Prickly By Nature by Piper Vaughn and Kenzie Cade Page A

help a pack member move—and the quilt. Of course, she was only too happy to show it off after they’d finished eating.
     
     
    WHEN AVERY got home that night, he knew he was in trouble. Guilt gnawed at him for missing lunch with Miss Betty. He couldn’t have picked a sweeter woman for a mother-in-law, and he adored her. He’d fully intended to join her and Dylan. It hadn’t felt like three hours passed while Reid questioned Muriel and Hannah and reviewed all of the paperwork. Avery hadn’t even thought to check his phone. But when they got into the car, it was already after noon, and he knew by the time they got back to Portland, he’d be way too late to even call it fashionable. And Dylan hadn’t responded to his apology text.
    He was probably pissed. Truth be told, in his shoes, Avery would be too. Anything Dylan had to say to him, he had coming. Not that he wanted to argue. After the day he’d had—finishing the background checks, running errands, and conducting numerous phone interviews for Reid—all he wanted was to snuggle up with his mate and go to bed.
    Avery dropped his keys into the catchall bowl on the kitchen table. “Dylan?” he called. He could smell his mate in the house, and he sensed Dylan’s agitation through their bond.
    No answer.
    Avery wandered down the hall to their darkened bedroom. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted and he saw Dylan sitting on the edge of the mattress, his elbows resting on his thighs, hands clasped loosely between his knees.
    Dylan glanced at him but didn’t speak.
    Avery took a step closer. “I know you’re mad at me. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to your mom, and to you.”
    Several long seconds passed before Dylan shook his head. “You think this is just about lunch today?” he asked. “That was the final straw.”
    Avery’s mouth went dry as his stomach lurched. “What do you mean?”
    “You’re barely here, Av. And when you are, you’re distracted. When was the last time you and I spent more than a couple of hours together? That night when we ran with Luc and the others?”
    Avery thought back. Had it really been that long? Weeks? He couldn’t remember a more recent occasion. Sometimes they ate dinner together, but most times he joined Dylan in bed after his mate was already asleep. How shitty did it make him that it’d taken Dylan pointing it out for him to even realize? “I’m sorry,” he said again. He wasn’t sure what else to say.
    “That’s all I’ve been hearing from you lately. I don’t want apologies. I want you here sometimes. Really here. Not just with me physically but somewhere else in your head.”
    Avery moved to stand at Dylan’s side. His night vision wasn’t as sharp as other shifters’, and it was worse in his human form. He could make out Dylan’s features, but he couldn’t read the expression in his eyes. They were just two dark holes in Dylan’s face. What would the light reveal if he turned it on? Avery was almost afraid to find out. He’d never intended to make Dylan feel as though he was only half-present when they were together. Lately it felt like his mind was always racing. He hadn’t realized how bad it had gotten.
    Avery’s chest ached. He swallowed, trying to wet his parched throat. As much as he wanted to reach out to his mate, he wasn’t sure his touch would be welcomed right then. It felt as if there were a yawning chasm between them, an emotional one that couldn’t be breached simply by crossing a room. How long had it been there without him really noticing?
    “It’s…. There’s a lot going on, Dylan. You know that. Helping Reid, and then looking for Lacey. I haven’t even been to see Mr. Otis in a while. I get distracted, and… time just slips away from me.”
    Dylan sighed. “You think I don’t understand that? I do. I’m trying to accept the fact that until this case gets solved, it’ll feel like I only have half a mate. But that doesn’t make it any easier. My mother cooked your