subsided and I was breathing normally again. “No one is here forever,” I whispered as I pulled back from him.
Nick smiled. “One of the perks of being a werewolf is a longer life. I’ll outlive you by a hundred years at least.”
I lay down and turned away from him. “Being alive doesn’t mean you’ll be with me,” I whispered.
Nick wrapped his body around mine, spooning me. “I’ll be with you as long as you let me,” he whispered. “Go back to sleep, Kitten. I’ll keep you safe.”
“I love you, Nicky,” I whispered.
His grip tightened around me. “I know.”
The sun came out too early. I smacked my alarm clock to silence it and sat up. I looked at the bed behind me, but Nick wasn’t there. I heard talking downstairs and sighed. It was Saturday, which meant everyone was starting chores. After changing and brushing my teeth, I jogged down the steps with a smile on my face. “Morning,” I said to the pack and the Alphas. I was immensely grateful that we had such a large house and kitchen as I made my way past the boys until I reached the fridge. I looked inside and frowned. “Are all of the oranges gone?”
“Yes,” Dad said. “Sorry about that. I’ll get some at the store later.”
I looked at the empty plates on the table and sighed. “I’ll just go into town and get something. I need to get a gift for a friend anyways.”
“Mason will go with you,” Dad said.
I looked around the kitchen. “Wait, where’s Nick?”
“Doing manual labor,” Gary said with a smug smile.
Manual labor while everyone else was eating?
“Why? What’d he do?”
“I think you’d know the answer to that,” Dad said with a scowl on his face.
Hell puppies. He thought we’d done something. “Can I talk to you?” I asked.
He stood, and I followed him into his study. He closed the door and folded his arms across his chest. “Coming to confess?”
“Dad, we didn’t do anything. I…” I looked at the ground. “I’m still having nightmares and they’re even worse now. I can’t sleep well, and he stayed to console me when I woke up.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the nightmares?” he asked as he unfolded his arms and his face relaxed into worry.
“I didn’t think there was anything that could be done.”
He dropped to his knees and hugged me. “It’s about that night, isn’t it?”
I nodded and felt tears pool in my eyes. He rubbed my back softly. “Okay, I’ll go relieve him since he was only doing what he was supposed to, but from now on you ask me first. Understand?”
I nodded again and rubbed my face against his shoulder. “Yes. I’m sorry.”
He kissed my forehead and smiled. “It’ll be alright. We’ll get the mark removed and things will go back to normal.”
I smirked. “Our family has never been normal.”
He laughed. “Very true. Now go with Mason to town. I’ll go talk with Nick and keep him here, so you can have time away.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I walked out of the study and waved at Mason. “Come on, buddy.”
Mason jogged over. “Yes! I love road trips!”
I laughed and linked arms with him. “If you’re good, I’ll even let you hang your head out the window.”
He snarled at me, but I just laughed, knowing he wasn’t serious. We climbed into Nick’s truck, and I took the keys out of the visor and handed them to Mason so he could drive. He had his own car, but it was in the shop since he’d ripped his door off one day in a fit of rage.
“How are you feeling?” Mason asked.
“Fine, why?”
He shrugged. “We know Nick was in your room…and I heard you crying, so I figured you weren’t feeling well.”
“You don’t think Nick and I did anything?”
Mason laughed. “I know you two better than that. Plus, I know that you’re still trying to fool yourself into believing that you don’t have feelings for him and he’s, well he’s being Nick.”
“I’m not trying to fool myself. I love Nick as a friend and I might have discovered that I have some more than friendly feelings for him, but he hasn’t shown any towards me. He just asked me out.”
“He asked you out?” Mason asked, eyes wide.
I smirked. “So, the all-knowing-Mason didn’t know that?”
“I just didn’t think he’d actually do it. He told me he was planning to, but then he’s been so crabby the past week, I thought he chickened out.”
“He said that Tom interrupted him the first time he