Chapter Thirty-Seven

ASH

He held her lightly, her body half draped over his, her head pressed against his chest. He drew circles on the bare skin of her back, goosebumps appearing under his fingers.

When Luca had come to him and told him cutting off the mate bond had been doing more harm than good, he had nearly put his fist through the wall.

He knew he should have put up more of a fight at her request. He had been able to feel the ~wrongness~ of it, but he knew he had no right to be upset with Keyara for asking it of him.

She had discovered the existence of their kind less than a week ago, after all. She couldn’t be expected to know. He was the one that should have known better, and he was only mad at himself.

Luca had assured him that there was still plenty of time before the full moon to repair the connection, but the idea that he had made her even a fraction closer to an unsuccessful transformation had killed him.

He closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head, before his emotions got the better of him.

There were ways to control what she felt from him without blocking the bond. He would just have to work harder at it.

~What you should have done from the beginning~, he chided himself angrily. Now he had to start the counting over again.

She stirred, probably reacting to his agitation, stretching her limbs out until her muscles trembled before collapsing against him once again.

“Good morning,” he said with amusement. It must be well past noon by now.

“Mmm,” she replied.

He could feel that the pain and tension were returning to her body, and that she was trying to ignore it.

He felt relieved that the connection between them was strong once again, and he could sense her; that it had bounced back as quickly as his beta had assured him it would.

“Are you hungry?” he asked her. “Let me get you something, hmm?”

“All right,” she replied, her face pressed against his chest, muffling her response.

He slowly untangled himself from her body, slipping out of the bed and pulling on his hastily discarded pants.

Luca was sitting at the table when he entered the room, eating a sandwich. He looked up at Ash and smirked, his nose twitching.

Ash suppressed a groan, realizing all the men must have been fully aware of what had transpired that morning.

“Glad to smell you two have reconnected, Alpha,” Luca told him, grinning at Ash.

“Shut it, Luca,” he responded gruffly, as he began to prepare a tray of food for Key and himself.

He grabbed a large bunch of grapes, some soft cheese, and half a loaf of bread, before looking around for something else that might appeal to her.

“Here,” he heard Luca say as he approached, placing a steaming mug of broth on the tray. “The broth has been helping,” he told Ash, gesturing to a pot over the hearth. “I’ve kept it warm for her.”

“Thank you, Luca,” Ash said, turning to lift the tray. His beta’s light hand on his shoulder suddenly stopped him.

“I need to speak with you, Ash,” Luca said, the expression in his eyes serious. “When you have a moment.”

Ash studied him, then nodded. “I’ll let you know when I’m free, maybe during dinner. Is that all right?”

Luca nodded, dropping his hand. “Yes, Alpha. It is not urgent, but you need to hear it.”

Ash nodded again, before leaving with the tray.

KEYARA

Ash returned shortly with a tray of food. She groaned softly as he entered the room, rolling over and running a hand over her face.

The constant pain in her head had only increased in intensity, but she clung to the fact that Luca had told her the pain was actually a good sign.

Ash placed the tray he had prepared gently in her lap before sitting beside her, reaching over and snatching a grape from the spread.

She could hear the skin of it burst between his teeth. Her hearing was definitely getting better.

She picked up the mug of broth, sipping it, testing the reaction her stomach gave. It seemed steady enough.

She tore off a small piece of bread and dipped it in the broth, letting it soak into the bread to soften it before she ate it.

Her stomach had no objections to that either, so she repeated the action over and over, erasing her gnawing hunger. When the mug of broth was empty, she tried a grape.

The sweet juice burst into her mouth, so she ate another, savoring the taste, even though her stomach was full. The past several days with little food had shrunk it to almost nothing, it seemed.

After the second grape, she passed the tray to Ash, who had been silently watching her eat. “Here, you finish it,” she told him.

“You don’t want any more?” he asked her, his tone light, though she knew he wished she would eat more.

She shook her head, lying back on the pillows. “No, I’m full, and I don’t want to risk losing it all.”

ASH

He ate a bit of bread and cheese with one hand, the tray balanced on his lap. His other hand ran over her hair, twirling her braid around his fingers gently.

She closed her eyes, wincing when a wave of pain rolled through her. He dropped her braid suddenly, trying to concentrate hard on his food to keep out his concern.

“Did Luca tell you anything else?” she asked suddenly, her tone hesitant. “Anything since this morning, I mean?”

“No,” he said carefully, wondering why she was asking. “He did say he needed to speak with me later, though.”

She nodded, looking up at the ceiling.

He could not contain his curiosity, and the question left his lips before he could stop it. “Do you know what it is he plans to tell me?”

“Well…sort of,” she replied sheepishly. “Why don’t you go talk to him now. I’m fine.”

Now he was really curious. What would Luca have shared with Keyara that Ash didn’t know already? The two men had known each other their whole lives.

He looked at her, studying her expression, but she kept her eyes on the ceiling and refused to meet his gaze.

“All right, Key, I’ll go find him,” he finally said, setting the tray on the bedside table in case she wanted any more food later. He left quietly in search of his beta, wondering what the mystery was.