Claws // Colby Brock

💫 12 💫

☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎☯︎

CASSIE

"Where the fuck is she?"

"I can still smell her somewhere, she can't be far. Definitely within the house," Reggie reasoned with me, his hand on my shoulder.

"But where? We've looked everywhere."

"Hey, dumbasses!"

Reggie and I spun toward Jake, who was stood at the entryway to the living room with his arms crossed and a smug expression on his face.

When I woke up this evening, the last thing I expected was to come downstairs and find that Amira was nowhere to be found. Her blanket was left strewn across Colby's couch haphazardly, as if she'd been taken. My panic that she was missing only intensified as the others showed up to reinforce she wasn't safe with any of us.

Jake, however, looked totally calm and collected — dumbfounded, even. "I thought I was supposed to be the idiot."

"What?" Katrina questioned, confused.

"Have you maybe, possibly, considered the fact that you haven't searched everywhere for her? That she might be, oh, I don't know, sleeping with her mate?"

My eyes immediately widened. Jake had every right to call us idiots and dumbasses. It wasn't late enough for Amira or Colby to awake yet, and obviously we hadn't dared to check in his room thinking it was impossible for her to be there.

Abandoning everyone else, I zipped up the stairs to Colby's room, hovering outside as I sniffed the air. Her scent was most definitely stronger here.

"We're so dumb," I muttered, facepalming.

"Should we go in?"

I jumped as Tara's tiny figure appeared next to me. She was looking at the door like it was calling to her, like it was forbidden treasure enticing her to curse herself.

She looked at me with excitement in her eyes. "Come on, we need to make sure for certain that she's in there and safe."

"I think they'd both kill us if we did that, Tara."

She shrugged and reached for the handle. I took a step back, disassociating from her felony, and watched as she poked her head through the door. Through the gap, I could just about see Colby's obnoxious bedroom, including the wide grey bed where two figures lay.

Amira was on her back half-covered by what I thought was a blanket at first, until I realised that blanket was breathing and had a head of messy brown hair. Colby was lying on top of her like she was the mattress itself, his head resting on her chest. I was shocked they were even sleeping together after her heat had passed, let alone the fact they were also that close. Who knew Colby could be clingy?

Tara looked back at me as if she could sense what I was thinking. Amusement was coating her every feature, but she responsibly pulled the door shut and dragged me away before she dared say a word.

"Holy shit," she enthused to Jake, grabbing his biceps. "He was lying on her! Basically face-to-tits and everything!"

Jake snickered. "For real? Shit, now I wanna go and look."