Heart's Price (MxM)

Chapter 56

If you can call six bags packed with drive-through breakfast foods a 'feast,' then Julian comes, as Shanti says, bearing one.

He also comes with a warm, dry change of clothes for me, including a fuzzy pink sweater with a picture of a llama on the front.

It isn't mine—judging by the size and color, I'd say it's Chloe's—but I don't care: it feels like I'm being snuggled by a cloud. I might have to ask Chloe where she got it.

We sit on the floor in the only clear space in the shop—a small area in front of the old desk with the antique cash box—and indulge in a variety of exceptionally unhealthy food while filling Julian in on what he's missed. Shanti alone eats nothing, eyeing the array with mild distaste.

Usually, I would avoid such epicurean horrors myself, but at the moment I can't imagine anything more delicious than the greasy breakfast sandwiches, fluffy (if flavorless) hotcakes, and crispy hash brown squares I'm stuffing in my face.

At the same time, as my Wolf's metabolism and the hot food, warm clothes, and comforting atmosphere combine to speed me towards a swift recovery, my guilt grows teeth and begins to gnaw at me.

I ran.

I ran, and I left my Mate behind.

And I can't help thinking that, faced with a similar situation, Dane or Freya would not have done the same.

But I'm not Dane or Freya, I remind myself, and I did run, and now there's nothing to do but get myself well, listen to Shanti's tale, and hope that by the end of it there's still a chance to save my Mate from the danger I left him in.

"Spare yourself such unkind thoughts, my friend," Shanti says, reaching over to touch my hand as she seems to read my mind. "Courage is not the only virtue. Perhaps it would have been courageous to stand and fight, but it was wise to flee. You are no match for a rakshasa, and it would have been cruel to force the one who loves you to watch you meet so violent an end, even if it was an end met in loyalty to love. You have chosen instead a way of compassion—for yourself, and for those who love you; for it is clear that the dragon is not the only one who does."

She looks between Dane, Julian, and Freya, and they each nod in turn—two pairs of amber eyes and one of amethyst, but all equally bright.

"Mom and dad, too, Noah—not to mention Travis and Martin," Dane says, naming the other two-thirds of my triplet set. "And poor Monty," he adds. "He'd cry for the rest of his life if something happened to you."

"There are eight of us, Dane," I remind him. "Statistically, one of us is gonna die, eventually."

"Yeah, well, we're all gonna die, eventually, but I'll be damned if it happens on my watch," he growls, "and doubly damned if it's you."

Julian leans to rest his hand on Dane's knee. Something passes between them, quick as a spark, and Dane relaxes.

"Anyway," he turns his attention back to Shanti, "you were gonna explain some shit, right?"

As far as I know, Dane had an exemplary record as an officer and then as a homicide detective, but from what I've witnessed of his interview skills so far, I'm beginning to wonder if he didn't just rely on scaring the more impressionable suspects into confessing their guilt.

"Indeed." Shanti offers him a serene smile before turning her attention once more to me. "Let me begin with an apology. I am sorry, Noah; for I must confess that I am partly to blame for the fact that you are here at all. You remember when we met—when you first chanced upon this place—that I said I had cast a small spell of attraction to draw the right sort of person here?"