Declan wasn't in my room, as I'd expected him to be, which was probably a good thing. Inarus was still with me, and I couldn't send him off considering what had just happened. He'd been living in the apartment above Sanborn Place, and the only other possibility was my currently uninhabited apartment, which was likely my mother's next stop if she hadn't been there already.

I sighed and scrubbed my hands over my face. “Did you have any active cases you were working on?”

“No, just the usual with Alyssa.”

I snorted. Alyssa was a water nymph whose father regularly hired Sanborn Place to guard his daughter. She was eighteen and had a rebellious streak. As a Fae, her father Alexander expected her to date and eventually marry someone he felt worthy of her station. Instead, she dated swoon-worthy mermen to piss her father off. She was our regular babysitting gig as far as I was concerned.

Inarus was becoming her favorite guard, and Alexander seemed to approve of her most recent love interest.

“You’re going to get yourself in trouble with that one,” I told him.

He folded his arms over his chest. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Right. Keep telling yourself that.” I mumbled under my breath.

“Okay, no cases means we don’t have anything pressing that requires us to be in the office. We should stay clear for the time being. She won’t find anything of use there, but my mother will keep someone close by as a lookout, so we can’t risk going back. Not until we figure out what she’s up to.”

Anger fueled Inarus’ voice. “We know what she’s up to. She’s trying to get you back. I can’t say I’m surprised. Viola wants you in her life, by her side.” He shook his head. “You didn’t hear the way she used to talk about you. I don’t doubt that she loves you in her own twisted way. But, Aria, you’ll never be safe as long as she’s alive.”

I didn’t disagree with him. “But Twitch said she was going after the animals. That would imply that she’s going after the Pack.”

“Is she that stupid? To risk a direct confrontation with them?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. But I need to find Declan. He needs to know what’s going on.”

I moved to the door, and Inarus reached out, his hand wrapping around my bicep despite the flames. I felt the tug of his hold but not his fingers against my skin. I looked down and saw a thin gap between his hand and my arm.

“Nice trick,” I said. Being telekinetic had its advantages when your friend tended to catch fire.

He ignored my remark and stepped closer, invading my space. I felt his breath on my cheek and the scent of rain storms assailed my senses.

“We don’t need the shifter. You and I, we can handle this.” His voice was velvet. I shook my head and pulled away from his grasp.

“That shifter is…” I trailed off. I still didn’t know how to describe mine and Declan’s relationship, but the way Inarus had spoken pissed me off. Like Declan was somehow beneath him.

“Look—Declan, he’s ... I don’t know.” I sighed. “He’s important to me. I don’t know what’s going to happen between us, but I want to find out. On top of that, going against my mother and the H.A.C. alone is just stupid. We need the Pack.”

Inarus clenched his jaw. “Fine. Suit yourself.” He folded his arms across his broad chest and furrowed his brows. He sulked better than most teenagers.

I rolled my eyes. “Just stay here. I’ll be back after I talk to Declan, okay?”

He didn’t answer. I threw my hands in the air and left the room.

Why did grown men have to be such babies?

I found Robert—arms folded across his chest and a blasé look on his face—waiting in the hallway outside my room.

I wasn’t fooled, and I wasn’t in the mood.

“You’re spying on me?” I asked and continued walking down the hallway, leaving him to follow.

“Not spying,” he said. “Just waiting. You see, this peculiar thing happened today.”

He waited for me to respond. I rose a single brow in his direction and kept walking.

Robert sighed dramatically. "My Alpha's mate was here one moment and gone the next. She was last seen in the arms of another man, and with no cell phone to be reached at and well … " he shrugged his shoulders. "I was worried for her safety and for my Alpha's sanity and thought it best to wait in case she popped back into existence while her mate—fraught with worry—went searching for her."

I stopped and glared at him.

“Where is he?” I asked. Dammit, I had been counting on Declan staying within the Compound. I didn’t think he’d go searching for me, though even as the thought popped into my head, I knew it wasn’t true. Of course he’d go searching for me.

“Who? Your lover? I believe you left him back in your room.”

I ground my teeth together. “I don’t have a lover,” I said.

“Could have fooled me.”

