Page 16 of Witchbane
“Nope. Been off duty to heal some.”
Only that didn’t seem to be working. “Maybe you should come stay at the house? See if you can get some sleep in the center of the pack?”
“I sleep,” he said quietly. “And dream of theHunt.”
That made me pause. They’d never been after him, but I knew he’d been part of the team that had tracked down their remains. I hoped it wasn’t something that could latch onto Liam’s wolves.
“Being aHuntwolf?” I asked.
“Running from them. Never fucking run in my life…”
I reached over to put a hand on his shoulder, sort of a casual search for that dark link in the pack. Had some part of that nasty bond been left behind to infect Liam’s pack? But Dylan rolled out of my grip and away, breathing hard like I’d scared him.
“Sorry,” I said. “I forgot.” It had been bad of me to forget his abuse and how deep it had gone. He was still working on handling touch. I wondered if that was why Sean had sought out Al. That would have been really shitty on Sean’s part. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Dylan said tightly. He stood and stretched. “I shouldn’t be wound up. I knew it was you.”
I put together the maple glaze for the small sponge cakes, and fresh strawberry compote for the large ones. The custard came together quickly for the Boston crème cakes, and would need to set in the fridge. The chocolate ganache layer would be last as the pack preferred a decadent crisp to the top of the cake. I’d make that once everything was filled and cooled, but let Dylan have a spoon of the warm custard.
He let out a long sigh as he licked the spoon. “Good even warm. Not fair.” Dylan patted me on the back, a careful touch from a distance that probably made me hurt more than him. But Liam had already said I couldn’t fix everything because I didn’t have that power.
Dylan sat back in the chair set off to the side and I gave him a bowl of the cooling custard to eat. At least he was eating something. The cakes wouldn’t be done for a while yet. And I didn’t exactly have a batch of bacon ready to feed him. I wondered if that wouldn’t be a good sprinkled topping for the maple cakes.
“Do you want me to tell Al to back off?” I asked quietly, worried Liam would hear even through the small space of the bakery.
“You think I can’t tell him to back off on my own?” Dylan teased.
Not the way he was looking, but he was a werewolf and Al was a vampire. Some vampires had mind tricks they could play, convince people of stuff, and while I’d never seen it from my limited time with Al, it didn’t mean he didn’t have the power. “Maybe he’s messing with Sean’s head?”
Dylan shook his head and stood up, looking ready to leave. “Wish it were that simple. Mostly it’s my head that is messed up.” Slowly he opened his arms, almost like it hurt. “Give me a hug and I’ll go take my sorry self elsewhere.”
“You don’t have to go,” I told him.
He waved his hands at the bustle of the place. “This is too much for me right now. Wolf wants to rest.”
And that’s what was worrying me. The wolves were natural energy, almost boundless. Wanting to rest for a werewolf was a bit of a euphemism for death. “Dylan,” I whispered.
He gave me one of his boyish smiles and held out his arms. “Come on. Hug so I can go.”
I didn’t want him to go. Not being all weird.
“Promise you’ll go to the pack house.”
“I promise I won’t do anything to end my life,” Dylan said bluntly. “I’m going to sleep a bit. Probably not at home, and the pack house is…” He glanced at me. “Hostile.”
I wondered why. Did he find Liam and my relationship odd, or was it the handful of people who had left the pack since I’d arrived? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I stepped into Dylan’s arms. He squeezed, and I felt him touch the pack bond lightly, but pull away fast. I didn’t hold him too long. He let go and patted me on the head. “You stay safe with Liam. He’s got good instincts.”
“That’s the plan,” I agreed. “Promise me you won’t do anything…” I couldn’t stop my voice from hitching with worry.
He put his hand over his heart. “I promise. This pack is my home. First one I ever had. I will not cause the entire pack grief simply because I’m having a hard time dealing. I need some time.”
“You’ll call me or Liam if you need anything?”
“Save some of those cupcakes for me.”
“I will.”
Dylan nodded and turned to head out. He paused briefly when Liam stopped him to ask about something. They weren’t close enough that I could hear, but when Liam reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, Dylan stepped out of reach.
