Alpha Queen (Claimed by Wolves #4) - Callie Rose Page 0,8
He obviously needs some time to think. I’m pretty certain he doesn’t want me trailing after him this time either.
Trystan makes a little noise deep in his throat and turns to snuffle at the side of my head. Then he pulls away from my arms.
As he races off into the distance, I go to join my other men for the short walk home, already counting the minutes until my fourth mate returns.
4
Sable
I wake up early the next morning—so early I can taste dawn on the air, even from inside the house and surrounded by a cocoon of warm arms and legs.
Ridge and Dare cuddle me from either side, their hands resting on my body and their faces buried against my skin. They’re both still dead asleep, breathing deeply, eyelids moving as they dream. I wonder briefly what they’re dreaming of, and if maybe I’m a part of it. They’ve both played host to dreams in my mind too, many of which were more than a little R-rated.
I stretch, dislodging both sleeping men with very little effort. They readjust and continue snoozing as I sit up and rub away the sleep from my eyes.
Archer sits in a cushioned armchair beside the bed, the last man on watch. He dragged the chair in here when we arrived before the battle with the witches, after I revealed that I was worried my magic might hurt one of them while I slept. It surges every now and then, the black marks streaking across my skin, the magic swirling out of me like smoke, ready to hurt any shifter that might get too close.
So every night, my men take turns watching me—partly because of the errant magic, and now partly because of the constant worry that Cleo might invade my mind.
Not that they’d be able to save my life if she did. I have a feeling the next time Cleo gets through, she won’t fail to destroy me.
Archer has a paperback open between his hands and reading glasses perched on his nose. He has gorgeous golden hair, tan skin, vivid green eyes, and a boy-next-door look. When he adds the glasses, he becomes the hot, nerdy guy who makes my heart do little backflips.
He looks at me over the top of his glasses and smiles. “Morning.”
I crawl over Dare’s sleeping body to slide off the mattress, then lean over the chair, hands on both armrests as I kiss Archer. He showered sometime after I fell asleep last night. My wolfish nose can smell the soap on his skin. I feel an insane urge to lick it off, to rub against him and replace that crisp, clean scent with my own. Luckily, I’m too aware that I might have morning breath, so I refrain from any licking.
“Good morning,” I murmur, my lips brushing his one more time before I finally straighten. “Did Trystan ever come to bed?”
A shadow passes over Archer’s face, and he shakes his head. “He came home though. Late, while I was sleeping but before I took over for Ridge. I smelled him in the house when I woke up.”
I reach out and run my fingers through his soft blonde hair. “You look tired.”
“Mentally. Emotionally. Physically. I could sleep for weeks and never come out of this.”
My heart squeezes. With so much going on right now, it’s easy for every day to feel like it lasts a week, but in reality, Malcolm’s death is still so recent. I know it was good for Archer to let some of his sadness out yesterday, but that doesn’t mean he’s done mourning. That’s not how grief works.
And on top of all of that, he’s trying so hard to do right by his pack and take care of everyone. To deal with the witch threat and get people on board with a possible new pack dynamic. If I were him, I’d feel like I was being assailed from all angles at this point. It’s a miracle his eyes are even open.
“You will get through this. All of this,” I say firmly. “But for now, why don’t you try to get a little more rest? I’m awake now. I don’t need you to stand guard over me—I need you to sleep.”
I don’t have to ask him twice. He takes off his glasses and pulls a bookmark from the back of the book to mark his place. Then he shoves the book down between the cushions, where it will wait until he’s on watch again. He pecks me on