Page 16 of Targeted By Temptation
“I agree, and I won’t do anything without your agreement, but your body’s telling you to rest.”
Perhaps he didn’t want to be stuck in the bedroom, so I retrieved a blanket and pillow and placed them on the sofa.
“We can consult while you rest.”
“Fine.” He stomped to the couch as if he was doing me a favor, but when he placed his head on the pillow, he fought to keep his eyes open. It would have been amusing watching him yank his lids wider if his predicament hadn’t been so serious.
“You won’t leave, will you?”
“Never.”
My phone dinged, and Reign sat up.
“Don’t worry. It’s my brother.”
He slumped back onto the pillow and must have given up the fight with his eyelids.
Status?
At the cabin. Reign knows about shifters. He's sleeping.
We're working on how to approach Viktor. Stay put.
I wasn’t going anywhere.
8
REIGN
I woke up snug and warm, not ready to be up yet. I kept my eyes closed as I held my blanket bunched up against my cheek and thought about what I needed to accomplish for the day.
And it wasn’t until this point that I realized I wasn’t back at the university, about to start a typical day. Nor was I at my father’s mansion, ready to start a horrific day.
No. I was in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with a mafia dude who turned into an animal. Add to that, I was hiding from a different mafia dude who turned into an animal that my father was forcing me to marry so that he could get some sort of power or money or both.
Basically, I’d woken up in the middle of a freaking soap opera… one that I somehow got sucked into being the main character of.
The weird thing was, I didn’t even want it to be a dream, because Ezra mattered. I may have only known him a short time, but he had already wormed his way into my heart. I didn’t think I could live my life without him, and that was over the top and wild and irrational. It was also 100% how I felt.
I rolled over, hoping that he was beside me, reaching out and patting the bed, wanting his touch. He wasn’t there, and the bed was cool. I was alone and had been for some time. Come to think of it, I didn’t fully remember going to bed. Had he been lying by my side?
Disappointment flooded me at his absence. I grumbled and pushed myself to sit up, opening my eyes as I stretched my arms wide. I looked around the room, and when my eyes shifted downward, I saw a wolf lying on the floor beside the bed.
Only it wasn’t just a wolf. It was my wolf. It was Ezra. And he was just as beautiful as he was last night.
“Were you there all night?”
I swung around so my legs were over the edge of the bed, and I reached down to him. “I’m gonna pet you now.”
Goddess, that sounded so wrong—telling the man who called me mate I was gonna pet him like he was a domesticated animal. I’d have taken it back, but I couldn’t. I needed to touch him. It wasn’t a want. I had to do it, and as I worked my fingers through his fur, a feeling of comfort fell over me. Suddenly all was right in my world, even though objectively nothing was.
“You were there protecting me all night, weren’t you?”
He didn’t say anything but leaned further into my touch. I wanted to stay there longer, but I needed to use the bathroom, something my bladder quickly reminded me of.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
I headed to use the facilities, planning to clean up a little while I was there. Yesterday had been like nothing I’d ever even thoughtof happening in my wildest of imaginations, and I had a pretty active imagination.
