His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 38

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1:56 pm

W

Chapter 38

Ande

“Kade?”

I was on my feet before I realized I had moved.

Knox surged beneath my skin.

Mate.

I opened the door.

Abby stood in the hallway, barefoot, a cardigan pulled over her pajamas. Her hair was loose around her shoulders.

She looked exhausted.

“Are you all right?”

She rubbed one hand over her opposite arm.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

I stepped aside.

“Come in.”

She hesitated for only a second before walking past me

I closed the door.

For a moment, she just stood there.

I sat on the edge of the bed.

“You can sit too.”

She crossed the room and sat beside me, leaving a little space between us.

Then she looked at me.

“What happened?”

I waited.

“Was it the rogue?”

There it was.

The fear she had been carrying all evening.

1:56 pm

I shook my head.

“There was no fʊgue.”

Her brows pulled together.

“What?”

“We never caught him.”

She stared at me.

“It was a trap.”

Understanding came slowly.

“For Sloane?”

“Yes.”

I rested my forearms on my thighs.

“We needed her to believe he was in custody. If she was involved in what happened to you, we thought she might try to reach him before he could talk.”

Abby let out a long breath.

“Oh.”

Her shoulders dropped.

“No one would tell us anything,” she said. “Then everyone suddenly started running around, and your mom moved us inside, and I thought something had happened.”

“I know.”

I almost apologized again.

Stopped myself.

She noticed.

The corner of her mouth moved.

“Good.”

I gave her a look.

“What?”

“You caught yourself.”

1:56 pm

W

Progress.

“Tiny progress.”

I almost smiled.

Then her expression turned serious again.

“So the trap worked?”

“Yes.”

I told her about the hood.

The servants’ passages.

The scent suppressant.

How Sloane had gone downstairs and searched the cells.

“We caught her there.”

Abby stared at me.

“And?”

“We confined her to her room until we could question her properly.”

I paused.

“She escaped.”

Her eyes widened.

“What?”

“Through the window.”

“She just ran?”

“We searched the packhouse, the town, the woods. We picked up traces of her near the western border.”

“Did you find her?”

“No.”

I looked toward the dark window.

“And she wasn’t alone.”

1:56 pm

Abby went still.

You think someone helped her?”

“It looks that way.”

“The rogue?”

“Maybe.”

“Or the Rogue King?”

“Maybe.”

Her face changed.

I hated that answer.

But I was done giving her false certainty because I thought it would make her feel safer.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

Then she asked, “Do you really think Sloane could have done all of this?”

I let out a breath.

“I don’t know what to think anymore.”

I looked down at my hands.

“I trusted her.”

Abby stayed quiet.

“I’ve known Sloane almost my entire life. Liam has too. The three of us grew up together. She was there when my father died. She helped me when I took over the pack.”

My jaw tightened.

“I knew I hurt her.”

Abby looked at me.

“As her boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t soften it.

“I handled things badly. I let her believe we had a future. Then your wolf awakened and everything changed.”

1:56 pm

I swallowed.

But being angry with me and arranging what happened to you are two very different things.”

Abby’s expression softened.

“What about the baby?”

That answer was easier.

“There is no baby.”

She blinked.

“Daphne confirmed it tonight.”

For a moment, Abby just looked at me.

Then she reached over and took my hand.

Her fingers were warm.

“I’m sorry.”

I frowned.

“For what?”

“That it ended like this.”

Her thumb moved lightly across mine.

“And maybe this makes me a terrible person, but I’m relieved.”

“It doesn’t.”

She looked uncertain.

“I’m relieved too.”

That surprised her.

“There isn’t an innocent baby caught in the middle of this.”

Her shoulders eased.

I laced my fingers through hers.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

Then Abby asked, “What are you going to do now?”

1:56 pm

W

“With Sloane?”

She nodded.

“Are you going to find her?”

I looked toward the floor.

“If she comes back, we deal with it.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then right now I have bigger problems.”

Her gaze dropped.

“The Rogue King.”

Knox stirred.

So did every instinct I had spent the last two days trying to control.

I turned toward her.

“We’re increasing patrols again. Ryan’s watching the borders. Liam’s handling the packhouse.”

“And you?”

“Trying not to make everything worse.”

That got the faintest smile from her.

“Good plan.”

“Apparently.”

Her smile disappeared quickly.

“Do you think he knows who I am?”

“I don’t know.”

She looked away.

I hated how small her voice sounded when she asked, “What if he does?”

I wanted to tell her he would never touch her.

That I would never let anything happen.

1:56 pm

The words were already there. –

Then I stopped.

I couldn’t promise that

Not honestly.

So I squeezed her hand instead.

“We know more than we did before. We’re watching for him now.”

She looked back at me.

“And you’re not facing this alone.”

Her eyes stayed on mine.

After a moment, she nodded.

“Okay.”

I let the silence settle.

Usually, I would have filled it.

Explained more.

Asked what she was thinking.

Found some way to ruin the moment by trying too hard to fix it.

Tonight, I left it alone.

Eventually Abby glanced toward the door.

I expected her to leave.

Instead she said, “Can I stay here for a little while?”

Every instinct inside me answered before I did.

Yes.

I kept my voice even.

“As long as you want.”

She nodded.

I shifted farther back on the bed, leaving room.

D

1:57 pm

Abby leaned against the headboard beside me.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

Then she said, “You really stayed away.”

I looked at her.

“You noticed.”

“It was hard not to.”

I wasn’t sure whether that was’ good.

“I thought you wanted space.”

“I did.”

“Okay.”

Her brows pulled together.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You keep saying that.”

“I’m trying very hard not to say the wrong thing.”

That made her laugh.

Softly.

I smiled before I could stop myself.

“There.”

She looked suspicious.

“What?”

“I missed that.”

Her smile faded.

I nearly apologized.

Abby pointed at me.

t

1:57 pm

“Don’t:”

shut my mouth.