Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Ember

I wake long before my eyes pop open. My cheek rests against Veryn’s purring chest. The sound makes my insides all warm and fuzzy. My thigh is tossed over his pelvis, and he’s running his fingers through my hair.

“I know you’re awake,” he murmurs. “Not that I’m complaining. If you want to continue to stay naked and glued to my side all day…” He chuckles a low, throaty sound. “Feel free.”

My entire body goes stiff as he runs his thumb and pointer fingers over my ear. Okay, not mine, but my wolf’s. My tail flicks, and the feeling of the fur brushing my side makes me squeak.

“Ohmigod, I partially shifted,” I whisper.

“Oh no, you fully shifted.” Veryn chuckles, teasing his fingers through my hair. “I know this is a weird thing to say when I shift into an almost thirty-foot-long dragon, but she’s grown a lot. She’s massive.”

“Yeah, she’s also getting pushier about taking control whenever she can.”

Veryn shrugs. “It didn’t bother me. She’s actually quite cuddly. I’m going to need to buy some lint rollers, though.”

I push up on my forearm as my eyes narrow.

Veryn just continues laughing. “Now, my dragon would like to negotiate fucking you doggy style sometime…” He snorts. “With the tail and ears.”

I scoff, shaking my head and trying to hold back the smile that tips at my lips. “Okay, weirdo. Enough of that.”

He continues laughing. “Your wolf legit wouldn’t let me leave the room to cook you breakfast. I think she wanted to make sure you woke up in my arms.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “How about we share a shower, and I cook you breakfast before I have to leave for work?”

My eyes fly to the nightstand.

Holy shit.

It’s almost three in the afternoon.

“Okay,” I agree. “Shower and a late lunch before I have to check in with Rogue.”

Veryn cooks in a pair of sweats that dangle low on his hips. I’m not sure if it’s weird that he has a giant dragon tattoo taking up the majority of his back and shoulders. Part of me finds it a little trite, but the rest of me drools as his powerful muscles flex.

I run out to grab my purse from the garage, and I’m a little impressed that my phone still has forty percent battery.

Veryn snatches it off the table and plugs it in on the counter before going back for our plates. He gets everything set on the table before sliding onto the chair at my side.

“Are you going to let me feed you your bacon by hand?” he asks, flashing a dangerously hot smirk.

When did I turn to a melty pile of goo for the dragon?

My wolf picks this moment to send a blurry collection of images. It’s dark, and although her eyesight is better than my own, everything is hazy except for Veryn’s face. I can make out the collection of tattoos on his chest and forearm as he squats down, nuzzling his face to hers.

Oh my god.

I think they hung out together while I was asleep or something. When he mentioned the full shift, I thought he was joking or exaggerating.

I’m going to have an exorcism and have you plucked out of my brain if you keep this crap up, I threaten, even though we both know it’s useless.

We’re as trapped together as we’ve always been.

Claim him, or I will , my wolf replies.

Veryn’s head tilts.

I must have missed something while arguing with… myself.

That’s what it boils down to.

“Did you happen to make coffee?” My nose twitches with the scent, so it’s around here somewhere.

I just need to find it and drink about three gallons.

Veryn knows how to cook a delicious breakfast, but something about him feeding me each bite makes everything more intimate.

He carries the dishes over to the sink as my phone rings.

I shove myself out of my chair, unplug it, and answer, since it’s Rogue.

“Hold it just there,” Rogue says.

I snort, because I already know she means the phone. Sometimes her allergy to electricity is humorous, but if that was me, it would drive me insane.

“You’re so high maintenance. Have I told you that lately?” Gemma chuckles. “I could siphon us over there, and we could check if you’re that concerned.” For being sisters and part of a group of quadruplets, the two couldn’t be more different if they tried.

Gemma is easygoing and finds humor in almost anything.

Rogue is high-strung and serious, but she’s a great friend. They both are, actually.

“I mean, we know him,” Rogue says. “But do we really know him ? He could have snapped, and she’s tied up in his basement right now. Dragons are notoriously unpredictable.”

“Veryn doesn’t have a basement,” Gemma adds helpfully.

“I do not,” Veryn calls out from the sink.

My face burns as I snort. “I’m fine.”

“Sorry, Veryn. My sister is neurotic and watches too much true crime TV in her downtime,” Gemma says.

“I’m not going to apologize,” Rogue says. “If you’re fine, why didn’t you answer one of the three texts I sent you between last night and now?”

“Yeah, Ember. Why didn’t you answer your friend’s texts?” Veryn laughs, turning back to the sink as I glare daggers at his head.

“Well, I can probably fill you in on what they were doing…” Gemma says with an obnoxious tone to her voice.

“Is this just a welfare check?” I ask, desperately trying to get this phone call back on track.

“No, there’s a reason why I called, but it’s work related,” Rogue says, and I can tell she moves closer to the phone. “And your dragon has super hearing.”

Veryn cuts off the water, coming over to give me a quick kiss on the temple. “I’ll run in and change, so you can have some privacy to discuss your case.” He smacks my ass. “Just don’t leave without telling me goodbye.”

I grin, mouthing, “Thank you.”

He swaggers off toward his room with the sweats hanging low on his hips.

