“We’ve been together every night for a week. Don’t tell me an opportunity hasn’t appeared between now and then.”
“I didn’t want to... sully things between us. We’ve turned a corner, you and I. Forgive me for not wanting to focus on another man while I had you near.”
The unexpected sweet and surly response left me conflicted. On the one hand, I loved knowing he selfishly wanted our time together for himself. On the other, he couldn’t just decide to keep important things from me.
“So I’m not turning into a berserker, but I’m still connected to him? I felt our bond weaken when that portal closed. I don’t understand why this would happen.”
His gaze dropped to my belly.
“You think it’s his?”
“I think you have multiple mates for a reason, and there is more going on than you or I will likely ever know.” He paused, seeming to weigh something before asking, “Have you ever noticed that the deeper your connection with one of your mates, the more of their strengths you take on?”
I stiffened. I had, but I didn’t realize Caleb had picked up on it. “Yes, but my connection with him is broken.”
“Perhaps it's not as broken as you think. Maybe it's only the distance between you making you think so.”
“Am I going to start going... well, berserk?”
Caleb studied me for a long moment, eventually shrugging. “I can’t say for sure. I’m not exactly an expert on the subject.”
But we knew someone who was. Someone who’d just crossed into our realm to steal his son back.
“We need to find a way to Novasgard. I can’t be left to roam around if I’m a liability. If Alek can’t be trusted, I sure as hell can’t. You saw what he did to Chad. I have even less control than that because I wasn’t built for this.”
And it gave me an excuse to go after him. One that wasn’t entirely selfish. Because the second he’d stepped through that portal, all I’d wanted to do was chase after him, but he’d made his decision. He wanted to go. Hechoseto leave me. As much as it hurt, I’d tried to respect it. But now I didn’t have to. I had a legitimate reason to find him.
“Am I interrupting something?” Kingston’s voice covered me like a warm blanket. “You two seem like you’re in the middle of solving some serious shit.”
He stood in the doorway, chest bare and glistening with sweat from his nightly run with Derek. I could smell the remnants of his wolf, the wild musk of my mate. “I need to get to Alek. Something isn’t right with him.”
The disbelieving snort that left him had my anger bubbling under my skin. “She needs to get to the man wholefther. You have two of us right here, one’s a goddamned priest—sorry, Padre—and she still wants to find the ones who let her go.” He shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“Why are you so upset? You haven’t seemed mad about Alek leaving until now.”
“Right, because I thought the asshole would have returned by now. I thought he’d go, handle his shit, and come back. But he hasn’t. It’s been a fucking week, Sunday. What the fuck is taking him so long?”
Despair replaced the rage in my heart. “I don’t know. Maybe he’ll never come back.”
“Time moves slower in Novasgard,” Caleb said as he crossed the room and positioned himself away from me. Was he afraid I’d lash out at him?
“What do you mean?” Kingston came to my side as though he sensed I needed him.
“A single day in Novasgard spans an entire week in our realm. As far as Alek is concerned, he’s only been away from Sunday for one full day.”
“Well, shit. Maybe he’s not such a fuckup after all.”
“I need to get to him. He’s the only one who understands what this... fury feels like.”
“Not to mention, he might have knocked you up.”
Kingston’s admission surprised me. He’d been so sure this baby was his. I cut him a glance.
“What? It’s true. Frankly, I don’t give a fuck who actually fathered the pup. As far as I’m concerned, it’s mine.”
My heart fluttered. “I haven’t even thought about telling him. I was so caught up in the fact that he was gone.” Turning my focus to Caleb, who was now standing in the doorway, I asked, “How do we get to Novasgard?”
“Portal.”