Luke handed me my bag then moved to close the door. I motioned for him to wait and dug in a side pocket of my bag for a pencil stub and paper. In those few moments after I shocked him and before I passed out, I’d gleaned some information about the person I saw. Whoever she was, Luke needed to find her and help me understand if some of my suspicions were right. Was she like me? Was she his Mate?
I jotted him a hasty note and handed it to him with a wave. He quickly closed the door. I hoped giving him the information was the right thing to do. I barely knew him. Would he even try to find her or just hand the information over to an Elder? Worried, I looked at him through the window. He didn’t see me. His eyes scanned my note. He crumpled it in his hand and spun toward a waiting motorcycle.
Clay pulled away from the Compound, spitting gravel with the tires. The motorcycle roared to life and quickly zipped past us. Luke saluted me with a wicked grin then disappeared from sight. I peeked in the side mirror and caught the reason for their loud exit. Sam stood on the porch, his gaze locked on us. He grew smaller as we sped away. I wished I knew whom to trust.
I laid my head back and closed my eyes. What a crappy Introduction weekend. The worst yet. I hoped there were no more in my future.
The drone of the engine and the soothing vibrations of the tires put me right to sleep. I dozed the whole way home, waking when Clay lifted me from the car. With blankets still twisted around me, he carried me to my room and gently set me on the bed.
A few minutes later, he settled next to me. It didn’t matter anymore if he wore his fur or stayed as a man. He remained with me. It was enough.
Clay tried to keep me home Tuesday. First, he planted himself, in his fur, in front of my door so I couldn’t get out of the bedroom. Then, when I pleaded to use the bathroom, he allowed me out and took the opportunity to hide my keys.
My suspicion rose when he calmly watched me get ready. I discovered the missing keys and resorted to further pleading. I explained my need to talk to Nicole in hopes of piecing together the puzzle of my abilities. The one-sided conversation reminded me of the first time I’d reasoned with him.
Of course, Rachel caught part of my serious chat with our dog and did a double take on her way to the bathroom. I laughed and waved her away, then gave Clay a look. Grudgingly, Clay led me to my keys, and I made it to campus on time.
I parked and took a minute to lean my forehead against the steering wheel, still recovering from sharing my ability with three people in one weekend. Clay had obviously sensed it. If Tuesday hadn’t been the only day I saw Nicole, I would have stayed in bed. Steeling myself, I got out of the car and trudged across campus.
For the first time ever, I didn’t pay much attention to the instructor. Instead, I sat by Nicole and whispered questions freely, but failed to uncover anything more than what she’d already shared. Men had hit on her quite a bit after the Halloween party. She attributed the attention to the costume, which she planned to reuse. Since it wasn’t a bad costume, I didn’t dissuade her of the idea. Better to think it was the costume than a freak friend passing some kind of power to her.
I smiled and waved goodbye to her at the end of the class. People pushed past me to leave. I watched them go and dreaded the long walk back to the car. With my pull gone, thanks to Luke and two strangers, I could safely ask someone for a piggyback ride. I’d seen it happen before. Yet, I couldn’t picture explaining to Clay why I smelled like another guy.
Rachel and Clay-the-man stood in the kitchen together making an early dinner. Surprised, I hesitated in the doorway. Rachel typically spent her free time with Peter or at work. And Clay tended to stay in his fur when she was home.
Rachel paused her one-sided conversation to wink at me. I glanced at Clay, stepped further into the room, and slowly closed the door behind me. Clay remained focused on the food he stirred in the pan. Rachel walked past me on her way to get silverware.
“You didn’t tell me he could cook,” Rachel stage whispered.
Giving her a crooked smile, I made my way to a kitchen chair. I was exhausted.
“He cooks, he cleans, he warms up my feet at night, and he keeps the toilet seat down...so hands off. He’s mine.”
Rachel laughed, and Clay turned to give me an undecipherable look. I had a feeling he liked the “mine” part.
“How you feeling?” Rachel said, coming over to touch my forehead. “I asked Clay, but he didn’t say.” Rachel gave Clay a pointed look. Clay shrugged and went back to cooking at the stove.
“Not the best, but it’s getting better. I think it’s mental exhaustion, nothing contagious.”
“Mm,” she said in a noncommittal way as she eyed me speculatively. “I still think you should go to the doctor. Could it be something you didn’t think of yet?” She casually leaned close to me. “Pregnant?” she whispered.
Clay dropped the spoon. It hit the stove and bounced back at him. He caught it tight after a close fumble. Both Rachel and I stared at his back, but with dignity, he stayed facing the stove and kept cooking.
I turned back to Rachel with a wide smile. “No. Now, behave.”
We ate dinner companionably. After we finished, they shoved me out of the kitchen with orders to rest while they cleaned up. I went to my room and changed into my lounge clothes while listening to Rachel tell Clay about a cute pair of shoes she’d found. It made me smile. She would never break him. He’d never talk.
Dinner, though delicious and entertaining, had drained my reserves. I lay on top the comforter thinking I’d rest for a bit before I tackled that day’s homework. I still needed to talk to Clay about what I’d seen in the woods at the Introduction.
Sunlight penetrated the darkness behind my eyelids. I no longer sprawled sideways on the bed on top the comforter but underneath it, snugly tucked in. Clay sat up in the space next to me, pillows stacked behind him as he read a book. His posture didn’t fool me. He really sat there to watch over me while I slept. I knew with an unexplainable certainty that he would never leave me again.
“Good morning,” I said, pulling the covers up to my chin. Thanks to Rachel-the-heat-miser, the room felt cool, but I enjoyed lower rent.
Clay closed his book as soon as I woke and turned to examine me.
“I want to talk to you but keep falling asleep. If I do it again, wake me up.” I smiled at him when he pulled me close to snuggle against him. It was much warmer that way.
“During the Introduction when I said my head hurt, I saw a man step away from the line. I know how your kind view Introductions. It didn’t seem right so I peeked at his spark. It hurt like hell, but I saw he had the same color light as Elder Joshua and the wolf that’d attacked us. I thought maybe it could be the same guy, that he needed to leave because you’d recognize his scent. Then I saw three more, further away. Something’s going on, but I can’t figure out what.
“I know you didn’t stay with the pack full-time, but did you ever notice any of them acting different?”
He shook his head, actually giving me a direct answer. It should have made me happy. Instead, I sighed. I still didn’t have a clue.
He gently stroked my hair as I thought it through. “If only I could trust Sam. If I could ask him questions about Elder Joshua without him repeating them, I might be able to figure this thing out.”
My head started to hurt again. Maybe if I stopped thinking about it so much, the answer would just come to me.