Chapter 63

Chapter 63

“Ilove this bed,” Ashley mumbled with a heartfelt sigh as she blindly reached up and grabbed hold of the pillow that felt like a cloud and pulled it closer to join the others.

She was never leaving this bed again, Ashley decided, no longer caring how she got back here because none of that mattered, not when she was home again. As long as she was in this bed, there was no pain, no biting back screams of agony, afraid that she would do something to-

“Oh, my god!” Ashley mumbled, trying not to panic as she shoved the blankets aside and sat up only to drop back on the bed with a sigh when she saw the piece of paper on the nightstand with the words, They’re both fine, neatly written across it.

Closing her eyes, she slowly exhaled and-

“It worked,” Ashley said, her lips pulled up into a smile as she reached down and pulled the covers back over her as the realization that she wasn’t a mistake had her releasing a shaky breath. She was here for a reason. She was-

Completely in love with her mate, Ashley thought as she rolled onto her side and saw the note waiting for her on the pillow. Smiling, she reached over and traced her fingertips over the words, I love you, as she found herself looking around their bedroom, looking for the cranky shifter that she loved more than anything only to frown when she saw him sitting in the corner, fast asleep.

He looked so exhausted, she thought, lying there as she watched him, wishing that she could do something to make things better for him. He was such a good man, Ashley thought as she grabbed a blanket and pulled it around her shoulders as she made her way across the room so that she could climb onto the cranky shifter’s lap. Before she was finished settling on his lap, Kale was wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer as he kissed her forehead.

“How are you feeling?” Kale asked as she snuggled in closer to the man that she loved more than anything.

“Better,” Ashley mumbled sleepily as she pressed a kiss against the side of his neck and slowly inhaled, taking in Kale’s scent as she prepared herself for the barrage of competing scents that normally accompanied the move only to sigh in relief when the only thing that she smelled was Kale’s comforting scent.

“No pain?” he asked, absently running his hand over her back.

“None,” Ashley grumbled unhappily, earning a chuckle as she sat there, wallowing in self-pity, knowing that she could no longer pretend that she didn’t need blood to survive, not when it made everything better and definitely not when it allowed her to help someone. For that alone, she was going to have to suck it up and start drinking blood every day, something that she’d been hoping to avoid.

“Do you want to tell me why you weren’t drinking enough blood?”

“I’m afraid,” Ashley grumbled on a long sigh.

“Of?” Kale asked as he kissed her forehead.

Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, Ashley absently traced circles on his chest as she admitted, “Everything.”

“Do you want to narrow that down for me?” he asked, reaching up to push a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

“Not really,” Ashley mumbled pathetically, earning a heartfelt sigh and another kiss that made this somewhat better.

“Try,” Kale said against her forehead.

“I don’t like that part of myself,” she admitted quietly.

“I see,” Kale murmured as he ran his fingertips along her jaw. “That’s too bad because I love that part of you.”

Biting back a sigh, she mumbled, “No, you don’t.”

“I love anything that keeps you safe, mo ghrá,” he said, turning his head so that he could brush his lips against hers. “You scared me.”

“I know,” Ashley said, reaching up to run her fingertips along his jaw, enjoying the feel of early morning stubble teasing her fingertips as she thought of the pain that she saw in his eyes earlier. “I couldn’t leave her like that knowing I could help.”

“I know,” Kale murmured with a sad smile, looking lost in thought as he leaned down and kissed her again.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting back so that she could cup his face in her hands as she searched his gaze, trying to figure out why he looked so upset, only to feel her stomach turn when she realized what was wrong.

“Oh, my god, the baby,” Ashley said, her voice breaking as she dropped her hand to her belly and-

“Shhhh, the baby’s safe, mo ghrá,” Kale promised, leaning in to kiss her as he placed his hand over hers. “She’s safe.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip as she searched his expression, looking for any signs that he was lying to her.

“I’m very sure. Your brother checked your blood before I brought you home. There was no sign of cancer,” Kale said, brushing his lips against hers one last time before he sat back with that same sad look on his face that was starting to scare her.

“Then why do you look so sad?” Ashley asked, gently caressing his jaw as he entwined their fingers together where they laid against her belly.

“I have to do something that I should have done a long time ago,” he said, glancing down at their entwined hands.

“What’s that?” she asked as she gently caressed his jaw.

“I have to kill my best friend,” Kale said quietly, his beautiful emerald eyes turning silver as she felt a muscle in his jaw tighten beneath her hand while she tried to make sense out of what he’d said.

“What are you talking about?” Ashley asked, releasing his hand so that she could reach up and cup his face in her hands again. “Kale?”

“I should have done it a long time ago.”

“Why?” Ashley asked as Kale watched his hand gently caress her belly through her shirt.

Shaking his head, he said, “It doesn’t matter.”

Pulling his gaze up to meet hers, Ashley said, “Yes, it does.”

Nodding absently, Kale said, “Would you believe that I didn’t hate him until today? For over nine hundred years, Logan’s made it clear that he hated me and would never forgive me for what happened, but no matter how many fucking times that he came after me, I could never hate him. I just…”

“You love him,” she said softly.

“He’s the closest thing to a brother that I have,” Kale murmured absently.

“Then don’t do it,” Ashley said, leaning in to brush her lips against his.

“I don’t have a choice,” he said, wrapping his arms back around her.

“Yes, you do,” Ashley said, turning her head so that she could kiss his whiskered cheek before she sat back.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. I need to finish this job first, which means that I need to go away for a few days,” Kale said, not looking any happier about it than she was.

She hated when he left.

“For how long?” she asked, deciding that she was going to stop him from going after his best friend, knowing that it would destroy him. She didn’t know what happened, and at the moment, she really didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that she knew that he didn’t want to do it.

She was going to ask Jacob about what he knew about Logan and hope that it was enough to-

“And to keep you safe, I’m going to have to bring you to a compound,” Kale announced as she sat there, absently nodding as she decided that perhaps she’d worry about Logan later since right now it seemed that she had something else to worry about.