Chapter 10
Dakota Claymore
Ryder’s words were unsurprising to me. Effie was different—that was something that had been beyond clear to me since the first day I met her.
So while Effie being from the divine realm would be a shocking reality, the concept itself really wasn’t all that insane to imagine.
It made sense to me in a way. She was so vastly different from any shifter I’d met, bitten or not.
The news didn’t seem to hit her in the same way, though, and nearly two hours later, after a long breakfast, I could see that she was trapped in thought. Gone was the post-orgasmic sex goddess I’d had to myself this morning.
Now my little wolf was sitting on the couch, waiting for us to leave, her hands twisted together as she stared out at the city skyline. I could tell there was relief associated with leaving the city, no doubt because it was farther from her old pack, but there was also trepidation.
Not just her own, either. No, none of us really wanted to go back to campus, especially with hearing nothing from the president.
I knew he had a way to contact us—hell, I was positive he had Caedmon’s phone number—but instead it had been radio silence.
In some ways that put me far more on edge, and I knew it was time to go back.
“Effie.” I walked up to her, crouching down as her gaze moved to mine. She offered me a soft smile, her cheeks blushing a light pink.
“Hey. We’re almost good to go?” she asked curiously.
“Almost. They’re loading up the car,” I explained, knowing Caedmon would have to hire a second car to bring the rest of the purchases he had made for her to Ryder’s apartment for the time being.
I hope that Effie realized how serious we were about getting a house off campus—because if not, it would be a difficult conversation when we closed on a house in a few days from now.
We didn’t have a specific house picked out, but I knew Caedmon really fucking well, and I had no doubt that he had already contacted a real estate agent and was looking at properties.
Kirkwall didn’t have many options, especially ones that would fit the tastes of individuals like Caedmon and Ryder, but I was positive we’d find something.
As long as it had the ability to keep Effie safe, it would make me feel ten times better.
“Good, I need to message the girls,” she said. “It’s been such a crazy past few days. I should feel guilty about missing class, but it’s hard to focus on anything else right now.”
I completely understood that, and I was starting to wonder if maybe continuing our education at a human-run institute wouldn’t be better.
Sure, we would miss out on some of the benefits of being part of such an elite community, but the disadvantages were far worse.
Plus, I was positive the University of Wisconsin had a fantastic economics program.
Personally, I would prefer somewhere far warmer, but I also understood Effie’s wolf loved cooler weather and snow, something I would never take away from her.
“We will get you caught up. The most important thing is getting back and making sure you sleep better than you did last night.” I brushed a piece of hair out of her face as she nodded.
I was surprised that she didn’t ask what I meant but also glad.
It would have been hard to explain that she had managed to shift into her wolf form five times, back and forth, while having nightmares.
Eventually I had just held her until she stopped.
I don’t think she remembered any of that though.
I don’t think she even remembered how much magic she had used while transporting all of us to an entirely different part of the city.
Effie was something far different than any of us imagined.
I could feel that truth in my bones, and as much as it didn’t surprise me, it did worry me.
The last thing I wanted was for her to be in more danger than before.
It was our job to protect her, and I found myself feeling guilty, not for the first time, for not protecting her better in the altercation with Weylin and his pack.
Fucking Weylin. I would kill that bastard.
“We’re good,” Julian called out from where he stood at the doorway. I eyed him cautiously, wondering how he was keeping it together. The man had learned he had an entire past he’d forgotten about—that had to be shocking. Yet, instead of looking upset at all, he seemed fucking relaxed.
I called bullshit, and I had to assume Coffin was doing something to moderate his emotions. Or maybe I was just far more reactive than Julian. Somehow I didn’t think that was the case though, because the man could be absolutely psychotic when he lost it. Something he often blamed on his wolf.
Effie stood up and took my hand as we walked towards the door.
Ryder was closing something up in his office, but everyone else was downstairs, waiting for us.
