Cole

I woke with a headache and groaned as I tried to open my eyes. The room was dim, but still too bright. I pressed my face into the warm body next to me - into Ares - and settled back in, fully intending to sleep the headache away.

Then, memories of yesterday played through my mind. How could so much have happened in one day? Gran's surgery, an armed break-in at the café, and Ares appearing in the moment I needed him most to save me. I shivered at the thought. If he hadn't come...

I didn't want to think about what would have happened, but my mind filled in several possible scenarios, each worse than the last. I was just starting to feel really sick over it when Ares' hand ran up and down my back, soothing me. I pressed a kiss to his bare chest and enjoyed the goosebumps that rose in response.

"I never thanked you," I said. My voice was raspier than usual, and I cleared my throat. "For saving me," I added.

"Never thank me for that," Ares answered. "Your safety is paramount."

His words melted the tension that had been building, until I remembered everything I had said to him yesterday that hadn't been thanks. He had saved me, and I had cried to him about spending a couple of nights apart.

"I'm sorry," I whispered against him. His hand paused before starting up again with rubbing my back.

"Sorry? What could you possibly have to be sorry for?" Ares asked.

"For crying all over you and blaming you for not being there when I never asked you to be. It wasn't fair of me." I couldn't believe how I'd behaved. It was so immature. Sure, it hurt me that Ares hadn't wanted to spend nights together during his work trip, but he definitely hadn't deserved that much of a meltdown over it. Even if it had hurt, he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Ssh. No more of this. You must always tell me how you're feeling. If we had communicated better, we could have avoided much of this." My chest ached with the knowledge that he was right.

"You, too," I said. "I always want to know how you're feeling."

Ares ducked his head down to press a kiss to my temple. "Right now, I'm feeling very happy to have you back in my arms... and in my bed."

Now that he mentioned it, it was a crying shame I needed to get up and moving. Because of the break-in last night, I hadn't gotten to do today's bakes. I reached over Ares to grab my phone off the nightstand so I could check the time and whispered "Shit" once the display lit up.

The cafe had opened an hour ago and would have had an empty dessert and pastry case.

That wasn't the biggest problem, though. That was easily excusable after what happened. The part where I screwed up was that I never checked in with my dad. It seemed like everyone knew about the break-in. I had dozens of missed calls.

I opened my texts and said "Shit!" again, louder this time.

From my dad: "The police called me about the break-in. Are you okay?" Then, ten minutes later, "Cole, answer me. Are you okay?" And then another five texts growing increasingly frantic when I didn't respond.

Lucia had texted, too. "Your dad called me looking for you. What's going on?"

"What is it?" Ares asked, sitting up and looking down at my phone. He winced and got out of the bed. "Call your father. If your grandmother heard, you should call and put her mind at ease, too. I'll pack a quick breakfast for us while you do that."

He brushed a few stray strands of hair from my forehead and offered me a comforting smile before walking out of the room with long, sure strides.

I breathed in deeply once, twice, and then called my father.

"Cole!" he answered after two rings.

"Dad, hey. Sorry I didn't call before." I pulled the blanket, still warm, around myself and ducked my head down so I could smell Ares on it.

"The police told me what happened but didn't say much about you other than that you had minor injuries. I get that they had to follow privacy rules, but when you didn't call, I..."

He didn't finish that, and I thought I could hear him starting to panic again. "I'm completely fine, I promise. They... they had a knife. They swiped at me. But someone came and stopped them before anything worse could happen. I'm okay. Promise."

"Cole," Dad said. That was it, just my name. And his voice was full of tears.

"I'm okay," I said again. "I'm going to get dressed and drive over, okay? Does Gran know about all this?"

I could hear how shaky his breathing was over the line. "No. No, I didn't want to risk her heart."

That was the right decision, I thought. As much as she would have wanted to know, this level of stress would definitely be dangerous for her right now. "Okay, good. I'll come visit this morning as planned, then. But, Dad? I missed the baking for today."

"The cafe is closed today, anyhow. I'm meeting a security company there this afternoon. We're not opening until I'm sure nothing like this can happen again."

My eyes watered. Yeah, it would be good to have a security system. "Make sure there are cameras on the back door," I said. "That's how they got in. And maybe one of those systems where you need to type in a code within so many seconds of the back door opening? That would have helped a lot."

