She straightened and gave me a curious look. “What do you mean?”
Handing her the towels, I shrugged. “There’s nowhere else for me to go.”
“And if there were?”
“Then, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.” I would have headed straight to that mystery place of safety and never met Emmitt in the diner.
She nodded and put the towels in the trunk next to the blanket. “Fate has a funny way of working things. I’d like to say it does things for the best, but how can I when there is so much death and tragedy in the world. No, the best we can do is think there must be some kind of purpose to this mess.”
Words of wisdom. There had to be a reason I met Emmitt and came here. I liked thinking like that. Better than dwelling on the possibility that he was in league with Blake.
* * * *
Nana and I drove the boys to the beach. They ran to the edge of the water while we carried our things to the shore. I set my armful down, and Nana spread out the blanket. Since they were content to play in the sand, I eased down onto the blanket, ready to soak up the warm sun. From her beach bag, Nana pulled out a floppy sun hat and wordlessly handed it to me. I didn’t realize how much the sun hurt my eyes, thus my head, until plopping it on.
Sighing, I laid back and closed my eyes. With the heat relaxing me, I slipped into a light doze.
A drop of something cold splashed on my stomach, startling me awake, and I sat up with a squeal. Emmitt stood over me. I squinted up at him. The sight of him glistening in the sun, without a shirt, made it hard to swallow. In his hand, he held a sweating bottle of water, the source of the drip.
He apologized with a grin, not looking very repentant. Before I could say anything, he sat behind me and handed me the water.
“Your head will start hurting again. Drink up.”
As usual, my stomach went crazy with him so close. Unable to lie back down, I accepted the bottle and eyed the water level. It didn’t reach the top. He shrugged and grinned when I arched a brow at him.
I took a few large swallows and handed him the bottle, expecting him to leave. Instead, he settled back on his elbows and looked out at the water.
Nana mumbled something I didn’t catch, stood, and joined the boys at the water’s edge.
“About last night,” Emmitt started.
“Don’t want to talk about it.” I moved over to Nana’s spot and lay back. My head hit abs, not sand. I sat up again and did a double take.
“How did you move...” I didn’t finish my question. I didn’t want to know.
“I thought after showing you what I am, you’d have more questions for me. Other than if you could wear my shirt.”
My face flushed. I tilted the hat to block his view of me and wrapped my arms around my knees. “Nope.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.” I didn’t really have questions, just a whole ton of worry and what-if’s. Nothing I could talk about without getting into the deeper subject of me.
“Green.”
The random word caught me off guard, and I turned to look at him without thinking. “What?”
“It’s my favorite color. What’s yours?”
“If I tell you, will you let me lay down again?”
He flashed me a wide grin but didn’t answer.
“I don’t know that I have one,” I said honestly. It wasn’t anything I’d given thought to. “I like looking at the sky, though, so maybe blue.”
He moved over on the blanket. His attention stayed on the water. I drank some more, and after a few minutes of quiet, I cautiously lay back down. With the hat blocking the sun and a light breeze to keep me from getting too hot, I gradually relaxed. My breathing slowed.
Lying in the sun’s restful rays, I floated on the cusp of sleep.
“What kind of music do you like?” Emmitt asked quietly.
“I don’t remember,” I mumbled.
“Why not?” His soft voice neither lulled nor intruded on my peace.
“Blake hated the noise,” I said on an exhale and drifted away to that leg-twitching place between awake and asleep.
A gentle tug on my hair anchored me to the beach.
“Who’s Blake?”
A good question, and I wished I knew the answer. The memory of Blake’s contorting face bobbed to the surface in an ocean of memories. This time his long teeth didn’t draw my attention. Behind him, the men at the table changed in small ways, too. Hairier arms, miss-happened ears. Nothing I noticed that last night but saw easily, now. Richard’s ashen face, shaking hands, but otherwise calm presence as he sat at the table. Run as fast as you can. He’d known. Richard’s dead. This changes nothing. And Blake had killed him. Why? He had a plan. Scent you...bite him...establish a Claim.
Another memory bubbled to the surface. Emmitt leaning close as he held me still. His breath tickling my neck on an exhale. His nose gliding along my hairline, near my temple on an inhale.
* * * *
I sat up abruptly. Twisting, I saw Nana reclining in the spot Emmitt had occupied when I fell asleep. Water splashed. Giggles erupted. Squinting against the glare of the reflecting sun, I spotted the other four in the water.
Nana glanced up at me.
“How long was I out?” I asked.
“About an hour. Almost time for lunch.”
I waited for my stomach to rebel at the thought of food, but it remained steady. A good sign. Digging my toes into the hot sand at the edge of the blanket, a sigh escaped. I rested my chin on my knees and watched their water play. Emmitt showed the boys how to cascade a wave of water at Jim, using his fisted hands. As he spun, the muscles on his back rippled.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked quietly, recalling the way Emmitt had held me when he’d begged me to stay. Nana set her book down, an indication of her willingness to answer. “Do I have a scent?”
“Everyone does, dear. As unique as a fingerprint.”
I liked that she didn’t ask me what I meant. I needed to face the truth. Get the facts. Start learning. I watched Emmitt in the water.
“Why would a werewolf want to scent me?”
Emmitt’s head swiveled my direction. Instead of blocking Jim’s spray, he unflinchingly caught it on his left side. I bet he had an ear full of water. He didn’t move as he stayed intensely focused on me.
“I’d be happy to answer that question, but I need to explain more than that for you to understand. If you’re willing...”
I nodded. Liam tugged on Emmitt’s arm, encouraging him to get revenge on Jim. Emmitt turned away to rejoin the fun.
“Emmitt shared with me that he showed you who we are. People use the term werewolf, but we are more than a shape-shifting creature of the night.”
I briefly gazed down at the sand the first time she used we, having a hard time picturing her with teeth like Blake.
“We are the opposite of a person with multiple personalities. We are one personality with two bodies. Who we are doesn’t change, no matter the form we choose. However, there are benefits to each form we wear. We are faster on four legs than two, but not by much. When in our fur, we have better protection because of our teeth and claws. However, some things don’t change. Our sense of smell, hearing, and sight.
“Our sense of smell is more vital to us than our sight. We can smell an object long after it has disappeared. A scent can tell us more than we could ever see. Emotions like fear and desire can flavor a person’s usual fragrance. Through our senses, we read the world and react to it.
“Scenting is when we use our sense of smell to identify potential Mates. Their scent calls to us. It’s more than just liking the fragrance. It’s the rightness of it.” She paused for a moment and smiled kindly at me. “I’ve never had to explain this to someone who didn’t have our noses. So let me know if I’m not making sense.