I searched the room for a clock, but I couldn’t see one from where I was. Why didn’t he have an alarm clock?
“It’s still early,” Dastien said from behind me.
I froze for a second. “Did I wake you?”
“In a way. I felt your bond go crazy with worry.”
“Do you always feel when I wake up?”
He pressed a kiss to the back of my neck. “You didn’t know you were my alarm clock?”
I grinned. “What did you do before me?”
“I set the alarm on my phone. But now, when I’m not in your bed as a wolf, I don’t need one. I know when you wake up, and I get ready so I can meet you for breakfast.”
I thought about it for a second. “I can’t tell if that’s uber creepy or kind of sweet…I’m leaning toward creepy.”
“That’s the second time in twenty-four hours that you’ve called me creepy. What’s so wrong with wanting to have breakfast with you?” He squeezed me tighter.
“What time is it?”
He rolled over and grabbed his cell. “Nine.”
“Any word about Meredith?”
“No.”
I had to stay calm. No news was good news. “I’m going to throw on my clothes from yesterday and then I’m going to see her.”
“Hey,” Dastien said, holding onto my hand before I could fully roll out of bed.
“What?”
“I really liked having you here.”
On any other day, when I wasn’t about to go beg for my friend’s life, I would’ve wanted to linger in bed and enjoy being there. But I couldn’t afford the time. “I liked being here.”
I headed to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. I looked like hell and could really use a shower, but there wasn’t time. This would have to do. I pulled on my jeans and T-shirt and knotted my hair in a messy top-bun.
When I stepped out, Dastien was dressed. Old faded jeans and a nondescript gray T-shirt. A pair of cheap foam flip-flops. Fighting clothes. All stuff that could be easily discarded.
I wondered what he was planning on doing today.
“I’ll go with you. The rest of Meredith’s family should be here.”
God. It probably was a crappy idea to go see her if they were there.
“They don’t blame you. They can’t. You didn’t do this to her, and accepting responsibility for something that happened years ago, before you even knew Meredith, is silly.” He paused to let that sink in, and it did. I don’t know why I felt like it was my fault, but it really, truly felt like it was. “If you want to see her, then let’s go.”
I nodded. He held my hand as we walked back across campus. This was one of those times when I appreciated that we could not talk and be fine. His support meant a lot.
The infirmary was quiet when we got there. Outside Meredith’s door, Shannon stood talking softly to three tall blonde guys—Meredith’s other brothers. I weaved my way through the crowd with Dastien a step behind me.
When Shannon spotted us, her face reddened. “What’re you doing here?”
“I want to see her.”
“You shouldn’t be here. This is your fault.”
Dastien’s anger hit me through our bond. “It’s not her fault.”
“Yes, it is. It’s both your fault.”
“How do you figure that?” I said. Sure, I messed up last night, but the rest of it… Dastien was right. I couldn’t accept responsibility for something I didn’t do.
“If you hadn’t bit her, none of this would’ve happened.”
“How can you—” Dastien said, but Shannon cut him off.
“No. You don’t get it. You weren’t there at the party. I was. Luciana had been getting visions for years—years—about losing a key coven member to the wolves, but she didn’t know who it’d be. So when she got to the party and saw Daniel making out with Meredith, she flipped. But it wasn’t Daniel who was going to get bit. It was you.”
Shit. Oh, holy shit. “But I didn’t know—”
“You will stop right there,” Dastien said. “If that’s what happened, then clearly Luciana saw things and she acted irrationally. There’s nothing in this world that could’ve stopped me from biting my own mate. We all know that fighting destiny—fighting fate—never turns out well. The only one to blame is Luciana. She’s the one who did this.”
He stepped toward Shannon. “You’ve lashed out at my mate for the last time. Blaming her for stealing me, her own mate. For hurting Meredith. For any little thing you don’t like. I won’t have it anymore.”
