“I finished it before I transformed, so it was all right. I wouldn’t enjoy it as a werewolf though. Not after Rhys fed me human flesh. I don’t think anything will be able to beat that.”

I gasped. “He fed you human flesh?”

“Yes. To give me strength for the journey.”

I gulped, feeling wary of Micah for the first time. I hoped that once we got back to The Shade he wouldn’t be craving to satisfy this newfound taste. Rhys had told me the moment they tried human flesh, they craved it nonstop. Micah must have noticed my discomfort.

“Don’t worry, it’s not the type of urge Caleb would get if he drank your blood. It won’t be too much of a struggle to control. I’ll just have to suck it up.”

“Good,” I said, exhaling in relief. “Because I was beginning to like you.”

Micah chuckled and retreated to his room.

Caleb was already sitting in the control cabin, navigating the boat out of the harbor. While he was busy, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and hair, changing out of the shirt and shorts I’d found in one of the closets and back into the night robe I’d worn the night before.

I returned to the control room.

“How long do you think it will take us?” I asked.

“If nothing goes wrong, maybe eight hours,” Caleb said. “I’ll have to keep checking our course throughout the night. The waters around The Shade can be particularly rough at this time of year…” His voice trailed off as he breathed out, running a hand through his hair.

It pained me to see how nervous he was. I wasn’t sure if there was anything more I could say to ease his discomfort.

“I don’t want you to feel pressured—”

He stopped gazing out at the sea and fixed his eyes on me, his expression resolute.

“No,” he said. “I’ll try this.”

He stood up, closing the distance between us and running his hands down my arms. I shivered as his mouth found my neck. Leaving a trail of soft kisses, he raised his mouth to my ear.

“I’ll try this for you, Rose.”

Chapter 29: Rose

“I’ll try this for you, Rose.”

It was Caleb’s way of letting me know that he wanted me. That he was willing to walk down my path, and see where our story might end up.

He didn’t know how much those few words meant to me. He’d given me the reassurance every part of me had been craving since I’d reunited with him again. The rush that ran through me was overwhelming. The doubts that I’d been harboring ever since I’d reunited with him had lifted from my chest, allowing me to breathe freely for the first time.

I wanted nothing more than for him to hold me in that moment. Hold me and never let me go. He seemed to sense my need as he picked me up in his arms and walked with me to our bedroom. Locking the door, he laid me down on the bed. I knelt as he held my waist and balanced me against him. Closing my eyes, I kissed his lips. Softly, then fully. I wanted to lose myself in him.

As I started unbuttoning his shirt, he held my hands and shook his head. “I need to stay in the control room. I don’t want to risk getting lost… But you should get some sleep.”

He kissed me deeply again and pushed me back until my head rested on the pillows, his weight pressing me down against the mattress. He tucked me beneath the sheets before heading toward the door.

I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but after an hour of tossing and turning, I gave up. My mind was far too alive to have any hope of sleeping. I climbed out of bed and left the room.

“I can’t sleep,” I said, as I approached Caleb behind the controls.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not there.”

“You’re going to be tired tomorrow,” he said, pulling me onto his lap. One arm supporting my back, the other resting over my abdomen, he began rocking gently from side to side.

Nestling my head against his chest, I looked out at the dark waters. I wished I could disappear into him. Become one. Never part. The idea of him leaving me now was so painful I didn’t want to think about it.

I hoped everything would work out in The Shade and he’d want to stay with us.

The next few hours passed in mostly silence. Caleb continued holding me, and every so often I’d reach up to kiss him, hold him closer, but most of the time I was busy playing scenes over and over in my mind, fantasizing how our return would work out. More than anything, I realized, I wanted to see my parents accept Caleb. Approve of him.

It had been painful keeping my feelings for him a secret for so long. I wanted him to stop being my dirty little secret. I wanted to tell my parents, and my brother, what I felt for him. What I hoped he felt for me. My heart was bursting just thinking about it.

As the horizon began to lighten, I looked down at the clock. Five fifteen AM.

“How much longer?” I asked.

“Perhaps an hour.”

I lifted his hands away from me and stood up, walking out onto the deck and placing my hands over the railing. Mom. Dad. Ben. Grandpa. Auntie. Uncle. My heartbeat quickened, excitement coursing through me in anticipation of seeing them again. I felt like an impatient child, walking back to the control room to check on the clock every five minutes, as though hoping time would speed up.

There was a yawn. I turned round to see Micah padding over to me on the deck. He joined me in staring out at the ocean.

“How did you sleep?” I asked.

“Very well. What about you?”