Chapter 8
Effie Harlow
“Caedmon.” I poked his hand gently, the others standing behind us, their energy seeming to circle around my own.
I wondered briefly if they even knew they were doing it, wrapping their magic around me.
I wasn’t about to bring it up and risk them pulling it away, the sensation making me feel both flushed and oddly protected. It was confusing.
Caedmon was currently finishing up his transaction, and upon my touch, his dark green gaze dipped down to where I had poked his hand.
Almost instantly, I felt bad about touching him without permission.
While the others had been touching me consistently, he hadn’t been nearly as much.
He probably didn’t like touch, and I felt a surge of guilt for putting that on him.
I withdrew my hand and clasped the snow globe more firmly against my chest, feeling embarrassed.
I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable at all.
“Yeah?” His eyes ran over the snow globe in my grasp, curiosity jumping in his gaze.
“What did you end up getting?” I asked, attempting to direct his attention away from my touch. It worked as his eyes lightened, meeting mine, and a teasing smile pulled on his lips, making me blush.
Diane handed him a folded receipt, and Julian said something in a quiet tone from behind us that had Caedmon frowning, looking over my shoulder briefly.
I was far too caught up in his change of expression to catch his words, though.
See? That was the issue with me. I was constantly in some way distracted.
But didn’t I say beautiful and interesting things were my weakness?
Caedmon was very much both of those, and I couldn’t help but stare at him with a bit of fascination.
I felt like there were a lot of things I didn’t understand about Caedmon, but I wanted to know more. I wanted to dig underneath the surface level and see what he was hiding. Despite it being literally none of my business.
“Bags are being brought around,” Diane offered as Tore and Julian walked out the front door, leaving Dakota standing behind us. I put my snow globe on the counter, sliding it towards her, and offered her a small smile.
Instantly, her eyes lit up, and Caedmon made a frustrated noise as I pulled out my worn wallet.
I nudged him slightly, trying to comfort him despite not knowing what was wrong, as she took one of my ten-dollar bills.
I had about ten cents left, so I put it in the donation jar, smiling at my transaction, feeling it was worth the money as she handed me a cute light blue bag.
Finally, as I turned to walk away, I looked up at Caedmon. He was staring at me with an intensity I didn’t fully understand.
“We should make sure we grab something to eat before heading back to campus.” Dakota’s rumbled voice ran across my skin as Caedmon muttered something, leading me forward as I offered the other man a small pleased look.
Half because I was in a good mood, but also because he had suggested food, and the idea of us all eating together sounded oddly appealing.
“Can I?” Dakota asked, motioning towards my purchase as Caedmon scoffed at something.
I handed him my bag, and he gently opened it and examined the snow globe, his lips pulling up into a stunning smile before he nodded and handed it back to me.
I wasn’t positive why these men seemed so interested and had such odd reactions to my snow globe, but maybe they just hadn’t seen many?
I know I had been truly captivated by them when I first saw them.
It was why I had started collecting them.
Before I could ask Dakota about his expression, Caedmon let out a deep, vicious growl that had me snapping my head up to see faces turning away from us.
I offered the man a confused look, but he just shook his head and wrapped an arm securely around me.
I loved the warmth of it, and despite it hurting my ribs a little bit, it was absolutely worth it.
As we stepped out of the cozy store, I realized that it had grown dark out, more quickly than usual, the clouds that were coming from over the lake masking any possible sunset or evening light.
I let out a small happy sigh as snow began to swirl down towards my face, my gaze following the small icy flutters to my sneakers, where my toes were curled up slightly. I regretted not wearing socks.
I could feel the frozen air breaking through the small hole I had in one of them and the worn material up top.
I didn’t want to mention getting socks or new shoes, though, because I think my possessions, or lack thereof, made Caedmon uncomfortable.
I didn’t blame him. I could tell from just looking at him that he came from money.
The sound of a car door slamming shut had me jumping and looking up.
Tore and Julian jogged across the icy street, clearly having put some purchases away in the truck.
They seemed to be laughing about something, and I found myself wanting to know what that was.
