His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

I woke warin.

For a few seconds, that was all I noticed.

Then I realized I had slept./

Actually slept.

No cave. No silver cuffs. No waking in the dark with my heart racing.

Just a slow heartbeat beneath my ear and an arm around my waist.

I opened my eyes.

Kade was still asleep.

My cheek rested against his chest, one hand curled between us. Sometime during the night, I had apparently abandoned every inch of space we had left between us.

Diana stirred, sending a wave of ridiculous satisfaction through me.

Are you purring?

No.

She absolutely was.

I stayed where I was.

That was probably the first problem.

The second was how much I liked it.

Kade’s warmth. His scent around me. The steady rise and fall of his chest beneath my cheek.

I had slept better than I had since the kidnapping.

Kade looked different asleep. Younger somehow. Without the usual tension in his face, he looked less like the Alpha responsible for an entire pack and more like the man I had loved long before I knew he was my mate.

That thought finally brought me fully awake.

I was in Kade’s bed.

After asking him for space.

After the rejection, Sloane, the bond, everything.

1:57 pm

What exactly were we doing?

Istarted to move.

Kade’s arm tightened around me instinctively.

I froze.

He made a quiet sound in his sleep and pulled me closer.

Diana practically sighed.

Stay.

Absolutely not.

Why?

I ignored her and tried again.

This time Kade opened his eyes.

For a second, he looked almost as confused as I felt. Then his gaze dropped to where I was half lying on him.

A slow smile appeared.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

I shifted away.

His arm loosened immediately.

No attempt to keep me there.

No question about what last night meant.

Exactly what I had asked from him.

I still noticed how cold the space between us felt.

“Did you sleep?” he asked.

I sat up and straightened my cardigan.

“Yes.”

“Nightmares?”

“No.”

1:57 pm

Something softened in his face.

“Good.”

Before I could answer, someone knocked.

Then the door opened.

“Kade, Ryan needs-”

Liam stopped.

His eyes moved from Kade to me.

Then to the bed.

Then back to me.

Silence.

“No.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

“No.”

Behind me, Kade made a suspicious sound.

I turned.

He was trying not to laugh.

“Don’t.”

That finished him.

I grabbed the nearest pillow and hit him with it.

“This is your fault.”

“How?”

“You’re enjoying this.”

“Immensely.”

Liam closed his eyes.

1:57 pm

“I came here to discuss patrol reports.”

“Then discuss them,” Kade said.

“With my sister in your bed?”

My face heated.

“Nothing happened.”

Liam opened his eyes again.

“I really wish you hadn’t said that.”

Kade laughed harder.

I threw the pillow at him again and got up.

Diana was no help whatsoever.

Your brother is funny.

That is my brother.

Exactly.

I headed for the door.

“Abby.”

I looked back.

Kade’s amusement had faded.

“I’m glad you slept.”

My embarrassment eased.

“So am I.”

Liam cleared his throat loudly.

I glared at him and walked out.

He followed me into the corridor.

We made it several steps before he spoke.

“You okay?”

I looked at him.

1:57 pm

The teasing was gone.

“Better.”

He studied me for a second, then nodded.

“Good.”

That was it.

No lecture.

No warning.

I appreciated him for it enough that I decided not to mention how annoying he had been thirty seconds earlier.

“Breakfast in twenty,” he said.

“I heard you.”

He turned toward the opposite corridor.

“Liam?”

He glanced back.

“What happened to your face?”

His hand went automatically to the faint bruise along his cheek.

“Alpha-related workplace injury.”

I stared at him.

He kept walking.

“Kade hit you?”

“Breakfast in twenty, Abs.”

“Liam!”

He lifted one hand without looking back.

I shook my head and went to my room.

Chloe was already awake, sitting cross-legged on my bed with her phone in one hand.

The second she saw me, she sat straighter.

1:57 pm

“Oh, Goddess. Where have you been?”

I stopped with my back against the door.

“Nowhere.”

She stared at me.

I lasted about two seconds.

“Kade’s room.”

Her mouth fell open.

Then, very slowly, her expression changed.

“No way.”

I pointed at her.

“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”

“You spent the night in Kade’s room?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I went to talk to him.”

“And?”

“We talked.”

Chloe waited.

I looked away. “And then we fell asleep.”

Her grin spread. “Oh, this is good.”

“Nothing happened.”

“That somehow makes it cuter.”

“Chloe.”

She tossed her phone aside. “Well, I guess I should start looking at dresses.”

I frowned. “What dresses?”

“For your Luna ceremony.”

I stared at her.

Chloe clasped her hands dramatically beneath her chin.

1:57 pm

Luna Abigail.

Something inside me recoiled. Not dramatically. Just an immediate, instinctive no.

Luna Abigail.

I pictured myself standing beside Kade in ont of the entire pack. Everyone watching. Everyone expecting something from me.

A title. Responsibilities. People coming to me because I was supposed to know what to do.

I almost cringed.

“Please never call me that again.”

Chloe blinked. Then laughed. “That bad?”

“Yes.”

“Silver dress, then?”

I grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her.

She ducked. “Maybe a crown?”

“Chloe.”

“Fine.”

She was still laughing when I sat on the edge of the bed. But the words stayed with me,

Luna Abigail.

I had spent years imagining Kade noticing me. Wanting me. Choosing me. Apparently, I had spent much less time imagining what came after.

Kade wasn’t only Kade. He was Alpha. And being with him meant something to everyone else too.

Diana stirred.

You would be good at it.

Please don’t start.

I’m only saying-

No.

Her amusement brushed against me. At least one of us apparently had confidence.

T

1:57 pm

W

Chloe’s teasing faded. “You really just slept?”

I looked at her. “Yes.”

“In the same bed?”

“Chloe.”