His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

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1:09 pm

Chapter 22

Toby

Home had never looked so good.

I stood just inside the front door for a second, taking everything in.

The familiar hallway.

The framed photograph of Mom and Dad on the wall.

Liam’s shoes kicked carelessly beside the stairs even though he had complained about mine being there at least a hundred times.

Normal.

Everything looked painfully, wonderfully normal.

Liam closed the door behind us.

“You okay?”

I nodded.

“Yeah.”

For once, I meant it.

Daphne had made me promise to rest. No clinic. No volunteering. No training. No shifting unless I felt completely

steady.

And absolutely no pretending I was fine just because I was bored.

That last instruction had been aimed directly at me.

I had protested.

Daphne had threatened to keep me another night.

I stopped protesting.

Liam carried my things upstairs even though I told him I could do it myself.

When I walked into my room, I stopped.

My bag sat on the bed.

The one I had packed before going to Chloe’s.

“You got my bag.”

1:09 pm

Liam leaned against the doorway….

Yesterday.”

I walked over and touched the strap.

Everything was still inside.

My clothes. Toothbrush. Phone charger. The book I had thrown in at the last second and never opened.

I had packed that bag because I needed distance from Kade.

It felt like weeks ago.

“Chloe kept asking when she could bring it herself,” Liam said. “But Daphne wouldn’t let her visit.”

I almost smiled.

“Poor Chloe.”

“She threatened me.”

“That sounds like her.”

“She said if I didn’t let her see you soon, she was going to break into the clinic.”

I laughed.

It pulled slightly at my ribs.

Liam straightened immediately.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Abby.”

I sighed.

“Liam, you’re staring at me like I’m about to collapse.”

“You were unconscious yesterday.”

“And today I’m not.”

“That’s a very impressive medical observation.”

I threw a pillow at him.

He caught it easily.

A

1:10 pm

For the first time since I had woken up in the clinic, his face relaxed.

He tossed the pillow back onto the bed.

“Hungry?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Daphne said you need to eat.”

I followed him downstairs.

For the next hour, things almost felt normal..

Almost.

We talked about nothing important.

The leaking faucet upstairs.

The fact that Cassandra had apparently sent enough food to feed both of us for a week.

Neither of us mentioned the cave.

Or Kade.

Or Sloane.

I was grateful.

The knock at the door came just after lunch.

Liam barely had time to stand before it opened.

“Abby?”

Chloe saw me and stopped.

Then burst into tears.

“Oh, Goddess.”

She crossed the room so quickly I barely had time to brace myself before her arms wrapped around me.

Carefully.

Very carefully.

Which somehow made me want to cry too.

1:10 pm

“I thought you were dead.”

“I’m not.”

She squeezed me again

“I know that now.”

Noah entered behind her.

He looked exhausted.

His gaze moved over me slowly.

“You look terrible.”

I laughed.

“Thanks.”

“I mean better than dead.”

“Much better.”

He came closer and hugged me.

Unlike Chloe, he barely touched me. One arm around my shoulders.

“You scared the hell out of us.”

“I know.”

His voice softened.

“Don’t do that again.”

“I’ll put it on my list.”

Chloe pulled back and wiped at her eyes.

“You’re making jokes. That’s good.”

Then she started crying again.

“Oh, Chloe.”

For the first time in days, I really relaxed.

Chloe had brought snacks.

Noah had brought absolutely nothing and claimed his presence was enough.

1

1:10 pm

We talked for hours.

Pack gossip.

People from school.

Everything except what had actually happened.

They let me decide that.

I loved them for it.

Eventually, Chloe glanced at the time and groaned.

“My mother is going to kill me.”

“She knows where you are,” Noah said.

“She can still kill me.”

He stood.

“I’ll walk you home.”

Chloe hugged me again.

This time, she managed not to cry.

“Call me.”

“I will.”

“And if you feel weird or scared or anything-‘

“I’ll call.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

Noah touched my shoulder.

“See you tomorrow.”

“You’re both coming back tomorrow?”

“Obviously.”

1:10 pm

Liam groaned from the kitchen.

Fantastic.”

Chloe shouted something rude at him on the way out.

The door closed.

The house became quiet again.

Too quiet.

I looked toward the window.

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the trees beyond the backyard.

Diana stirred inside me.

Run?

I smiled.

Daphne said only if I feel steady.

Do you?

I considered it.

My wrists still hurt.

My body was tired.

But my fever was gone, and Diana felt stronger than she had that morning.

Yes.

Her excitement rushed through me.

I stood.

Liam appeared in the doorway almost immediately.

“Where are you going?”

I stared at him.

“How did you even know I moved?”

“Brother instinct.”

“I want to shift.”

1:10 pm

His expression changed.

“Abby-”

“Daphne said I could if I felt okay.”

“She said not to overdo it.”/

“I’m not going to run to the border.”

“No.”

I folded my arms.

He looked at me.

I looked at him.

Einally, he sighed.

“Stay close.”

“Obviously.”

“And if you feel dizzy-”

“I come home.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“I hate when you agree this easily.”

I smiled and went outside before he could change his mind.

***

The shift came easier this time.

Still uncomfortable.

Still strange.

But nothing like the first.

One moment I was standing beneath the trees.

The next, Diana stretched into the afternoon light.

Freedom rushed through me.

1:10 pm

Finally.

She took off before I could answer.

Wind moved through our fur.

The forest opened around us.

I had missed this.

I hadn’t realized how much.

We stayed close to the house.:

Diana wandered more than she ran, stopping every few minutes to investigate scents that meant nothing to me and apparently everything to her.

For a while, I forgot.

The rogue.

The clinic.

The bond.

Everything.

Then Diana stopped.

Her entire body went still.

What?

She lifted her head.

A familiar scent moved through the trees.

Cedar.

Cold night air.

My stomach fluttered.

Oh.

Diana’s satisfaction washed through me.

Kade.

He stepped between the trees and stopped the moment he saw us.

1:10 pm

Then he stared.

His eyes moved slowly over Diana’s pearl-gray coat and the lighter fur along her chest.

Knox pressed so strongly against him that Kade’s eyes darkened.

Diana lifted her head proudly.

He likes us.

Diana.

He does.

Kade took one careful step forward.

“Abby?”

Diana’s tail moved once.

I wanted to disappear.

Stop that.

No.

Kade smiled.

Not the Alpha smile he used during meetings.

Not the careful one from the clinic.

A real smile.

“You’re beautiful.”

Warmth spread through me.

Diana practically purred.

I like him.

Kade came closer, then stopped a few feet away and held out his hand.

An invitation.

Diana stepped forward.

Diana.

He asked.

1

V

1:10 pm

That silenced me.

She crossed the remaining distance.

Kade let her smell his hand first.

Then his fingers touched the fur along her cheek.

Warm tingles spread beneath my skin.

Diana leaned into his palm.

Kade inhaled sharply.

Knox pushed closer.

I could feel him faintly through the open edge of Kade’s bond.

Joy.i

Longing.

So strong it almost hurt.

Kade ran his fingers slowly through Diana’s fur.

“You really are something.”

Obviously.

He scratched gently behind her ear.

Diana’s eyes nearly closed..

Traitor.

Quiet.

His other hand came up carefully.

He cupped Diana’s face between both palms.

For one strange second, I remembered him finding me beneath the floorboards years ago.

His arms around me.

His voice telling me I was safe.

Then another memory replaced it.

1:10 pm

The forest.