Escaping Death

Chapter 42

Ace

"I'm glad to see you finally eating," I take a seat next to Solana at the kitchen table where she is all but inhaling her food.

She looks at me askance. "You act like I haven't eaten in days," her words are muffled by a mouthful of pancakes.

"It's been about," Hunter checks his phone quickly, "sixty hours since you've eaten anything other than dick."

His comment takes me by surprise and my much needed caffeine injection aerosolizes all over the table. "For fuck's sake," I mutter, wishing he'd mind his table manners. But he's not wrong.

It was Tuesday evening when Hunter called me to come home and now it's Friday morning and her heat is definitively finished. She ebbed and flowed in and out of lucidity over the last couple of days. It was a good thing Hunter had the forethought to bring in water and food because Solana wouldn't let us leave her side – neither of us.

"It's Friday?" Solana asks, finally registering what day it is. "What about the job with the guys? Didn't they need you?"

A small, genuine smile warms my face driven by my wolf's satisfaction. "I needed to be here." I wanted to be here.

Solana's reaction isn't what I expect. I expected her to roll her eyes and quip back at me with an attitude about how she didn't need us. I expected her to want to move on from the subject as fast as possible. But instead she goes quiet, her chewing slows and she drops her fork to her plate before sliding her hands into her lap and looking out the window.

Hunter is equally perplexed by her response and we both watch her, giving her time and space to make the next move.

After a few increasingly tense moments she pushes her chair away from the table. "Well, what I need is a shower. Help yourselves," she gestures to the buffet of unfinished food and takes off up the stairs towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to go check on her," Hunter says before quickly adding, "if that's okay with you."

My brows pinch together, "since when do you need to ask me permission to do anything?" I'm not angry, I'm just dumbfounded. That's not how Death operates, that's not how Hunter and I operate. We talk out the riskier jobs as a group, but the hows and whens are flexible depending on who's on assignment. As long as the job gets done and as long as everyone comes home safe then I don't really need to know anything else. And they certainly don't need to ask permission to move about the house, it's just as much theirs as it is mine.

Hunter matches my expression before dropping his gaze to the floor. "Since she's your mate," each word comes out feeling heavier than the last.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I don't feel a pull towards her, but mate or not she can't stay – she won't stay. It would be a disaster in every possible way."

"What if she wanted to stay...would you let her?" Hunter asks, his tone still just as heavy.

"We'll discuss things tonight with the pack," I deflect to buy myself a moment to formulate my next thought, "but...I'm not sure I could."

Hunter nods sadly then he leaves the table and heads up the stairs in search of Sol.

The shit is about to hit the fan and I need to brace myself for impact. Before I can allow the guys to come home, especially Eli, I need to air this entire house out. It's been a three day Saturnalia and her scent has permeated every crevice of the house. I think even Eli could smell her from outside, I don't need to provoke his wolf into jumping her.

With the linens from her nest in the wash, I head to the bathroom to bring her a fresh towel only to peek in and see her pressed against the shower wall, impaled on Hunter's cock. The shower curtain is hanging on by two rings giving me a full uninhibited view of their activities.