“Ember seems off, right? I’m not imagining that, am I?” Kai asked. “I mean, I know she’s still pretty broken up about Mace, but she’s just acting weird. The nightmares, the tension between her and Tristin? That strange conversation Oggie had with Wren and Isa about hunters. Not to mention, Ember is suddenly hanging out with Aaron. Not that Aaron’s not a cool guy but, you know, it’s just…weird.”

Rhys’s only response was to kiss Kai’s forehead. Kai wasn’t really looking for any answers anyway. Six weeks ago, it had seemed like things were coming together, at least a little. His best friend was back, Rhys wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kai, and Ember was gaining some control over her magic.

Now, it seemed like a trick; a scheme to lure them into some false sense of security. He trembled, and it wasn’t just because of the sudden temperature drop that happened when the sun went down. He couldn’t shake the feeling things were only going to get worse. The truth was his best friend was damaged. And so was Ember. Kai got why they were clinging to each other; he did. It made sense. Mace was a burden they both carried, but Kai was afraid it might also crush them both.

“Sorry, I’m not trying to be such a downer,” he said. “Thanks for bringing me out here.” He shifted, rolling on top of the wolf who sucked in a sharp breath as the air mattress protested the sudden movement. Kai smirked as he slipped down, only stopping when his head rested against Rhys’s taut belly.

It had been Kai’s idea to drive out to the preserve to look at the stars. They’d raided the linen closet for blankets and pillows and thrown one of the air mattresses into the back of the truck. Being alone with Rhys got harder every day. Kai loved his huge family, but it made privacy virtually impossible. He was sure that wasn’t an accident.

Kai slid his arms around Rhys’s waist, laughing softly at the Rhys’s growling stomach. Kai could never explain how oddly comforting he found that sound. At least not without looking crazy. No matter how weird their lives got, they still needed sleep and food. “Maybe I should’ve let you stay home. Seems like you could use more dinner.”

They lay in comfortable silence, Rhys staring up at the stars. Kai’s eyes closed, cozy in the pocket created by Rhys’s body heat and the sleeping bag thrown over him. He didn’t want to go back home. He never thought he’d ever say that, but it was true. He didn’t want to deal with what was coming, and something was definitely coming.

“Everything just feels…off since the ritual. You know?” he asked. Rhys grunted in the affirmative, carding his hands through Kai’s hair. Rhys’s conversation skills hadn’t exactly improved since they became an official couple, but Kai didn’t mind. He didn’t need his wolf to talk, just listen. And Kai knew Rhys heard every word, even if he didn’t respond.

“Do you think Isa’s right? Do you think the Clearweather pack is just playing hardball? That there’s really nothing to worry about?”

Rhys sighed. “I don’t know. It makes sense. We denied them the right of first refusal. This could just be retaliation. Let’s not worry about things that haven’t happened. We have so much on our plate already.”

Kai’s heart felt like it twisted in his chest. “I just feel like you’re cheating on her or something.”

Rhys snorted. “I’m not cheating. I don’t even know her. Neither of us asked for this betrothal. Why would she want to marry a total stranger?”

“I don’t know, but technically, you are still spoken for.”

“That didn’t seem to bother you last night,” Rhys reminded Kai, smirking at him. He glowered, and Rhys sighed again. “Why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you?”

Kai lifted his head, propping his chin on the wolf’s stomach. “I can’t shake this bad energy. Ember and Quinn are barely sleeping. One or both wake up screaming every night. Josephine is…what? Trying to start a war? Hunters want us dead? Alex is dead. Allister is missing. Mace is gone. Somebody seems to be turning cheerleaders into—what?—cannibals? It just seems like the bodies are starting to pile up around here. I know monsters die here all the time but not the people, not humans like us.”

Rhys’s eyes softened, and he brushed Kai’s hair out of his face. “We aren’t human. Not really. We’re supernatural, just like the monsters we kill.”

“We aren’t the bad guys.”

“The monsters we kill think we’re the monsters. Villains never see themselves as villains. I think it just makes you feel better to think of the things we kill as monsters. As things different than us.”

Kai’s frown deepened. “So, you think there’s no difference between us and that grim you iced this morning? We’re the same? Or are you saying I just need to trick myself because I’m too weak to do what has to be done?”

Rhys gave Kai a tired look. “Stop trying to pick a fight with me. That’s not what I’m saying. We all find a way to do what must be done. It doesn’t make you weak. I think you just take on everybody else’s stress. You worry about everybody because you have a good heart.”

“Maybe. But something bad is coming…I feel it, Rhys. Something isn’t right. Neoma felt it too.”

