off your heart. We know that, and if at any time we can’t cope, we’ll let you know, but thank you.” He twisted a tendril of my hair around his finger. “If this thing with you and Uriel matters, if you have a connection, then I’ll accept it. But when you’re here with me in our pack house you’re my mate. You can’t come here reeking of another male. The pack won’t stand for it.”
He had a point. “It won’t happen again. I promise.” I snuggled against him and closed my eyes. “I thought I’d lost you for a moment.”
“You’ll never lose me,” he said. He stroked my hair. “But I’m worried that if we don’t find Hunter soon, we might lose him.”
I sat up. “You have a lead?”
“We did, but it went cold. I think he’s in real trouble, and as much grief as he’s given me in the last decade, all I want is to have him home.”
“It’s the Tribus, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “There’s more. Petra did some research on the Tribus. It isn’t as simple as we thought. The female Loup in a Tribus must mate with each male in human and Loup form to seal the Tribus. You’ve mated with me in human form and Hunter in Loup. If we don’t find Hunter soon, if we don’t complete the Tribus, the Loup who hasn’t completed the mating will die.”
I ran my hands over his chest. “But I haven’t mated with you in Loup form yet. Does that mean—”
“Yes.”
I climbed off the bed. “Get up. We need to go, now.”
He sat up, his expression confused.
I swallowed a sob. “Dammit, Grayson. You need to mate with me as a Loup. I can’t lose you. I won’t.” I took a shuddering breath. “I’m worried about Hunter, of course, and we need to find him, but we do this first. Once we’ve made sure you’re safe, we’ll reach out to Hunter. If we do it together, maybe we can find him in the Vista.”
Hunter was my mate too, but I loved Grayson. I loved him with every fiber of my being, and right now, if I had to choose between him and Hunter, he’d win, hands down every time.
I held out my hand and he grasped it, allowing me to tug him out of bed. “Now. We do it now.”
He grinned down at me, his expression feral and hungry. “I know a place we can run.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Cora
“It’ll be fine.” I pat Uri’s shoulder. Ooh, he has some muscle going on there. “Fee and Grayson will sort it out.”
He stands with his palms braced on the table, his expression stony. “This is my fault. I should go speak to them and—”
“Nope. No, you do not want to do that right now.”
“She’s right,” Dean says. He flicks the kettle on, then leans back against the countertop, arms crossed over his chest, biceps bulging enticingly. “Have some tea, sit.”
Uri pulls out a chair and does just that, but he looks troubled. “I should have known better than to come in here with an alpha mate’s scent on me.”
Dean grabs mugs and makes tea. “They’ll work it out.”
The confidence in his tone gives me hope. I know how much Grayson means to Fee, and I know how much Uri is starting to mean to her, but it isn’t my place to matchmake. Not when it comes to the delicate dynamic of Fee’s relationships.
I don’t envy her, that’s for sure. Three guys are a lot to handle. I’ll be happy with one.
My gaze flicks to Dean again, and I catch him watching me, and the urge to walk over to him and kiss his sexy mouth rushes through me.
Instead, I step away from the counter. “I’m going to shower before dinner.”
I head upstairs to my sanctuary and straight into the bathroom. The shower is temperamental in this room, one of the reasons no one has claimed it. There’s no tub, just a stall, but I haven’t had any issues with it.
Until today.
It clanks and clunks but nothing more. No water. Not a drop.
Fuck.
I stride out of my room and smack bang into Dean. He grabs my shoulders to steady me.
“You okay?” His rumbling voice sends shivers down my spine.
“My shower won’t work.”
“Use mine.”
He makes it sound so easy, but to me, it means being naked in his room. Okay, so it’s in his bathroom, but still. Naked.
He’s looking at me with a slight smirk as if he can read my mind, and I’ll be damned