I wanted to hit him. Hard. But Robert was a Clan Alpha, and I was the Pack Alpha’s Mate. There were rules. I didn’t know all or even half of them, but I was pretty sure that punching the Alpha for Clan Canidae was against them.

“You’re a very aggravating coyote,” I said.

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

Robert cackled, sounding more like a hyena than a coyote in that moment.

“Just tell me where he is,” I demanded. I let my mind fill with thoughts of punching Robert in the face and then kneeing him in the groin. Wouldn’t that be satisfying?

“I’d love to. After sending ten shifters out to look for you and also searching for you himself, he finally retired to his room. I suppose I can call the others off the search.”

Without responding, I turned and headed in the direction of Declan’s room.

I hadn’t done anything wrong, so I didn’t know why I felt like I was marching myself into the principal’s office to accept my punishment.

I stopped in front of Declan’s door and debated knocking but decided against it. He likely knew I was there anyway.

Declan was sitting in one of the two large armchairs that faced the fireplace. He didn’t bother to turn around, but I knew he was aware of my presence.

He held a glass in his right hand filled with an amber liquid.

Aha! There was alcohol in the Compound.

I stepped forward, my eyes taking a quick inventory of the room. I'd been staying in Declan's room while Noah Thorne and his shifters were visiting from the South Atlantic Pack. Despite our tumultuous relationship, we'd needed to present a united front for the visiting Alpha. It'd been awkward, sure, but necessary at the time.

It’d only been a handful of days since then, yet for some strange reason, I was surprised everything was still exactly as it’d been before, including my black leather jacket, half hanging from the corner of the bed.

Why hadn’t Declan moved anything? Or at the very least had someone put my things back in the guest room I was currently inhabiting?

The king-sized four-poster bed dominated the majority of the room with intricate carvings depicting tigers and bears in battle decorating each post. A stone fireplace lay to the right and a doorway leading to the ensuite bathroom to the left.

I took a seat in the armchair beside him, reached for the bottle resting on the accent table between us, and poured myself an ounce of the amber liquid. I drank it in one gulp, then poured another shot to sip on.

The liquid lit a path of fire down my throat that cleared my sinuses and filled my nose with the scent of cinnamon.

I hadn’t expected Fireball of all things to be in the decanter, but I wasn’t complaining.

“Your hands are on fire,” he said casually.

The flames had mostly receded on my walk to his room, but a few still licked my fingers.  

“I’ll try not to burn the chair,” I told him as I settled into the leather seat, both my hands wrapped around the glass.

He grunted and took a drink from his own glass.

The seconds stretched to minutes, and I told myself to be patient and enjoy my drink. I was in no hurry for the confrontation I knew would unfold.

Anger rolled off of Declan in waves that if I’d been standing, would leave me staggering.

I’d felt his anger before, but this was different. This was broody and thick. He’d been stewing on it for hours.

I took another drink and warmth suffused me. To hell with it. I poured myself one last shot of Fireball.

I was going to need it.

“Where have you been?”

I snorted and blinked my eyes several times. I could feel the alcohol in my blood-stream, my mind already growing fuzzy.

Thank God for alcohol.

“Are you going to answer?” Declan asked and took another sip from his glass.

I eyed my drink. I knew my limits and three was certainly it for me.

“I had a visitor at Sanborn Place.”

“And you didn’t think it worth telling me first that you were leaving?”

Well, in hindsight that probably would have been the responsible thing to do.

"It was urgent," I said instead.

Declan downed the remnants of his drink and slammed the glass on the table.

“Dammit, Aria, do you have any idea how—” He stopped and gritted his teeth.

I eyed him out of the corner of my eyes and took in the hard set of his jaw. He was fuming, and it was all because of me. I felt like shit about that.

“I’m sorry.”

There was an eerie stillness about him when I uttered those words.

Declan slowly turned in his chair to face me fully.

His eyes were flecked with gold, his gaze wary. I couldn’t blame him.

“I shouldn’t have taken off without saying anything. It was inconsiderate of me.”

Declan pursed his lips, but before he could say anything, I jumped in. “But that isn’t why you’re mad at me right now,” I rushed to finish.

“I’m not angry with you,” he growled.

I snorted. Of course not. Silly me.

“You are. I can feel it. I may not be a shifter, but I know when you’re lying.”

Declan sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Can you blame me?” he asked.

No. Not really.