I wait for the door to close and say, “We’re good.”

“Gemma and I went back to the human club last night,” Rogue says in her no-nonsense work tone.

“Okay, did you find Sanders?” I lick my lips and somehow taste Veryn, but I shake my head to stay focused.

“No,” Rogue says. “We’re starting to wonder if he knows someone is looking into him.”

“It’s possible,” I acknowledge.

“I did, however, get a snapshot of a meeting with Sanders and someone else.” Rogue sighs. “For all I know, it could have been The Doctor. I’ve never seen anything like it, but any distinguishing features, his face, even his voice, it was all distorted.”

“Could you tell how long ago the meeting occurred?” I ask, wondering what kind of power someone would have to have to distort her ability to see them in a vision .

“Not exactly, but it was recent enough that I was able to pick it up from the wood of the table they met at,” Rogue says. “The only useful piece of information is, I specifically heard Sanders say he would be heading to pack land to talk to the alpha.”

My wolf perks up.

She’s had an obsession with the North American Pack for as long as I can remember. That’s probably because my biological father was alpha, but my little brothers murdered him when I was a teenager.

That pack is supposed to be our birthright . My wolf forces the thought through my mind.

I have no idea who took over for Carson, but even if he was alive, it’s not like he would have passed the pack on to his daughter.

And my wolf knows as much.

That entire world is incredibly patriarchal. They don’t think much of females and even less of humans.

Before Carson ruled the pack, his brother, Brayden, was in charge.

Brayden tormented my mother and everyone else he came across during his reign. My mom’s mates eventually killed him when he nearly killed my mom.

That’s when Carson took over, but I know the story well. My biological father didn’t want anything to do with me, and it’s not like I missed out in life because of it.

My mom’s mates became my dads. They’ve taught me everything, from how to coexist with my wolf to the importance of knowing how to defend myself. They loved me more than enough that I never had any interest in tracking down Carson. He might have donated sperm toward my creation, but that was the extent of his influence on my life.

Well, until I reached the age of wolf maturity. My family agreed he only wanted access to me to try to mate me off to form an alliance with God knows who. It doesn’t bother me in the least that my psychopathic little brothers murdered him.

At least I trust my brothers, even if they are major pains in the ass.

“Ember?” Rogue asks.

“Sorry, I’m here.”

“Okay, so, do you want to meet us at the club again tonight?” Rogue asks. “If he doesn’t show, we can regroup and make a plan to go from there.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. Just tell me what time.” My wolf gets so agitated, it’s difficult to follow the rest of the conversation. She’s fine with stopping by the club after, but we officially have an excuse to stalk pack land, and she wants to take it immediately.

Veryn comes out as soon as I hang up the phone. He probably heard everything that was said, even with him giving us space. He’s in his normal work attire of dark jeans, a black T-shirt, and combat boots. He never bothers to lace them, which I find unreasonably sexy.

He and his father Bane might not be biologically related, but Veryn is like the way hotter, 2.0 version. It’s actually kind of sweet how close the two of them are.

My wolf paces my mind, and her anxiety and restlessness spill directly into me. A barrage of images plays through my head, and every single one of them is from times we’ve snuck onto the edge of the North American Pack Lands.

“You look like you’re thinking about something pretty hard.” His hands fall to his knees, and he pulls his jeans up just a bit before squatting down in front of the chair I ended up in. “Want to tell me about it?”

“I was just thinking about how hot your dad is,” I lie.

“Nice try,” he says, bringing a palm up to brush my cheek. “Tell me the truth this time.”

“The case we’re working on might have ties to the North American Pack. The full moon is coming up, and…” I shrug, glancing away.

“And she’s making her wants known,” Veryn fills in for me. “Wolves are social creatures. It has to be hard for her. Do you want me to take the night off?”

My head shakes. “No, I can handle her. I’ve also got to meet Rogue and Gemma at a human club to follow a lead.”

He studies my face carefully and finally nods. “Gotcha.” Something about the way he says the word makes my skin prickle with unease.

We aren’t bonded. There’s no way he can read my mind to know I just lied to him. More than that, it wasn’t even a straight-up lie.

It was a fib.

A small stretch of the truth.

“I’m supposed to be in early tonight.” Veryn leans close, nuzzling his cheek to mine. “But that also means I’ll be off early if you need me.” He winks, standing to his full height. “Or even if you just want to stop by once you’re done.” He rolls his shoulders back, strides over to the counter, and pulls open one of the drawers. Spinning around, he tosses a set of keys at me.

I snatch them out of the air, looking at them dangling from my palm.

“What’s this?” I ask, even though I have a feeling I know.

“My spare set of keys.” He smiles dangerously. “That way, you can pop in when I’m not around. Feel free to stretch out in bed naked, that would be the perfect gift to find after a long night of work.”

I snort, shaking my head.

“Goddamn, please do. That’s the kind of shit my dreams are made of.” He steps over, offering me his hand.

I let him pull me up and wrap my arms around his lower back as the keys jingle.

I wanted him so badly for so long that it’s a little hard to believe how perfect he’s being this time around. Nah, this is who he’s always been. He was coerced by our families when we were younger, but we’re both adults now.

He bends down, kissing the top of my head and making my heart race.

He really is a delicious dragon.