"Yeah," he agreed gruffly. He took a deep breath and when I didn't say anything more, he said, "Well, I'm already at the hospital. I'll see you when you get here."

"Wait, don't go." There was one more thing I needed to talk to him about. "There's something else you should know. The person who saved me was my mate. It's really new and we're still figuring things out, but he's the reason I made it out okay last night. I, um, I don't know if he has somewhere else to be this morning, but I was hoping maybe he could come to the hospital with me? I know that's going to be a big surprise and I don't want to make Gran uncomfortable meeting him in a hospital gown. I swear, I understand if the answer is no. I just..."

"Bring him," Dad said. I couldn't decipher the emotions tightening his voice. It probably hadn't been smart to tell him about Ares over the phone.

"Are you sure? It's okay if-"

"Bring him," Dad repeated. "I'd like to shake his hand. And happy news will be good for your Gran's recovery. You know her - she's never cared overly much about keeping up appearances. She'll be glad if you bring him."

I smiled at that. "Well, when you put it like that... okay. Thanks."

"Yep. Drive safe, kid." He paused and added, "I love you."

"Thanks, Dad. Love you too."

We hung up and I held my phone to my chest with a stupid smile. I knew my dad loved me. It was there as a warm subtext to all the time we spent together. It wasn't something we were much in the habit of saying, though. We should do it more.

I quickly used the bathroom and grabbed the same toothbrush Ares had given me the other night, which now lived in the holder next to his own. I brushed my teeth and found Ares back in the bedroom when I came out. He was about to put on a shirt, and I enjoyed the view of the toned muscles of his back before they were covered. Today he wore a cream-colored turtleneck that looked like it was made from something soft and luxurious. He already had a pair of black slacks on.

I swallowed, but it didn't help my already-dry throat. "What a missed opportunity," I said. I knew I was pouting a little.

He smiled crookedly and my heart flipped. "Patience, little wolf." His eyes glinted as they swept up and down my body. I was shirtless and wearing a pair of his pajama pants with the waist rolled since they were too long for me. I had thought I looked normal, but when Ares looked at me like that, it was easy to believe I looked hot, too.

"Would you like to get dressed here, or do you want to stop at your home?" he offered.

I looked down at the rolled pajama pants I wore and smiled wryly up at him. "I don't think your clothes would fit me right."

His eyes crinkled as he smiled. He walked over to open one of the two closets in the room and waved his hand at the clothes that filled half the bar. "These are for you. They should all fit. I left some space for the clothing you already own, as well." He bent and opened two of the four drawers that were underneath the clothes rack, revealing even more.

I could feel that my eyes were wide with shock. "What? When did you do all this?" I couldn't help investigating and felt a few of the shirts that were hanging, finding them just as soft and luxurious as the one Ares wore. A quick check of their labels showed that they were my size. "And how did you know what size to get?"

They had to be expensive. I had never seen anything this nice in the stores I shopped at. My hands kept being drawn back to a blue sweater that felt the way I always imagined clouds would feel when I was a kid. It was a shade I knew would look good with my hair and skin tone. It surprised me, how much I wanted it.

Ares reached over my shoulder to slide the blue sweater off its hook. As he pulled it down over my head, he said, "I made the arrangements shortly after we parted. As for the sizing, I guessed it that first night and later verified using the clothes you had left with me." I saw my shirt hanging with the rest and assumed the pants were folded in the drawer.

While I put on a pair of pants that Ares handed me, I couldn't help smiling over the very real ways Ares was making space for me in his life. I had a toothbrush at his house and now, clothes. Clothes he had brought here just for me. And after his heroics last night, and the way he had opened up to me...

When I straightened, Ares pulled me in for a kiss that was quick but thorough. When he broke it, his eyes stayed fixed on mine with a kind of intensity I couldn't read. Through our bond, I could feel that affection was his dominant emotion. "What?" I wanted to know what I'd done so I could replicate it.

Ares shook his head with a wry smile. "If you don't want to be kissed, you shouldn't look so delectable."

I looked down at my clothes. "They're not too much?" I asked.

"Not at all."

I smiled at that for all of three seconds before reality crept back in. Dad would be waiting for me, and I had a feeling he wouldn't fully calm down until he'd seen for himself that I was okay.

