5. Cassian

5

CASSIAN

T he bedroom door clicks shut behind me as we all filter into Raiden's room. As much as relief floods my system from the privacy we're now finally offered after a chaotic evening, it still doesn't settle the uncertainty in my chest.

We're wading our way through uncharted waters, murky with the sins of others, leaving us at their mercy. The fact that Bozzelli wasn't aware of The Council's true plans shouldn't surprise me, but her now knowing, and what she may or may not do with that information, only serves to fuel my distress further.

"What do we do now?" Brody asks, pulling Addi into his side, and my gaze falls to her face.

"We sleep," I grunt, earning a look of surprise from each of them, Addi included.

"Sleep?" Raiden snaps.

"We can't just sleep," Kryll adds, and I shrug.

"Maybe you can't, but she needs to," I state, pointing at my fucking alpha. She's dead on her feet, exhaustion clinging to every inch of her. I don't need to look at my brothers to know they see it too.

In true Addi style, she waves me off. "I'm good," she breathes, stifling a yawn.

"If that's what good looks like, I don't want it," Brody muses, pressing a kiss to her forehead before she peers up at him with a deathly glare.

"Hey," she warns, and he boops her nose.

"Please, I'm teasing and you love it."

"It's questionable," she mutters, covering her mouth to hide the next yawn.

I nod at Brody, who takes the hint, tightening his hold around Addi's shoulders and leading her toward the bedroom in Raiden's ridiculously huge room.

"Come on, Dagger. I've got you," he murmurs, and she follows after him. Just as they reach the doorway, she peers back over her shoulder.

"We're all sleeping here?"

"Yes. Is that okay?" Raiden offers, tilting his head at her, which earns him a pointed look.

"Are you actually asking?" she retorts, and he snickers.

"No." The smile on his face is unbearable.

"I didn't think so," she states, waving us off as she looks up at Brody.

"I need to get out of this dress."

"That's what I'm here for," Brody says, wagging his eyebrows before they both disappear from view.

Addi snickers, the noise sweet as it dances through the air. "For a player, you have some pretty cheesy lines."

"That's because my player days are over, Addi. I told you that." The fucker ushers back to the door, kicking it closed without a single glance in our direction, keeping our girl all to himself for a moment.

Swiping a hand down my face, I take the few steps over to the sofa and collapse back with a sigh. I'm consumed with exhaustion and the tendrils of wonder that cling to my bones. A feeling I've never even come close to experiencing before.

"Did you ever think a public bathroom would play such a magical part in your story?" Kryll asks, dropping down on the sofa beside me.

I shake my head, bewildered now that I finally have a moment to think about it all.

"What actually happened in the bathroom?" Raiden adds, taking a seat on the sofa across from us. "Why do you look all whimsical and shit when we bring it up?" he pushes, and I quickly try to smother the smile touching the corner of my lips.

He knows. I already know he knows, and for once in his selfish vampire life, he's being selfless. Even if it's just for a moment. Letting the question sink in, I allow my whimsical smile to return as my eyelids fall to half-mast.

"I found my mate." The words are warm on my tongue, igniting a pull in my bones, eager for me to get my alpha in my sights again, but I fight against it.

She needs to rest and recuperate. She shifted for the first time, and that's going to be a lot on anyone. Including her.

"She shifted," Kryll breathes, understanding in his tone as he looks up at the ceiling, and I nod.

"Yeah, she shifted for me."

Happiness is the only word I can think of that remotely describes what I'm feeling, but I know it doesn't truly represent my core emotions right now. Content, aware, and filled with a sense of purpose, I feel like a new man.

A new wolf.

A claimed wolf.

"I can't decide if you look happy or mad about it," Raiden states, interrupting my thoughts, and I scowl at him.

"I've never felt calmer in my whole entire life. But the need to protect her, to defend what's mine, it's overwhelming." The truth slipping from my lips melts the tension from my limbs as Raiden gapes at me.

"More than before?"

"More than before," I repeat, acutely aware that it shouldn't be possible.

"I'm jealous," he grumbles, making me frown.

"Of what?" Kryll interjects, his expression matching my own.

"Of her not being a vampire like me too."

"Of course you are," I say with a sigh, certain Raiden's vampire selfishness is firmly back in place, but to my surprise he leans forward in his seat, bracing his elbows on his knees.

"So, to recap the hell out of our night, Addi is now a wolf, as well as a fae princess. Kenner wanted her to do it, to shift I mean, and Bozzelli called off the trial because she was in shock over the information Addi gave to the entire kingdom in her speech." He looks between Kryll and me, waiting for confirmation, and I nod.

"That about sums it up."

"She's a dragon princess too," Kryll states, further relaxing into the cushions behind him as a smug grin curls his lips.

"A dragon princess too. Thanks for that," Raiden grumbles with a huff, shaking his head with irritation. "And what are we supposed to do with all of this now?"

"I'm going to do what every grown shifter does," Kryll states, rising from the sofa and pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

"What?" I ask, intrigued by whatever plan he's got, but the bashful smile that takes over his face catches me off-guard.

"Call my mom."