The Wolf Crown (The Wolf Kings #2) (MLM)

CHAPTER THREE.

"Jack . . . Hunter . . . come to me . . . seek your destiny . . ."

Jack woke up alone. Swallowing thickly, he pushed himself up and sat against the cluster of sky-blue and gold pillows, the gold silk sheets falling to his naked hips as he took in his and Tiberius's empty room from their four-poster bed. Morning light poured in through the slit between the curtains, and he rubbed the grogginess from his eyes as the voice of his dream echoed in his head. The words were gone, but the voice left a lingering chill in his bones that left him on edge.

"Tiberius?" Jack called, and listened for his fiancé in the bathroom, but there was no one.

Jack rubbed his face and slid out of bed, having just pulled one of Tiberius's large shirts off the floor and over his head—had more letters for help come in?—when the bedroom door opened.

"Damn," Tiberius smiled easily, a tray in his hands, "I wanted to wake you up myself."

"Hey," Jack glanced at the tray. "Where were you?"

"Making my fiancé breakfast," he said, holding up the plates of pancakes, fruit, scrambled eggs with many strips of turkey bacon, and a pot of tea. "Why are you getting dressed?"

"I was coming to look for you," Jack said, pulling his black sweats on. "I was worried. Everett's not going to be happy we're making our own tea, by the way."

Tiberius chuckled and set the tray down on the nightstand before holding an arm out to Jack. Jack hesitated, but climbed back into bed, letting Tiberius pull him in by his waist until they were pressed together. He exhaled shakily and curled in against Tiberius's side, his warmth instantly loosening the knot of tension in his chest that he hadn't realized was there.

Tiberius's grip tightened and tightened until he was squeezing Jack in as close as possible, and Jack burst out laughing.

"I can't breathe!"

Tiberius closed his eyes and nuzzled Jack's temple, like he was savoring the sound. "This is the only way for me to breathe," he confessed in a murmur. "Why are you still dressed?"

Jack scoffed, tugging uselessly on Tiberius's arm. "You're dressed."

Tiberius grinned. "I was planning to come right back and get naked before you were even awake, I just forgot you don't usually sleep. Although . . ." his grin turned dirty as his eyes fell down the opening in Jack's shirt, oversized and exposing almost half his chest. "I was sure I'd worn you out last night."

Jack's smile dimmed ever so slightly at the memory of what woke him. "Actually, Tiberius, about that—"

"I still can't believe I have you," Tiberius whispered, his gold eyes warm and admiring as his fingers softly traced the exposed skin of Jack's chest. "It feels like a dream I'll wake up from at any moment and I'm holding on with everything I have to stay asleep."

Jack blushed, his words lost at the love in Tiberius's eyes, his smile, his voice, his touch. He hummed, nestling his head into the crook of Tiberius's neck and melting against his warmth. "None of this feels very real, even after everything that's happened." Tiberius's grip around Jack's waist tightened, and Jack's shoulders fell. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he said against Jack's brow.

"Everett told me," he admitted, "how scared you were when you heard I was with Isaac." He covered Tiberius's hand on his stomach with his own, running his thumb over the back of Tiberius's fingers. "I've been going back and forth in my head about it, what I would've done differently, and I . . . I can't think of anything, Tiberius. I can't figure out a safer way that I could've dealt with it—"