Thanks to Ares.

I shook the thought away. How long before last night was a distant memory? While we headed out to the car, I traced my fingers over where the knife had cut my cheek last night. There was nothing there now, but I could still viscerally remember how the blade had felt: the shock and delayed pain, and more than that, the mindless fear that had made it feel impossible to act.

I was a werewolf, a predator. The intruder had smelled human. It should have been easy for me to defend myself, yet I'd frozen. And if anything like that ever happened again, I would be just as defenseless unless I found some way to cope better.

I mechanically got into the car and felt that glowing warmth in my chest that Ares was so good at triggering when he buckled my seatbelt around me. It was just another way my mate was looking after my safety. That wasn't something I had ever thought I would seek in a mate until I had it, and now I couldn't imagine settling for anything else.

After Ares was buckled into the driver's seat, he passed me a container identical to one he set on the consol between us. "It's not much of a breakfast," he said apologetically. "I thought to prioritize speed."

"It's great," I said, and Ares looked pointedly at the lid that was still on the box. "Whatever it is, I appreciate it," I added, and we shared a small laugh.

"You're very welcome."

He started driving while I took off the lid and found a much nicer breakfast than I usually bothered with. There were berries, cubed cheese, and a couple of baked goods I didn't recognize but which I found to be seedy and honey-sweetened. They were good, and better yet, eating helped my headache a lot.

While I ate, I texted Lucia back and then did a quick internet search to see if there was any info out there on the attempted robbery. Nothing yet. How did these things get into the news? Was it too much to hope it would go entirely unreported?

As we approached the hospital, Ares said, "I heard a bit of your conversation with your father. You wish me to come in with you?"

I winced. Had asking my dad if I could bring Ares in been assuming too much? We were still getting to know each other. Maybe he thought it was too early to meet the family... especially under these circumstances. "Is that okay?"

"I have no intention of leaving your side until my nerves have recovered from last night," Ares said. Pleasure washed through me. Did he mean that? He had seemed concerned, sure, but not like it was having a lingering effect on his day like it would mine.

I wanted to kiss him.

Ares parked in the garage next to the hospital and wrapped an arm around my shoulder as we walked. I couldn't remember feeling so warm and secure.

How can I feel safest with a demon?

The thought made me smile to myself. I knew the answer already. He wasn't just a demon. He was my mate, and I could see more and more why a bond had formed between us. He was stupidly attractive and amazingly attentive both in bed and in conversation. And he had this way of saying things that I wasn't expecting but which were exactly what I needed to hear. Knowing he was a demon wasn't off-putting or scary or whatever Ares had seemed to expect last night. Honestly? It had been kind of hot. Now definitely wasn't the time to bring it up, but I absolutely intended to do a thorough investigation into what sex would be like while he was shifted. If the rest of him was anything to go by, his dick would be even harder than usual and would have new ridges. I bet it would feel amazing.

"What's got you blushing?" Ares asked. I felt a tingling awareness run through our bond and his eyebrows raised. He wouldn't have been able to tell exactly what I was thinking since I hadn't been sending my thoughts to him, but he could definitely tell I was thinking something dirty.

Ares ducked down to suck gently on my neck, his stride not breaking even a bit. I almost tripped at the sudden assault on my senses.

"Later," I said. I meant it as a demand, but it came out like a plea.

His smile was sly and knowing. "Later," he agreed.

My heart raced faster, and I almost didn't feel the impact of walking into the hospital. Every other time I had been here, it had taken a real effort to make myself cross the lobby and hit the elevator button. People I loved being seriously sick was a nightmare I had lived through too many times already. It didn't get easier.

Now, even though nerves started creeping in as we got into an elevator and I hit the button for Gran's floor, I didn't feel the impulse to escape. The dread was still there, but I stayed grounded enough that pushing through it was easy. In fact, the closer we got to Gran's room, the more my dread shifted into eagerness to show her my mate. She'd love him. I knew she would, simply because he made me happy. Then, she'd get to know him better and she'd start to love him for being him.

We reached Gran's door and I found myself actually smiling. I looked up at Ares, who was already staring down at me with eyes softened by affection. "Ready?" I asked.

"Ready."