He didn’t know why he was trying so hard to convince Rhys of something that was pretty obvious to everybody. Maybe Kai wanted to convince himself. They both fell silent, and Rhys’s fingers started tracing patterns over the skin at the back of Kai’s neck just under his hairline. Kai let his eyes fall shut, enjoying the rough feel of Rhys’s fingers on the sensitive skin. After a few minutes, Kai slid his hands under Rhys’s t-shirt, groaning at the warmth of his skin. Rhys’s stomach jumped beneath him.

“What are you doing?” Rhys asked, his voice shredded.

“Cold,” Kai said, by way of explanation before sliding Rhys’s shirt up and letting his lips drag across the ridges of Rhys’s ribs. He hissed, shifting beneath Kai.

“Don’t start something we can’t finish,” Rhys muttered, sounding like he hoped Kai would finish it. Kai was ready. His body was definitely willing. It was Isa who wasn’t allowing it. Her insane no sex rule was going to kill both of them. How were they old enough to fight monsters and die but not have sex? She was crazy.

But still, she scared the hell out of him, so despite the numerous things he wanted to do, he just let his head rest there, feeling Rhys’s stomach rise and fall as they both regained some control of their hormones. Kai let out a breath slowly, closing his eyes and counting to a hundred.

“We should talk,” Kai said.

Rhys lifted his head enough to look down at Kai, smirking. “Are you breaking up with me?”

Kai rolled his eyes. “I’m serious. We don’t talk enough. Well, you don’t talk enough.”

“That’s because you talk enough for both of us,” he replied. His fingers traced the shell of Kai’s ear until Kai caught Rhys’s hand.

“I’m serious. Tell me something about you nobody else knows?”

Rhys huffed out a laugh. “What?”

“If we’re going to do the happily-ever-after thing, we need to know more about each other. Our hopes, our dreams. All our deepest, darkest secrets.”

Rhys grimaced. “We’ve shared a bathroom since kindergarten; we don’t have any secrets. I think a lifetime of cohabitation gives us a pretty substantial head start on most couples.”

Kai looked up at Rhys, eyes pleading. “Seriously, though. There’s so much I don’t know. Like, I don’t even know your favorite color.”

Rhys grinned, and Kai’s heart tripped. Rhys rarely smiled, but when he did, it had a magical effect on Kai. “Sure, you do,” Rhys said.

Kai frowned, wracking his brain. Did he know Rhys’s favorite color? Did Rhys have a favorite color? “No, I don’t. What’s your favorite color?”

Rhys’s thumb trailed along Kai’s lower lip. “Purple, like your eyes.”

Kai paused, his mouth open, shocked at the confession. That was actually sweet. “Really?” he said before he could stop himself. He recovered quickly, undeterred. “Okay, but you don’t know my favorite color.”

Rhys rolled his eyes but was still smiling. “Yes, I do.”

Kai scoffed. “No, you only think you do.”

Rhys gave another long-suffering sigh. “You tell everybody your favorite color is black—which isn’t a color, by the way—but your real favorite color is blue, and not like navy blue, but like fluffy-newborn-baby-blanket blue.”

Kai’s pulse fluttered. “How the hell could you possibly know that?” he whispered.

Rhys’s lips tugged at the corners as he stared up at the night sky. “Because your scent changes when you’re around it, and I’m an expert on your scent.”

“That’s hardly fair. I don’t have wolfy senses.”

Rhys was quiet for a long moment. “Fine. Ask your questions if it makes you happy.”

“You don’t have to act so put out about it,” Kai grumbled.

“Bite me,” Rhys muttered.

Kai did. Sinking his teeth into the skin at Rhys’s side just hard enough for him to groan, his eyes glowing green in the darkness. This was so not fair. Isa was a horrible person.

Kai distracted himself by doing exactly what Rhys had begged him not to; he picked a fight. “Do you want to have a real wedding or just a claiming ceremony?”

“You are relentless,” Rhys countered.

“Only because you won’t talk to me about it. Are you getting cold feet?”

Rhys’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you serious right now?”

Kai hated the uncertainty in his voice when he said, “But you never want to talk about it.”

Rhys’s hand lifted and fell in a helpless gesture. “You’re not even eighteen.”

Kai’s heart plummeted into his stomach. “So, you are getting cold feet.”

“No. But I think you will,” Rhys barked.

Kai reeled at Rhys’s unintended confession. “What?”

Rhys refused to look at Kai. “You’re in such a hurry for all the happily-ever-after stuff, but what if once you get it, you—you realize you made a huge mistake?”

Kai’s brows dipped. “But that’s crazy. Why would you think that?”

Again, that helpless gesture. “Because you’ve never really seen what’s out there. Once you do, you’ll realize there are better options than me.”

“No way. Not for me,” Kai vowed. “I’ll never want anybody but you.”

