Chapter 21
Getting Ethan Caldwell into the car was a challenge all on it
meas
He stumbled with every other step, his tall frame slumping heavily against me as I wrestled him into the backseat.
Once inside, he collapsed against my shoulder with a deep sigh, his breath warm and tinged with the unmistakable tang of alcohol,
I couldn’t help but chuckle softly..
“You know you can’t handle that much, and yet you still tried to outdrink Elder Clark,” I teased under my breath
“Now look at you, drunk as a wolf cub on moon ale.”
He mumbled something in response, low and unintelligible.
Then, as if sensing my amusement, he shifted
pressing closer, rubbing his forehead lightly against my neck.
I stiffened, heat creeping up my skin.
His soft hair brushed my car, sending a shiver
down my spine.
1 edged away instinctively, but he only muttered a sleepy protest and resettled against me, heavier than before.
I sighed and let him be
His scent–normally fresh pine and clean soap–was now laced with the rich, earthy undertone of drunkenness,
but somehow it didn’t smell unpleasant.
It smelled… warm
The car rumbled forward through the quiet Yorian streets, headlights slicing through the dark.
“Selene.” he murmured, his voice almost lost in the hum of the engine and passing traffic.
I tilted my head toward him, trying to catch the rest, but the words blurred into the night.
Before I could lean in closer, the driver announced that we had arrived.
Regret pricked at me, sharp and quick
But I pushed it aside, paid the fare, and half–carried, half–dragged Ethan toward his apartment building
Thank the Moon for elevators.
I wasn’t sure I could have hauled him up ten flights of stairs otherwise.
Inside his home, familjar in the way only Pack spaces could be—practical, sparse, comfortable–I managed to guide him toward the bedroom.
He seemed to recognize his surroundings, his steps growing marginally steadier as he staggered toward his bed.
Texhaled in rellet.
He flopped onto the mattress like a felled tree, sprawled across it in a way
y that was both undignified and strangely endearing
But just as I turned to leave, a loud thump startled me.
whirled back
Ethan lay on the Noor beside the bed, eyes closed, breathing slow and steady.
