Chapter 120

The morning light filtered through gauzy curtains as I stirred beneath a blanket that smelled faintly like both Dominic and Neil: warm musk, pine, and something darker, like aged cedar and lightning.

It was odd because I was certain that Neil hadn't joined us last night.

I stretched, blinking into the soft sunlight as Dominic stepped back into the room, already dressed and watching me with a small smile.

“You’re looking better,” he said, his voice low and warm. “You’ve been asleep for almost a two days."

I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. “Is that normal?”

“I slept for a week my first shift, so probably. You needed it,” he said, coming forward to sit at the edge of the bed. “You’ve been through a lot.”

I could still feel the ghost of pain in my muscles, a dull ache that reminded me I wasn’t quite right yet, but the potion Arielle left behind seemed to have worked. It had kept me from shifting again in my sleep, allowing my magic time to settle.

Dominic reached out and brushed a curl from my face. “I was going to sneak out and grab you food, but Neil’s mom is brewing something in the kitchen, and her potions have turned the whole house into a sauna. I nearly passed out.”

I laughed softly. “I wondered why it felt humid in here.”

He stood, offering a hand. “Come with me. Let me take you to breakfast. Somewhere quiet.”

I hesitated for only a moment before slipping my hand into his.

" So long as it's okay that I'm still wearing Neil's clothes, I'm game."

He talked a little bit at that. " I'm sure it'll be fine."

We drove in silence, the car’s smooth hum soothing against the rising hum of my thoughts. I kept stealing glances at him, skimming the line of his jaw, the slight furrow in his brow that never seemed to fade. All of my senses seem to be more and more aware of him. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but the quiet felt too peaceful to shatter with heavy things.

"You're staring."

"You're handsome."

Did I just say that? He chuckled. I definitely said that out loud, and I don't think I meant to, but oh well. I wasn't taking it back. And it wasn't that. It wasn't true. It's just…different.

I pressed my hands to my chest, feeling an odd sort of warmth, a different kind of emotion alongside the ones I usually felt.

The café he chose was tucked on a corner of a cobbled street, the kind of place with lace curtains and antique teacups that made you feel like you’d stepped back in time. It was next to an antique shop. Or a pawn shop. Or an antique pawnshop, whatever it was called. It didn't have a sign above it, but the bars did nothing to hide the items inside. It made me think of my mom. She liked to collect antiques. Her house was full of them.

A bell above the door chimed when we walked in, and the scent of sugar and baking yeast wrapped around me like a warm hug. And then it hit me. The scent was familiar. Not just the flour, sugar, yeast, but something beneath that. For a second, I froze.

I’d smelled it before. On Tyler’s clothes. Not often, but just enough that it stuck in my memory. My spine stiffened. I scanned the café, instinctively on edge, but then the smell was overtaken by freshly baked raspberry croissants and steaming espresso. Just pastries. Just a bakery café.

Maybe he was here often. Maybe this was his favorite café. I didn't remember ever coming here in my past life. I didn't know Tyler to actually like sweets, either, but Vivian liked sweets.

I could imagine that she ordered him to come here often to go pick her up, whatever her sweet of the day would be, though part of me hoped against hope that maybe, just maybe, his mate had been in this café often.

Dominic nudged me gently. “You okay?”

I nodded, shaking it off. “Yeah. Just hungry.”

We were guided to a cozy booth near the window, and I slid in across from him. We didn’t speak much at first, just smiled and exchanged quiet glances while taking in the quaint setting.

"Have you been here before?"

"A few times. They have quite a few things that I like here. Their coffee is great." I wrinkled my nose. " I used to get sweets for you when you would come over to the estate from here?"

I grinned at that and wondered if maybe that's why I'd smelled this particular scent from.

"Chocolate croissants?"

He laughed. Then our waitress came over.

“Welcome to—” Her voice cut off mid-sentence as she looked up from her notepad and saw us.

I didn't recognize her, but it was clear that she recognized us. She blinked, visibly startled, her eyes flicking to Dominic and then to me. There was a stutter in her movements, but she quickly masked it and cleared her throat.

“Morning. Can I get you started with coffee?”

“Please,” I said gently, watching her carefully.

She gave a quick nod, scribbled something down, and retreated toward the counter.

I didn’t miss the tension in her shoulders as she scurried away.

"I think you're scaring people."

Dominic scoffed. "Hardly."

"Well, it's not me."

Dominic reached across the table and brushed his fingers over mine. “You’re tense again.”

I smiled faintly. “Just thinking.”

He didn’t press me.

The breakfast was surprisingly peaceful. The original waiter didn’t come back to the table after taking our order; someone else brought the food. But I caught glimpses of her in the back, busying herself with trays and steam.

Dominic and I talked about coffee preferences, the weird names for eggs on the menu, and the fact that he thought jam was superior to butter, which I strongly disagreed with.

When we finished, he glanced at his phone, frowning slightly.

“Work?” I asked.

“Just a quick call. If it's serious, ’ll drop you back at Neil’s after.”

Neil

I came home sore, shirt torn at the shoulder, knuckles scraped raw. I had sparred with Arielle for a while, and she had thrown me around like a ragdoll twice. It was masterful and gave me hope. To say I was impressed—and slightly terrified—would be an understatement.

It almost felt as though she had either once been marked for Wrath or should have been in my place.

The house was quieter than I expected. No Dominic. No Renee.

I dropped my keys into the dish by the door and wandered toward the kitchen, where the air was heavy and sweet with potion steam. The whole place smelled like ginger root, lavender, and heat.

Mom was at the counter, pouring thick gold liquid from one cauldron into a single small vial. She looked over her shoulder as I stepped in, arching a brow.

“Well, you’re not limping, so I take it Arielle went easy on you.”

“She flipped me twice,” I grumbled, sliding onto the bench. "Into a wall."

“She could’ve done worse. I heard she's ripped a grown man’s earring out with her teeth and plucked out his eye for a trophy.”

I winced. “That’s oddly specific.”

“She told me the story while we were making healing balm,” Mom said with a shrug. “Anyway.”

She set the vial on the table in front of me. “This is for you.”

I reached for it.

She slapped my hand. “I said it’s for you, not that you can take it.”

I blinked. “Then why—”

“Because I only brewed one,” she said simply. “And I want you to think carefully about whether or not you need it.”

I frowned, looking at the shimmering potion. I swallowed, thinking it over. It would… give me comfort to take it. Assurance, but I knew that wasn't exactly what was was needed now.

Balance was a hard thing to strike for me, and this would not give me that. It would simply put chains on my magic and rob me of strength. It would soothe me, put to bed the beast that lay behind my wolf, but it would also dull my senses.

I sat there and she slid onto the bench beside me with a grateful sight. The potion vial glowing in front of us.

"I blame myself," she said. "I was so focused on teaching you control that I taught you fear, instead."

“You were protecting me, you shouldn't---"

"I was protecting myself," she cut in.

I flinched and tried to evade, but she took my hand and gave me a look that made me feel like I as just a boy, wrestling with power I didn't understand, overwhelmed, and yet trusting in her completely.

She was my mom.

She loved me.

"You had reason to."

"That does not excuse it." She shifted closer and wrapped her arm around me, leaning into my shoulder. "Nor will it undo the damage done. My sweet boy, you would never hurt me."