Page 66 of Wolf's Bane
Color drained from the young man’s face. “I told her I would join her if she waited, then we received word that the beast had been sighted down by the mill.”
“In the opposite direction.”
“Yes, blast it. Does it matter?” He ran a hand through his curls. “This is wrong. The timing. The moon. There are two more…beings with your affliction in my territory than I’m willing to tolerate, and I’ve spent hours chasing a rumor.”
“Two? Does that mean you tolerate me?” A grin spread on Alek’s face. Luis paled.
Ah, right, the teeth.
“Solenne has her heart set on you.” His tone implied that he tolerated Alek for his sister’s sake.
Alek sighed. “I know. I have tried to convince her otherwise.”
Luis snorted. “Again with the jokes. Come to the house. Four walls are better than this.” He gestured broadly to the stone circle.
“Because those four walls kept her safe last time?”
Alek held Luis’ gaze. The younger man did not blush or look away.
“I couldn’t track it,” Luis eventually said. “You’re standing right in front of me, and I can’t sense you either. It’s the stones.” He strode over to the closest stone, the one Solenne marked with her bloody handprint. His fingers brushed the surface. If he saw the mark his sister left, he said nothing. “They hum, and it drowns out everything else. Why are your kind so drawn to them?”
“My kind?”
“You know what I mean. Do not be difficult.”
Alek buried his nose in Solenne’s hair before he answered, breathing in the scent of sunlight and summer heat. “I do not know. That is the truth. I’ve never been able to track as you do. The stones, the nexus point itself, are loud. They all are, but tonight it feels like a warning.”
“Like a dog growling?”
“Now look who’s making with the jokes.”
Luis ran a hand through his hair again. “I have a long night ahead of me. If you insist on remaining here, I’ll fetch a blanket.”
“That is unnecessary.” Possessiveness surged through him. He would provide Solenne with everything she needed.
“Is it? The nights get quite cool and Solenne does not have her own fur coat.”
Good thing the smug look on Luis’ face was hidden by shadows.
“I’ll allow it. Go. Be quick about it,” Alek ground out.
“I presume you will require clothes?”
Yes. Those. Details, details.
“In my saddlebag. I left my horse in the trees at the bottom of the pasture. The horse will also need to be seen to.”
Luis gave a mocking salute before departing. “Be quick, he says, then gives me a dozen tasks.”
Though he muttered, Alek heard every word. Such disrespect from anyone else would have thrown him into a rage, but from Luis it sounded like home.
Home.
He nuzzled her hair again. Sunshine and summer.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
He counted the beats.