Screw it, I decided, and grabbed the decanter again, pouring myself another shot. I knew it was a bad idea, but at the moment, I didn’t care.

“It’s not what it looked like,” I said.

He didn’t answer, so I downed my fourth shot and shook my head.

Damn, I was going to pay for this later.

“Look—” I turned and faced him. “I’m trying here, okay? I’m used to being on my own, not having to be accountable to anyone. It was urgent. An informant was waiting for me back at the office, and Twitch is, well, twitchy. He doesn’t sit tight very long, so when he shows up, you have to act fast or lose him. I didn’t expect to be gone so long. And I certainly didn’t expect Inarus to wrap his arms around me for a port. He’s never done that before. But I felt your anger and came straight to you when I got back. I knew you’d be pissed off and would likely be an ass. Yet, I still came you.”

He grunted beside me, and I threw my hands in the air before standing up. “What do you want from me?” I knew the alcohol was talking, but I didn’t care. “I’m trying. Can you just give me an inch here?”

Declan stood and jerked me towards him before crushing his lips against mine in a brutal kiss.

His kiss was hot and demanding. I reached for his shoulders to steady myself and gave in to the kiss, but as quickly as it had started, it ended, and Declan pulled away.

“You’re drunk.” He said and shook his head as though needing the reminder.

So what? Everything was better when I was drunk.

The alcohol made me feel lighter, hotter, and it made me want to kiss Declan all over again. I didn’t want to worry about the outside world, my mother, or anything else right now.

I just wanted Declan to kiss me again. Was that too much to ask?

“Go climb in bed,” he said softly, pinning me with his eyes. It was clearly an order, and for once, I was happy to oblige.

I turned and all but skipped to the damn thing. I didn’t care that we were still working on our relationship. I was frustrated, intoxicated, and horny. I wanted Declan to take care of at least one of my problems.

I undid the hair tie at the end of my shirt and shimmied off my pants, allowing Declan’s shirt to once again fall to my knees.

When I turned around, there was a huge white tiger with bright green eyes staring back at me.

I glared at it. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”

His ear twitched, and he flicked his tail.

I climbed onto the bed and slid underneath the covers. Feeling brazen, I pulled the T-shirt over my head and threw it on the ground beside me.

I gave Declan the briefest glimpse of my breasts before tucking the covers high beneath my chin. He growled deep in his throat, leaped onto the bed beside me and curled his massive feline body beside mine.

I rolled to my side and ran my fingers through his silken fur, luxuriating in the soft texture before resting my head on my pillow and closing my eyes.

I  took comfort in the soft, throaty sounds his tiger made with each stroke of my fingers and swatted at him when a cold nose nudged at the blankets covering my chest.

Not happening, buddy. That's what you get when you go furry on me.

I smiled to myself before realizing I still had to talk to him about today.

“My mother was at Sanborn Place,” I told him.

He growled beside me and lifted his head to stare directly into my eyes, accusation in his gaze.

“Don’t get all growly with me. I would have told you already if you hadn’t kissed me and then gone all furry.”

He chuffed and settled back down beside me as he waited for me to continue.

“I don’t know why she was there,” I sighed, trying to figure out the best way to fill him in on everything that had transpired.

“Inarus ported me to the office because Twitch was waiting and insisted on talking to me. He said that PsyShade is assembling for something big. something to do with me.” I shook my head and paused as I tried to sort my thoughts.

Declan remained patient, though it wasn’t like he could really say anything right now.

“Twitch said she was coming after the animals. I’d assumed that meant the Pack.” Declan bobbed his head in agreement. “But then she showed up at Sanborn Place with at least twelve PsyShade members in tow. She was coming for me. I don’t know if I was just first on her to-do list or if she assumed you’d be with me. Either way, I don’t think I’ll be going to the office anytime soon.”

Declan growled low and deep in his throat before sliding his feline body closer to mine.

We’d slept in the same bed before while Declan was in cat form, but this was more intimate than before, and I didn’t know why.

Being entirely naked under the covers may have contributed to that feeling, but my head was too far in the clouds to really give it much thought.

I snuggled my face into his fur and inhaled deeply. My eyelids grew heavy, and I found myself sinking into sleep, my fingers wrapped around him as though worried he wouldn’t be there when I woke up.