Strolling into the kitchen, Sawyer already knew he would find Naomi there. Her heartbeat always told him where she’d be. She was sitting behind the kitchen table, wearing his t-shirt and little else, with one leg pulled up onto the chair.

In front of her, there was a laptop, which she looked up from as soon as he walked into the room.

“Hello, there,” she smiled.

“I thought you would be asleep,” he replied, walking over to plant a kiss on her cheek.

“I was checking my e-mails,” she said. “The dean is giving everyone a couple of days off to process David’s death. And I’ve scanned some news sites. If they’ve discovered the statue is gone, they’re not announcing it.”

“Well, yeah,” Sawyer shrugged. “It’s a major embarrassment for the university if it gets out. They’re probably hoping to get it back before anyone’s the wiser.”

“Should we be expecting Detective Hill at the door?” she asked, looking down at herself. “Because I might need to change.”

“Relax,” he chuckled, strolling over to the counter and putting on a pot of coffee. “We were as careful as we could have been under the circumstances. And I don’t think a longtime employee like you and a former cop are on the top of the list when it comes to suspects.”

“You’re probably right,” Naomi sighed, stretching her arms above her head. “So, what do we do now?”

“I left Dakota another message, saying we have the statue and aren’t sure what to do with it,” he replied. “Hopefully she gets back to us. I’d rather get rid of that thing as soon as possible.”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Just knowing it’s here is enough to give me the creeps.”

“Well, for now all we can do is wait. Breakfast?” he asked.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she grinned.

* * *

With their stomachs full of eggs and bacon, Naomi and Sawyer made short work of cleaning up the kitchen, with her still in his shirt, and his eyes glued to the outlines of her curves. Standing by the sink, Naomi cleaned off the last of their plates, having insisted she should do the dishes since he cooked.

Sawyer was right by her side, a towel in his hands.

“That’s not very stealthy,” Naomi remarked, throwing him an impish grin.

“What?” he asked.

“The way you keep checking me out,” she replied.

“It’s not meant to be,” he shrugged. “It’s no secret I think you’re hot as hell.”

“I guess it’s not,” she conceded, a slight blush on her cheeks.

“I don’t want to move backwards,” Sawyer admitted. “Let’s just call it like it is – we’re both into each other. I want to see where it takes us.”

Sawyer had always been known for his straightforwardness, but he surprised even himself with how candid he was being with Naomi. Everything was moving so fast between them, yet he didn’t want to slow it down.

He already knew she was the one for him. There was no need to play any games, or skirt around the fact their attraction was both mutual and off the charts. And they had already laid their baggage out there for the other to see.

“So I shouldn’t bother unpacking my stuff in the guest bedroom then?” she asked.

“I should say that’s a given,” he grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist and tipping her back.

Naomi yelped, the sound muffled when he pulled her in for a quick kiss. Her hand on his shoulder was wet and soapy, and she smiled against his lips. When he pulled her back up, she gave him a glare, but that smile was still on her face.

“Do you want me to destroy all of your dishes?” she arched a brow at him, dangling a black mug from her fingers.

“As long as we’re having fun,” he shrugged.

Shaking her head, Naomi rinsed out his coffee mug and handed it to him to dry. Listening to his wolf let out a pleased growl, Sawyer stared at the cup for a moment before putting it away.

And to think, I didn’t even have to spike my coffee with whiskey to get the day going.

Sawyer had heard about the profound effect finding a mate had on a shifter, but experiencing it was a whole other matter. He could still sense that corner of emptiness somewhere deep inside him, a void that had been growing ever since Ted had died. But ever since Naomi had come barging into his life, he also felt hopeful.

So people had pasts. Hurts and regrets and badly healed wounds. That was just life. And crawling into a bottle certainly hadn’t made him feel any better, just a little more numb. Looking at Naomi, drying her hands and smiling to herself, and knowing all that she had been through as a teenager, he couldn’t help but wonder – could they make each other whole again?