I grabbed the jacket from Effie’s arms and stopped her so she could slide it on, ensuring that she would be kept warm once we got into the chilly parking garage.
Once she was bundled up, the three of us got into the elevator and she leaned into me, closing her eyes.
“You okay?” I asked softly.
“Yeah,” she murmured and then frowned, opening her eyes. “Maybe not. I just have a really bad feeling, almost like I’m sick to my stomach, about going back to campus. I know I’m just nervous, but it feels awful.”
Somehow I didn’t think it was just her nerves, and that worried me even more.
I had learned to trust my gut, and I trusted Effie’s equally as much.
The woman had strong instincts. If she felt like something bad was going to happen, or was already happening, then that was most likely the case.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t avoid going back to campus forever, so we would just have to be as careful as possible.
“We can probably stay at Ryder’s place instead,” Julian suggested.
Effie nibbled her lip and shook her head. “I’m sure it’s nothing, I just feel on edge.” Something that was beyond understandable considering the circumstances.
When we arrived at the parking garage, I made sure to keep her tucked into my side, wanting her to feel as secure as possible.
It appeared to work, because she seemed not only a bit more relaxed but also happier when we got to the car.
I made sure she was comfortable as the others got in, Ryder making his way across the garage as I walked towards the back, where Caedmon was loading up a secondary truck while talking to the driver.
“Just deliver it to this address,” he instructed. The guy nodded, accepting the extra bundle of cash Caedmon offered him, and took off with more than half of Effie’s new gifts. I tucked my hands into my pockets and noticed that Caedmon was scrolling through something on his phone.
“We need that house,” I said, wanting to confirm that was what he was doing right now.
“I have five we can look at,” he stated without looking up, making me nearly chuckle. Caedmon may have been a crazy sonofabitch, but when he wanted something done, it got done almost immediately. “Do you think she would want to do that today?”
“Maybe, or maybe we should narrow it down to two and then go?” I suggested. “Effie is going to try to pick what she thinks we want, so we should probably pick two that we think she will love and not have as many options.”
“She would do that, you’re right.” Caedmon shook his head, smiling. “I’ll send you some to look at in the car.”
I nodded and followed him over as Ryder joined us, looking distracted.
I knew he was probably thinking about his teaching position at Silver Falls and how it was no doubt soon coming to an end.
I don’t think he really cared about that, but it was a change, and that was something both Caedmon and Ryder shared a dislike of.
I had no doubt he could adjust though, especially since Effie was involved.
My biggest concern was the blame that Effie would take upon herself if he lost his job. Hell, she would blame herself even if he quit. He needed to handle this shit the right way or else it could really fuck with her head, and that wasn’t acceptable.
As I got into the car, Effie tucked herself against me and closed her eyes, allowing me to get comfortable and pull up the links Caedmon had sent in our group message. My brows raised as the first link revealed a house that was pretty much picture-perfect.
I didn’t usually feel that way about homes… But this property was something else. It was a large, nearly eight thousand square feet, coastal style home in light blue. Surrounded by lush landscaping in the front, it had a large back yard that led right up to the cliff side overlooking the lake.
The view alone was worth the price point, but the inside was beautiful as well, recently remodeled and featuring a large master suite and five additional bedrooms. Yet, despite all of these aspects, and maybe because of the threat I knew that was so close by…
It still didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like our home, even if just to finish school.
As I exited out of the link and went to open the other options, I noticed that everyone else had already responded with all different answers, confirming my belief that none of them were the perfect fit. I still didn’t think it was a bad idea to go see them in person though.
“I’m going to give a few of them a call, try to get some visits scheduled,” Caedmon said from the driver’s seat as I looked down to find Effie resting, her mind a quiet hum of dreamless sleep.
“As soon as possible would be ideal,” Ryder said from next to him.
“We are going to have to figure out how to get the school to agree,” Tore said.
“Or we don’t tell them,” I stated easily. “We continue to let them think we are living on campus. It’s not like they have a way to check, and during the day we could go there to hang out between classes.”