The Light in Us

48. Fallon

48

Fallon

I ’m waiting for them.

They burst through the door in a tangle of scent and anger. It flows around me, and I inhale sharply, my back pressing against the far wall as they stop to look around.

Zeke recovers first. “Fallon.”

I offer him a weak smile as he crosses the room and drops to his knees in front of me.

“Are you hurt?” he demands. Zeke’s hands land on my shoulders, gently checking me over. “If they touched you—,”

“They didn’t.” I glance around him at Fox. Fox’s eyes are darker today, a violent shade of purple that swirls with his anger as he stares at the shelves. “I’m fine, I promise. I knew you’d come for me.”

Zeke inhales. And then he gently urges me into him until he can wrap his arms around me. I sink into his chest, my fingers gripping his sweatshirt.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” I whisper.

It’s still new. A weird blend of the familiar and the very un familiar. As if I should know every part of him, but I’m still learning. Playing catch-up with the scent-matching.

“You will,” he says gruffly. He runs his hand over my hair. “God. This fucking house.”

I duck my head at that, but he lifts my chin. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Fallon.” Fox says my name slowly. “Tell me this isn’t your nest .”

“Um.” Swallowing, I pull back from Zeke and go for my hair, fiddling with it. “Technically, but I’ve never—,”

Fox storms over to the shelves. Inspecting them as if something might magically appear on the empty strips of wood. “It’s empty. There’s nothing in here, Fallon.”

I start chewing on my lip. “Yes.”

“Where do you nest, then?” Zeke asks me. He glances around him, taking in the wide, open space, the bright light above our heads. “Nothing about this nest is suitable, love. And we saw your bedroom.”

Oh . I half-shrug. “I… I learned to manage without it.”

They both pause.

“What?” Fox comes to me then. He crouches in front of me, cupping my face. “What does that mean? Can you explain it to me?”

“I…,” I wet my lips.

Why do I feel so ashamed ? “I’ve never had a proper heat. I kept pushing them back. And then… I just stopped feeling the urge, eventually. It’s fine. Really. Can we go, please?”

“This is not fine.” Fox doesn’t let me look away. “Listen to me, Fallon. None of this is fine. Nothing in this house is okay. So we’ll take you home, and we’ll go from there. I want to get you out of here as quickly as possible. How does that sound?”

“Okay,” I whisper. I shiver again, and Fox is immediately ripping off his hoodie and bundling it over my head.

“We’ll get you some new things too. A damn coat, for starters.”

I give in to the urge to rub my face against the soft, warm material. I think I’d prefer to stay in their clothes,

When I finally emerge, Zeke is frozen.

His voice is a rumble as I follow his gaze. “Tell me they didn’t do that, Fallon.”

I swallow. Harder, this time.

I didn’t think I had any tears left. The burst of strength I found last night dissolved into never-ending sobs as I tried to piece The Light in Us back together.

But at the horror in their faces, I find some more. My face drops into my hands. “I tried to fix it.”

But Fox is there. He scoops me up, pulling me close and letting me bury my face in him. I breathe him in, the scent so familiar to that of my ruined book that I only cry harder.

“We’ll fix this.” I can feel his heartbeat thundering against my ear. “I promise you, Fallon. I’m going to fix this.”

And as much as I believe he’s going to try, it doesn’t lessen the pain inside my chest. “I don’t need to take anything else. That was it.”

Fox was right. I shouldn’t have come back.

“You don’t have anything else.” Zeke follows us, The Light in Us cradled gently in his hands. “But that’s going to change.”