Chapter 308 Sing Me One
Sebastian’s POV
Emilia shot me a glare. "Can you lower your voice? Look how frightened he is."
I bit down hard on the urge to throw him off the planet. "How was I scary? I just asked how he found the house."
"You don’t need to ask. I’ll handle it later. Go to bed."
"I haven’t eaten yet."
"I didn’t cook for you." She turned on her heel and marched back to the kitchen, leaving me standing there ready to combust.
I stormed upstairs. Took a scalding shower. Then sat on the sofa and waited for the two of them to come up. Forty, fifty minutes later, I finally heard footsteps in the hall.
I yanked the door open. Emilia startled. "You’re still awake?"
I glared. Easy for her to say. With a half-witted man trailing my mate around the house, how was any wolf supposed to sleep?
She steered Leighton into the guest room. "Go take a bath first, Leighton."
He shook his head and clutched her sleeve. "I’m not leaving. I’ll wait right here till you come out."
She softened, patient. He needed to feel safe. I could see that much.
"Don’t lie to me. Don’t be like before. You said you wouldn’t go, and then I couldn’t find you anywhere."
"Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere this time."
She reassured him again and again until he finally, calmly, disappeared into the bathroom.
Leaning in the doorway, I didn’t know whether to laugh or howl.
"You know," I said dryly, "they say fools and troublemakers are the two hardest creatures on earth to raise."
Emilia shot me a look, half amused.
Leighton came out under ten minutes later. He grabbed Emilia’s arm the second he did. "Emilia, let’s go."
I shouted at him. "Go where?"
He looked at me, all innocence. "To sleep..."
The words landed and something in me snapped. I grabbed Leighton’s arm and hauled him toward the stairs. "Come with me."
"Let go! Let go of me!" He thrashed like a hooked fish.
Emilia lunged between us and pried at my fingers. "What are you doing? You’re terrifying him!"
I swallowed the growl clawing up my throat and looked her dead in the eye. "I. Am. Taking. Him. To. Sleep." One word at a time, in case she’d gone deaf.
"Taking him where, exactly?"
"A hotel."
"A hotel? We have a guest room right there."
I arched a brow. "You didn’t catch what the boy said? He wants to sleep with you. So tell me, sweetheart, is that what you want too?"
She snorted and yanked my hand off his arm. "Enough. Since when are you this jealous?"
Ryder rumbled at the back of my skull. She’s not wrong.
Shut it, I told him.
Emilia crouched down to Leighton’s level, her voice going soft, the way you’d talk to a spooked pup. "Leighton, two people who aren’t married can’t share a bed. You sleep in here, and I’ll be right next door. Deal?"
He dropped his chin, sulking.
"Come on. I’ll sing you something."
She shot me a look over her shoulder, a clear get-out. I didn’t move. I stood there and watched her steer him to the bed, tuck him in, and start humming like some storybook mother. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star..."
Her voice curled through the room, soft and low, and slowly Leighton’s eyes drifted shut. I walked over.
"A grown man who needs a lullaby to fall asleep," I said. "Truly, a proud specimen."
"Do you ever run out of things to say, or is that just impossible for you?"
She rolled her eyes, pulled the blanket over him, then planted both hands on my chest and shoved me straight out the door. Click.
I watched the gentleness bleed right off her face the second it was aimed at me, and it soured something in my gut. Back in our room, I flipped the covers, dropped onto the mattress, and turned my back to the door. To her.
She came in a minute later. "Turn around."
Silence. I didn’t budge.
"I said turn around. Are you listening?"
She grabbed my shoulder and pulled with everything she had. I let her strain against a mountain. Nothing moved.
"Oh, so you’re committed to this, are you? Fine. I’ll just go sleep with Leighton, then."
The mattress shifted as she made to climb out. My arm shot out before her feet hit the floor and dragged her back against me. I locked her in tight.
She let out a squeak, half air. But her mouth curved, red and smug, like she’d known exactly which string to pull.
"Sing me one," I muttered.
"...Huh?"
She twisted around, eyes wide as dinner plates.
"You heard me. Sing me a song."
"Which one?" She looked genuinely lost.
"The one. With the stars. Whatever that was."
She burst out laughing, the sound muffled against my arm. Then, still grinning, she started to hum. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star..."
Her voice moved through me like warm water, dragging up something I hadn’t felt in years, something quiet and unguarded and stupidly close to childhood. The tight thing behind my ribs loosened. My eyes slid shut, and for once, sleep came easy.
The next morning I surfaced alone. I heard Emilia crack the guest room door, then a sharp little gasp, then the door snapping shut again. Through the wall her voice came low and startled. "Leighton, why are you sitting on the floor?"
"I was waiting for you to wake up."
"You don’t have to sit on the ground, come on, up you go."
By the time I dragged myself downstairs, the whole table was already assembled for breakfast.
Leighton sat hunched at the far end, eyes glued to his plate. Slow as he was, he clearly felt every stare in the room, and Tiffany was making it worse, gawking at him over her orange juice like he was an exhibit. Such a waste, her expression said. Such a handsome face, wasted on a halfwit.
"I’ll drive him back after we eat," Emilia said to my parents.
"Have you reached his family?" my mother asked.
"Yes. Already handled."
"Why are you the one hauling him around?" I cut in, sharper than I meant to. "Can’t they come collect him?"
"His father’s slammed for the next couple of days."
"Then give me the address. I’ll have someone deliver him." I speared a piece of egg. "You stay home. Rest. You’re not going anywhere."
"But—"
"No buts. Done."
I pushed back from the table and stood. "I’m heading in. When Fynn shows up, he’ll take care of it."
And without waiting to see whether she agreed, I grabbed my keys off the counter and walked out the door.