Rhys looked away, his face flushing in the moonlight. “You say that now...”

“I’ll say that always,” Kai said gently, kissing Rhys’s palm and lacing their fingers together.

“Okay, next question; tell me what you’re most afraid of,” he said, tipping his head up just in time to see Rhys look down at Kai again.

“You know the answer to that too.”

“Please? Humor me?”

For a minute, Rhys looked like he was swallowing his tongue, but then he just nodded like he’d concluded some inner monologue with himself. Kai expected a number of answers. Losing Isa, failing to protect the pack, anything but the words that came next. “You.”

Kai narrowed his eyes. “Me, what?”

“You. You are my biggest fear.”

“Lie,” Kai whispered, his heart hammering in his chest.

Rhys shifted into a sitting position, displacing Kai. “Come here.”

Kai eyed Rhys before moving so they were face-to-face, Kai’s legs on either side of the wolf’s thighs, the air mattress again protesting beneath them. He took Kai’s hand and pressed two fingers against Rhys’s throat.

“Do you feel my pulse?” Rhys asked, looking directly into Kai’s eyes. Kai nodded jerkily, his mouth suddenly desert dry. “Tell me if I’m lying.” Rhys took a breath. “You’re my greatest fear. The thought of losing you makes me sick. Sometimes I can’t sleep thinking about it. I worry somebody is going to hurt you or take you from me. I worry that you are going to come to your senses and run. You are so concerned about the claiming ceremony, but for me…I’m already in this for life. I don’t need a ceremony to tell me you’re mine. You just are.”

“Oh,” was all Kai could manage.

“Am I lying?” Rhys asked, pulling Kai’s hand away and kissing his fingertips.

“No,” Kai admitted.

“What are you most afraid of?” Rhys asked, so quiet Kai would have missed it if he hadn’t been so close.

Kai stared into those luminous green eyes, and the words just came pouring out. “The same. That you’ll change your mind. That somebody will take you from me. That I need you too much. Sometimes I feel like I won’t be able to breathe without you. Like you’re the air in my lungs. And that’s crazy, right? It can’t be sane or healthy to need somebody this much, but I do. I really do,” he whispered.

Then Rhys was kissing Kai in a way that had his toes curling in his boots. He buried his hands in the wolf’s hair, pulling him closer. Sometimes it just felt like Kai couldn’t get close enough. Nothing they did felt deep enough, real enough. Rhys’s hand slid under Kai’s shirt, skirting across the notches of his spine. Kai whined as Rhys dragged his mouth away long enough to say, “It’s not crazy. You were made for me. I believe that. I have to believe that.” Rhys panted, his lips dragging across Kai’s jaw to bite at his earlobe. “Maybe I am the air in your lungs. Maybe you are the blood in my veins. I don’t know. I just know that you are the thing I can’t live without. Ever. It’s just you, always you and nothing or nobody will change that.”

Rhys’s mouth claimed his again, his hands exploring well past their safety zone. They needed to stop, but then Rhys did this thing with his tongue that made Kai lightheaded. Maybe they could make out for a little bit longer. He couldn’t imagine ever not wanting this, not wanting Rhys. He was an addiction, and Kai could never get enough.

He suddenly found himself on his back, Rhys bringing their bodies flush, forcing a moan from Kai. Nothing should feel this good. They needed to stop this before it was too late. “Spiders,” he yelped suddenly without explanation.

Rhys jerked back, looking around. “What?”

“I’m also afraid of spiders,” Kai confessed, willing his body to behave. “And Isa, if she thinks we slipped up…again.”

Rhys’s lip curled at the mention of his sister. “Thanks for that mood killer,” he said, flopping back down onto the mattress hard enough that Kai almost bounced off.

“No problem. This sucks,” Kai groaned.

Rhys grunted in agreement.

They lay there in silence for so long Kai thought Rhys fell asleep.

“I love you.”

Kai’s heart stumbled in his chest. It wasn’t like Rhys never said it, but he didn’t really say it first. He wasn’t one for sudden confessions of love, even when they might die. Which was surprisingly often for high school students.

“I love you too,” Kai promised. “But, just so we’re clear, that amazing speech earlier still doesn’t count as a proposal. I want a real proposal with a real ring…and effort. Preferably from somebody who isn’t engaged to be married to someone else.”

He could feel Rhys rolling his eyes. “Yes, I know. You’ve told me…repeatedly.”

Kai’s phone started jingling from somewhere among the sleeping bags. He fished it out and frowned when he saw Isa’s face. “It’s like she knows.” He slid his finger across the screen to answer. “Hey, Isa, what’s up?” he asked, trying not to sound as breathless as he felt.

“Get home. Right now.”

“Isa, what’s wrong?”

“Now!” she shouted and then disconnected.