Heart of Stone - Book 2: Hearts Collide
Chapter 18 - Aubree (Part 2)

A few seconds later, Gavin tip-toed in, rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes danced around her. “Hey.”

She saw Stone in Gavin’s awkwardly bashful stance, and she couldn’t help the heat that rushed to her face again as she lowered her gaze. “Sorry if I woke you.”

He shook his head. “It’s okay. I wasn’t asleep anyway. I slept all night and should be hunting in the city, but Papa called a family meeting last night.”

“Oh.”

Squirming a little in her seat, she wondered if something happened last night that warranted a meeting. They told her little about what happened during the nights. All she knew was that they hunted vampires and killed them. She couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it all, not only with her aversion of them killing, but also concern about them getting hurt in the process.

“Yeah. He does that from time to time. He gets so busy, especially these last few weeks,” he said, looking at the coffee machine and smiling. “I think he needs it more than we do.”

She wiped the mist from her eyes. She hated how emotional she got when she thought about Stone, especially when he was the reason for her being upset. It had to be because of that bond thingy. Or maybe she was emotional because of her period. Stupid hormones.

“It must be hard on him.”

“Yeah.” His gaze turned to the sliding door behind her. “We started doing it when we moved here. The move was hard on all of us, especially him. Mamaw thought these meetings would help. We were all involved in it until Mamaw’s death—then it was just the three of us. We still have pack meetings from time to time, but they’re less intimate.”

“I bet.”

She was curious about what they talked about but didn’t want to intrude too much. Some things were not meant for outside ears to hear. It wasn’t as though she needed specific details. “What was the meeting about?”

Shrugging, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “Relatively the same as they always are. Just touching base with us.”

Nodding in understanding, she felt embarrassed for asking. She thought they would have discussed her, though it wouldn’t have surprised her. It couldn’t have been a common occurrence for a lycan to replace the reincarnation of his soulmate and their mother.

“Um, do you mind if I have some?” he asked, gesturing to the coffee machine.

She shook her head. “No, go ahead. Guess I should have made more than I did. I wasn’t expecting anyone to join me.”

He walked over to the coffeemaker and pulled down two mugs from the cupboard overhead. He set them down next to the machine. “How do you take it?”

Rising from her seat, she went to the fridge to pull out the cream before joining him at the counter. “I like cream and sugar in my coffee.”

He smirked as he reached for the sugar in the cupboard next to the one that held the mugs and set it down in front of her. “Somehow, I expected you to say that.”

“How about you?”

Pulling out a spoon from the utensil drawer, he scooped out a dab of sugar to put in his half-full cup of coffee. “Just a bit of sugar. Like Papa.”

He handed the spoon to her. She scooped up a teaspoon’s worth. “I like mine a little sweeter.” She added the sugar to her half-cup and followed it with some cream before stirring it together.

He smirked. “Like Gwen, only she prefers tea with milk and sugar over coffee.”

“I know,” Aubree said, remembering the first time she met Gwen at the café. It had seemed like ages ago when in fact it had only been a few weeks.

“So, um,” he stumbled, running his hand through his hair while he stared down at the cup of coffee in his other hand. “Are you... okay?”

She frowned. “Yeah. Why?”

“Well, you’re, um...” He looked so awkward it was cute. “You’re bleeding, right?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re such a guy! Of course, I’m fine.”

Grimacing, he turned and leaned back against the counter. “How am I supposed to know?” he mumbled, taking a sip of his coffee.

“You don’t get out much, do you?” Her lips tugged up a bit.

There was something innocent about him—even though he probably killed dozens of vampires in his life.

“Papa and Gwen handle most things in the city.” He gave a half shrug. “Usually, there’s no need for the rest of us to go there. Since you moved here, and there’s been an increase in vampire threats, we’ve all had to step up our game and get reacquainted with the city.”

Shuffling footsteps behind her made her turn and see Stone entering the kitchen, rubbing sleeping from his watery eyes.

“You’re bleeding.” It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement.

Swallowing before locking her eyes on his, she said, “Yeah, that will happen when I’m not pregnant.”

Tension settled in like a thick fog. Heavy air made it difficult to breathe, as she realized that they all knew. It made her stomach roil knowing that they had purposely kept this from her even though she deserved to have been told sooner.

What difference did it make now?

As if Gavin couldn’t get more uncomfortable standing there, he shifted his weight from one foot to the next before muttering that he’d go and relieve Alistair in the city.

Silence engulfed Stone and Aubree at his departure.

She took a shaky breath as she looked down at her coffee. “I guess... You’ll just have to get used to it.”

He froze as her words sunk in. It seemed to take him a minute to realize what exactly she was saying. He took a tentative step forward. “You mean...” Another step. “You’re not angry?”

Her chest tightened. “Of course I’m angry. But I’m more hurt than angry. You kept this from me when you should have told me sooner.”

His face twisted in regret. He looked down at the floor before cautiously lifting his head once more, but his eyes would not meet hers. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. Not Rosemary.”

Aubree shook her head. “No. I’m glad it was Rose who told me.” She looked away. “I wouldn’t have taken it as well from you.”

His forehead creased in pain. He took a hesitant step toward her. “Please, understand—”

“No,” she interrupted, pressing her lips together as she regarded his slow and cautious movements toward her.

He stopped a few feet away from her.

“I understand why,” she said in a low voice. “It just hurts. And it will hurt for a while.” She couldn’t raise her head and stared at the floor.

“If I could make your every wish come true, I would. But this... I can’t risk it. I pray for your forgiveness in time.”

Chewing on her bottom lip, she declined to say anything to that and instead looked down at her coffee before taking a sip.

Giving in, he heaved a sigh. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to take a quick shower, and then hold you until I fall asleep.”

She looked up at him and wiggled her eyebrows. “Oh, you are, are you?”

He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her gently against him. He rubbed his nose against her head and sighed again. “I sleep better with you beside me. Even if you are angry with me and bleeding.”