Would it be weird to ask? I felt like they were going to think I was nosy.
I frowned slightly, thinking about how Theresa would always say I needed to keep my ‘nose out of shit’ and that I needed to ‘mind my business.’
“Hungry, little bit?” Tore asked, his eyes glinting with something that had my face heating. As I wiggled out from Caedmon’s grasp, a low sound broke from his throat. Wondering what was wrong, I looked back at him. He offered me a blank look, so I intertwined my fingers with Tore’s and squeezed.
“I could eat,” I agreed, remembering what Julian had said about not having had a chance to eat yet. I didn’t like that at all. I wondered if the others had eaten. I hoped they had, but either way, this would fix that.
Before I could ask them where we were going, Julian appeared on my other side, flashing me a dimpled smile before leading me forward.
I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Hadn’t I said the man was infectious?
I think he made me smile more than anyone else ever had. It was addicting to be in his presence.
The effect the other three men had on me was odd and intense, to say the least. Caedmon inspired almost a sense of strength, and I found myself wanting to be protective over him, despite him never asking for it.
Despite him not saying much of anything to me.
There was just a slight vulnerability to the way he looked at me, one that had me wondering what put it there.
Dakota put me under an intense spell. One I didn’t fully comprehend, and I found myself wanting to gravitate closer to him. Wanting to feel his arms wrapped around me as his wolf rubbed against mine. It was intoxicating.
Then there was Tore. The fenrir wolf inspired both fear and a sense of security in me.
It was contradictory and wouldn’t have made any sense if I didn’t understand fully why the feeling existed.
I feared him because of his magic and what it reminded me of…
but I didn’t fear Tore. I had seen the authentic concern and guilt in his gaze when he thought he had left bruises on me.
Gerald would have never worried about Theresa like that.
I was lost enough in thought that when I noticed an absence of voices from behind me, I came to a stop between Tore and Julian to seek out Dakota and Caedmon. Both had stopped on the sidewalk and were talking quietly, their body language tense.
“Are you two coming with?” I asked softly.
Both snapped their gazes over as Julian made an amused sound, Tore keeping quiet but rubbing a thumb over my skin. Our fingers were so tightly intertwined that I wondered if we would even be able to separate our hands when we chose to part.
“We were going to drop some of the stuff off at the dorms, little wolf,” Dakota explained, his eyes heating on me. Caedmon offered him an amused look. I really couldn’t keep track of their relationship. Maybe I was reading too much into it. Whatever this was, it was better than fighting, right?
“Don’t you two need to eat? Have you? If not, you should,” I suggested, not really wanting them to leave and also concerned they hadn’t eaten yet.
Dakota’s smile grew. “I ate lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat something back at the dorms, Effie.” I had no idea why he was smiling, but I couldn’t help but smile back, my eyes moving to Caedmon. His face was filled with an odd, almost surprised expression that he shuttered before answering.
“We have groceries at the dorms. I ordered more to be delivered about an hour ago,” he mumbled, his brow dipping as he ran a hand through his hair.
Nodding, I nibbled my lip and hesitantly added, “Promise to come back?” It applied to both of them, but I knew Dakota would come back.
In fact, he stepped forward, brushing his lips against my forehead before taking the keys Julian tossed his way and walking towards the truck.
Caedmon hadn’t answered yet, and he was watching me with an intensity that made me feel a bit on edge.
Had I done something wrong?
“Yeah.” Caedmon inhaled sharply. “I’ll come back, Effie.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I knew I said I would be more careful with touch, but I found myself hesitantly opening my arms. The movement had his gaze sharpening as if I was somehow a threat.
The two men behind me had yet to say anything, but I could feel them watching this entire thing with interest. I went to go look at them, giving up on the hug when he didn’t move…
but then I was being squeezed to a hard, muscular chest. I let out a small surprised squeak as Caedmon picked me up, his nose burying against my throat as he inhaled sharply.
I sighed into it, not minding the pain in my ribs, loving the feel of him against me.
Then he was gone.