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"These were still in there." Jake pulled out my phone and my mother's watch and handed them to me.
His fingers lingered on my palm and he locked his blue eyes on mine. "I thought about hiding that and getting you a smartwatch, but I figured you'd be pissed if I did."
I wasn't expecting the joke, so it took me a moment to realise what he was saying. When I did, I snorted and socked him lightly on the arm. "I like this watch. I took it off so it wouldn't get damaged when I shifted." I slipped it back onto my wrist and shoved my phone into the pocket of my skirt. There were probably a million messages on there. I would deal with those later.
"Thank you. I wasn't sure if I would see either of them again." Of course, they were just things. The watch and the Cobra had sentimental value, but at the end of the day they were replaceable. Like my phone.
Jake looked like he had something to say, probably plenty, but he took my hand and led me to the elevator. Cooper stayed close to me on the other side, and Hutton and Ben followed a couple of steps behind.
Through the bond, I felt Ben's tension rise slightly. That is to say, he was still the epitome of calm, but now he was on alert for any dangers. He was watching me and my every move, every step, looking for every possible risk on the way to the elevator. Inside the elevator. Inside the apartment as we stepped into the familiar space. Only once he'd walked around the apartment, looking carefully, did he relax slightly.
I wished I could relax. Being back here felt both familiar and strange. Like nothing had happened, but everything had happened at the same time.
I walked over to the window and stood looking out at the view. Ferries and other boats slid across the shining water of the harbour. A cruise ship was moored at Circular Quay. Tiny people moved about, either getting ready to board, or disembarking from some adventure.
Life went on. A lot of the people out there would know who I was, but just as some rich nightclub owner. Not one of them would give a shit what happened to me. Plenty of them would probably think I deserved it. That I should be brought down to earth. And those were just the humans who had no idea shifters actually existed. A lot of the shifters who weren't wolves, had reason to dislike me. Just because Ivory Claw took better care of the city, and the state as a whole, than Dagen, didn't mean I wasn't part devil in their eyes.
Truthfully, I didn't really give a crap what they thought about me, as long as they stayed out of my way. I wasn't in this for the popularity. Still, it would be nice to know that if people were forced to take sides, I could be sure they would take mine.
"Elodie," Jake said softly.
I watched his reflection step up behind me. Tentatively, he put his hands on my shoulders.
"I'm fine," I said before he could speak. "Glad to be home. I assume there's a list of things I need to catch up on. I'll look at it in the morning. Unless there's anything you think I should see now." The last thing I wanted to do was think about work, but just as life went on, so did business. I couldn't afford to lose money because I was wallowing in self-pity.
"No, there's nothing urgent." He nestled his face into my shoulder. His breath brushed over my neck. "We've been taking care of things at the same time as we were looking for you. I figured you would growl at me if I let everything slide." His tone was light but I knew him better than to be fooled by it. He was obviously worried about me.
"Growl if you're lucky," I said. "Bite your head off if I came back to a total mess."
"Which head?" he asked teasingly.
I immediately stiffened. My breath caught in the back of my throat. The idea of his cock, anyone's cock, anywhere near my mouth…
Ben tensed in response to my sudden discomfort. Knowing he knew exactly why didn’t make it any easier. I had to remind myself he’d also been through an ordeal. He’d almost died. He needed time, just like I did.
I mentally waved him down and forced myself to take a breath. "Either of them," I said, my voice more terse than I intended.
"Elodie, I'm sorry, I didn't—" Jake gently turned me around to face him. "I wasn't trying to pressure you." He locked his blue eyes on my brown ones. His emotions were written right there on his face. Including the thought that he failed me by not keeping me safe. As if he could watch me every hour of every day. As if Dagen wouldn’t have taken us both and made Jake watch…
I swallowed. "I know you weren't," I said. "We wouldn't be us if we didn't joke around a bit. Right?"
He gave a slight shrug of one muscular, tattooed shoulder. "There's joking, and then there's saying things which upset you. I didn't mean to do that."
I knew he wasn't sure what he'd said wrong. That was half the problem. I couldn't really know what would set me off, and I wasn't ready to go into detail about what happened. I might never be. Too many people already knew for my comfort.
"I'm just tired," I said. "I'm sure we all are. It was a long drive back. You know me, I'm tough as nails unless I'm tired."
"I do know you," he said softly. "I know you'll keep everything bottled up inside if you can, because you're sure you can deal with it all by yourself."
"Because Icandeal with it by myself," I said. "I'm a big girl, Jake, in case you hadn't noticed. I don't need you to hold my hand or fuss over me."
"Those are two of the things I do the best," he said. He gave me a boyish smile that made my heart flip.
"Maybe you need a new set of skills then," I snapped. I regretted the words the moment I said them. I stepped away from him and ran my hand through my hair.
"I'm sorry, I just—"
"Need an apple?" he asked, teasing gently.
