Chapter 19
19
SHILOH
Hiding out in my cave in the basement is usually calming, but today it just makes me feel like something is missing. Toby took off without a word. He just left after his meeting with the dean, taking an Uber back to the house. How do I make him realize I still need him without sounding like a pathetic freak?
Or maybe he doesn’t want me around anymore…
That thought makes me curl into as tiny of a ball as I can manage with my five foot ten inches of gangly arms and legs. I have what they would call a runner’s body which is surprisingly conducive to tucking myself away into smaller spaces.
Surrounded by my blankets and pillows, I cry myself to sleep with the realization that I’m going to lose him after all. Even if I could somehow manage to get over the shit that Michael put me through, today only proves that Toby needs more than I can give him. All I manage to bring him is pain and anxiety .
The feel of a warm hand massaging my hip slowly brings me back to the land of the living. I’m halfway into my kitten headspace, but I completely snap out of it when I recognize the touch as not the one person I want to pet me. My hand slaps out, seemingly of its own volition, to swipe the offending hand away.
“Welcome back, Kitten,” Eric says with a smile in his voice. “Are you going to be human for me or is this a time for me to let you stay kitty cat for a while?”
Stretching out on my pillows, I let my brain switch back online even though I would disappear into being a cat forever if I could. I’ve fantasized so many times that shifters were real and I could have a fated mate out there to love and protect me. Hell, I was fantasizing about that way back before I ever discovered that gay werewolf romances were a thing.
“Hey Eric,” I mumble as I lay my head in his lap. I’m not completely ready to be a person just yet. “It was a bad day. I thought… Toby almost got expelled because I’ve been so worked up. I’ve been thinking about moving into your old room to give him some space.”
We sit in silence for a while, Eric gently running his fingers over my braids, occasionally scraping his nails along the exposed places on my scalp. It’s soothing in a way that nothing else is and I find myself tilting my head to follow his hand when he pulls it away.
“I need you fully out of kitten space for this convo, kitty cat. Can you do that?”
Sitting up, I nod my head and wipe the back of my hand across my cheeks to get rid of any lingering tears that might be there. I don’t want to have this talk, but if anyone in the house would understand, it would be Eric.
“I can’t forget about the last time I saw Michael… before this summer, I mean.”
Instead of asking me to explain, he just pulls me into a hug. “It will be alright, Shy. He won’t ever get to you again. We won’t let him.”
Sniffling back the tears that spring up with his statement, I can’t help but worry. That’s the problem. Michael always gets me back, and he’ll destroy anyone who gets in his way.