Before he could pull her into his arms again, he was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing on the kitchen table. Naomi’s eyes immediately snapped to it, and then back to his face.

“Is it her?” she asked, as he walked over to the table and picked up the phone.

The number flashing on the screen was unsaved, but familiar.

“It is,” he replied.

He and Naomi exchanged a loaded look. This could be it. All the answers they had been looking for could be theirs, just like that. He answered the call, holding the phone out in front of him.

“This is Sawyer. You’re on speaker,” he said.

“So are you,” a female voice replied. “Tate texted me saying I’d better get back to you. So what’s this about a statue?” she asked, before another, more familiar voice cut in.

“All business, this one,” Wes said, as cheerful as ever. “Hey, Sawyer. How’ve you been? You know, except for demonic statues and stuff.”

Sawyer couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. Ever since his talk with Tate, he had been feeling a pull toward reconnecting with his pack brothers. And even though the circumstances weren’t quite ideal, it was still good to hear from Wes.

“Better now that I’ve got you two on the line,” Sawyer replied. “I’m kind of out of my depth here. Good to know you’re still keeping yourself firmly in trouble, though.”

“I have Dakota to thank for that,” Wes chuckled. “I can’t even count the times I’ve almost been killed recently.”

“You’re welcome,” Dakota interjected, drawing another laugh from Wes.

“Looks like I’m not the only one playing with fire, though,” Wes said. “Which reminds me of that time when we were playing with…” he started, but Sawyer quickly cut him off.

“Now before you take that trip on memory lane, I have someone here with me,” he said, looking over at Naomi, standing right next to him. “She’s the one that made me aware of all of this supernatural stuff. Her name is Naomi.”

“Hi,” she said, leaning toward the phone and giving it a little wave, blushing as soon as she realized what she had done. “Umm… A demon killed my parents a long time ago, and now a demon killed my best friend’s husband. So, you know… Glad you guys are out there kicking ass.”

“Well,” Wes let out a low whistle. “That was quite the introduction.”

“You’re welcome,” Dakota chimed in again, her tone a little lighter this time. “So, what about that statue?”

“It’s supposed to be very old, maybe from somewhere around 1500 BC?” Naomi spoke up. “It was being studied by an archaeologist, but he’s the one that got murdered, and his wife wasn’t really sure of what he had found out about it.”

“It’s about twenty inches tall, a female shape, with small indentations for eyes,” Sawyer added. “I can send you a picture.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and for a second, Sawyer thought the call might have dropped. When Dakota spoke again, she was all business.

“That would be helpful,” she said.

“All right, hold on,” Sawyer replied.

He made his way to the safe in the spare room, with Naomi trailing behind. He let her hold the phone while he slid aside the doors of a large closet, and crouched down to reach the safe tucked in a far corner.

After punching in the code, he carefully pulled out the container and set it down outside the closet. Opening it up, he gently lifted the statue out of its shell, setting it down on the floor.

There was palpable tension in the room as Sawyer wordlessly reached out to Naomi, and she placed his phone in his palm. He quickly snapped a picture of it and texted it to Dakota, while still on the call.

“It should be coming through any moment,” he said.

There was some rustling as Dakota handled the phone on her end, and some muffled talk between her and Wes. And then, more silence. Naomi gave Sawyer a concerned look, and he couldn’t blame her for being worried.

People didn’t go quiet over nothing. And Wes would usually be cracking jokes by now if things weren’t serious.

“You still there?” Dakota’s voice finally broke the silence.

“We’re here,” Sawyer replied.

“Well, the good news is I know of a way to safely get rid of it, so this Verin character can’t use it,” Dakota said.

“And the bad news?” Naomi asked.

“You have to wait until a full moon to do it,” Dakota replied. “That’s in two days. And if this statue is even half as powerful as I think it is, there’s no way Verin isn’t going to do whatever it takes to get it from you.”

Ah, Sawyer thought to himself. So that’s what the silence was about.