Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

•Faye•His hand was still pressed to mine, flat against his chest, and underneath the steady drum of his heartbeat I heard the rest of it, unguarded, pouring out faster than he probably even realized, nothing like the careful words he'd just handed me out loud.Please believe me. Please. I can't lose her again, not after today, not after spending the whole day thinking I'd failed her the exact way I promised I never would. I'd burn this entire pack down before I'd let anything touch her. I don't even know how to explain what she means to me yet, it's too big, it doesn't fit into words right, it just sits here, constant, like breathing.I froze.Not from fear this time. From something else entirely, something that cracked straight through the anger I'd been holding onto since I first caught that warrior's thought about my stepfather being alive. Because this wasn't performance. This wasn't a man saying pretty things to smooth over a mistake, calculating exactly what I needed to hear to

•Faye•"I feel so sticky. Can I go take a bath, and we continue this conversation later, Shaun?""Yes, of course, my lady." He said it easy, warm, and I was starting to notice how much he genuinely seemed to like calling me that, like the words themselves gave him something. "Go take a bath. I'll join you in our room once I'm done here."Then he kissed my forehead, and I went stiff for half a second before I managed to turn away, already making a mental note that I needed to get used to this, his hands, his mouth, the easy way he touched me like it cost him nothing and meant everything at the same time. Sooner or later. Preferably sooner, if the way my whole body still locked up for a beat every single time was anything to go by.I headed down the hall toward our room, still turning the conversation over in my head, the fact that I'd actually told him everything, that he hadn't flinched, hadn't looked at me any differently once he knew, and I was so deep in my own thoughts that I didn

•Shaun•I don't know how long we sat there like that, her tucked against my side, damp hair soaking a small patch into my shirt that I couldn't bring myself to care about, but at some point her breathing evened out, slow and steady, and I realized she'd actually fallen asleep sitting upright against me.I should have moved her properly, gotten her under the blankets, let her sleep somewhere more comfortable than half-slumped against my shoulder, but I didn't move for a long time. I just sat there, arm wrapped careful around her, cataloguing the day the way I always seemed to do lately when things finally went quiet enough to let me think.She'd handed me more today than she probably realized. The mind-reading. Twelve years old, completely alone, learning to survive something that would have broken most adults. And underneath all of it, still, a woman who could face down someone throwing insults at her in a hallway and walk away laughing instead of shattered, though I suspected that pa

•Faye•So, Thunder continued, apparently unbothered by the fact I was still half-panicking about the entire concept of him existing as a separate conversational partner inside my own head, “are we doing this every morning now? Because honestly, this is already my favorite part of the day.”We “are absolutely not discussing your favorite parts of the day right now.” I kept my eyes fixed on Shaun's sleeping face, watching for any sign of movement, half convinced this entire exchange was somehow about to get me in trouble I didn't yet understand. “I need to process the fact that I'm apparently fluent in telepathic wolf now.”“You've always been fluent. You just needed someone worth talking to.”“Flattery isn't going to make this less weird, Thunder.”Shaun stirred beside me, a low groan rumbling out of him as he stretched, one eye cracking open to squint blearily at the morning light. I froze instinctively, caught somewhere between guilt and the ridiculous urge to look casual, like I had

•Shaun•"Thank you for coming, my lady." I crossed to meet her at the door, keeping my voice low enough that it wouldn't carry to the prisoner still strapped to the chair behind me. "I was a little skeptical you would, honestly.""Well, my mate needs me." She shrugged, nonchalant, already stepping past me into the room. "So here I am to help.""I hope this scene isn't too frightening," I said, watching her carefully as she turned to actually take in the rogue, his hand ruined, fingers gone one after another, blood soaked dark into the stone beneath the chair, the whole room reeking of iron and silver and sweat.She didn't even blink.I watched her study the carnage with something close to clinical detachment, like she was assessing a damaged piece of furniture rather than a man I'd personally spent the last hour taking apart, and something about that complete lack of horror sent an unexpected jolt straight through me."It's okay, Shaun." She said it simply, like the sight in front of