can’t touch me.”
Kieran moved over and snuggled up against Caden. When Matt stood and sat on the other side, sandwiching him between them, Caden found he could take a breath without it tearing him apart.
“Why don’t you get some sleep? We can lay out here on the couch, which, by the way, is surprisingly comfortable.”
“Nah, there’s a spare bedroom. Go ahead and rest. I’m not sure how long Quade will be gone, and we should probably see if we can sleep.”
“You sure you don’t want to get into bed with us?”
God, he wanted to. When they’d lived together, Caden would often crawl into bed with them. He always felt safe and secure when they were around. Moving out had been a huge risk, especially since he wouldn’t have his safety net. But he wasn’t that Caden anymore.
“No, I’m good, but thank you for offering.”
“Okay.” Matt took Kieran’s hand. “Come on, sleepyhead. Let’s get you into bed.”
“Yes, Sir.” Kieran yawned, then leaned over and gave Caden a peck on the cheek. “Good night, girlfriend.”
“The two of you, I swear.” Matt shook his head, but Caden could see the warmth of his smile as he gazed at them.
“Go on, get some rest.”
They went into the second bedroom and closed the door, leaving Caden in the living room, staring at the windows that showed a fake sun starting to peek over the horizon. He let his head rest against the sofa, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Jack frowned, his wide forehead wrinkling. “What do you mean, you were attacked?”
“By a Bogran! It slammed into the car and came after Caden.”
“What the hell for?”
“You tell me. It wasn’t interested in any of us. I had to slice it open just to get its attention. And the weirdest thing was that voice. It said Caden was a wood sprite. I heard about them, but never really thought the stories were true.”
“Neither did I. Are you sure he said sprite?”
“Well, gee, he could have said Coke, I guess. Of course I’m sure!”
Jack punched a button on the phone. “Hilda, I need someone who knows something about sprites.”
“You found your girl.”
“You know about sprites? Why is this the first I’m hearing about it?”
“It’s not like it’s dinner table discussions. What do you need to know?”
“Get in here.”
“Excuse me?” The chill in her voice was evident. “Maybe if you say ‘please.’”
“Oh for fuck’s…. Please get in here.”
She chuckled, then disconnected. A moment later the door opened and she strode into the room. As soon as he laid eyes on her, Jack got that moony look he had whenever she was around. He was head over heels for his wife, and it made Quade just a tiny bit jealous.
Which, of course, had him thinking about Caden. He remembered Caden standing there, terrified but not moving as the Bogran bore down on him. In that instant, that one fraction of a second, Quade’s heart seized at the thought that he could lose Caden. It had driven him to fight harder than ever before.
And then he’d claimed him. Oh, fuck. He’d claimed Caden as his, which meant he had essentially said Caden was his mate. Fuck and thunder. What the hell had he done?
“Are you paying attention?”
“Not in the slightest. I’ve got other things on my mind.” He glanced at Hilda. “What do you know about lycans and their mates?”
She blinked, her big brown eyes wide. “I thought you said this was about sprites?”
“It is,” Jack assured her. “I don’t know what Quade is talking about, but that’s not germane to this conversation.”
Quade snorted. “It is if I claimed him as mine.”
“You what? Oh shit.” Hilda stomped across the floor. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”