Chapter 9 #2
I blink back at him as I try to make sense of what I just saw; I’ve always known in theory what happens when a shifter changes, but since Ada rarely stays in her other form for very long—let alone lets me watch her shift—it’s not something I’ve ever experienced in person.
“Does that…hurt?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “No.” He purses his lips. “Maybe in the beginning? But you get used to it.”
I can feel myself frowning, suddenly filled with fear at the idea of that happening to me, because in the midst of all the chaos this week, I haven’t given much thought to that element of things.
But that’s going to happen to me, right?
The thought suddenly fills me with panic, because what if it does hurt?
I mean, how on earth could my body change that way?
“That hasn’t…” Hunter must notice the sudden wariness on my face, because his expression turns to one of concern. “That hasn’t happened to you yet?”
I shake my head vehemently. “No.”
“Fuck.” He crosses his arms over his wide chest, the flannel of his shirt straining with the effort. “Are you nervous? Have there been any signs?”
Of course I’m nervous, I don’t say, not wanting to appear as vulnerable as I feel.
“How would I even know what signs there might be?”
His brow furrows. “I guess that’s fair.”
Silence passes between us, both of us no doubt realizing this is the first time either has spoken directly to the other since the Incident.
“Were you looking for me?”
My eyes snap up to meet his. “Hmm? Oh. Yes. Sorry.” I hold up the two sample cards on either side of my face. “I need an opinion on stain.”
“Stain,” he echoes.
“For the new mantel. We brought a couple of options but wanted to let you have the final say.”
He frowns, stepping closer. When his hand reaches out to let his thumb brush against my cheek, I suck in a breath, holding it in my chest as he swipes at something on my face.
“You had a little dust there,” he explains.
I let the breath out through my nostrils, trying to look unaffected. The scent of him seems so much sharper now, making my heart beat faster. Like just being in his presence is enough to make my body wake up.
I clear my throat, shaking the cards that I’m still holding on either side of my face. “So…stain?”
He eyes each card, finally reaching to pluck one from my hand. “This one, I think.”
“Good choice,” I say, my voice a little too high.
He just…smells so good. It’s making me dizzy.
He fiddles with the card as he looks at his shoes, his expression carefully blank.
“So…how have you been feeling?”
I blink back at him, taking a second to ascertain his meaning because his scent makes my head feel all floaty. “What?” I snort. “You mean have I tried to maul anyone else for sex lately?”
“No,” he says with a frown. “I meant, ‘How are you feeling?’ ”
“Oh.” Well, now I feel like a dick. I shuffle my weight from one foot to the other. “Fine, mostly. I’ve had some weird symptoms, but nothing like…that.”
He nods. “Good.”
“Good?”
“I imagine it’s scary,” he says. “What you’re going through. So it’s good you aren’t having anything too wild happen.”
Not again, I’m sure he’s thinking
“For now, at least,” I mutter.
I immediately regret it, because his eyes widen a little, no doubt thinking of the last time something “wild” happened.
I can smell how fucking wet you are.
I clear my throat again, pushing those thoughts aside. “Anyway, good choice on the stain. I’ll tell my brothers.”
I’m turning around to escape when his voice stops me.
“Tess.”
I turn slightly, looking back at him. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
I pause, tilting my head. “What for?”
“For…being so harsh with you the other day,” he says.
“It’s been eating at me. I know it isn’t your fault, I do, it’s just…
I’ve had bad experiences in the past. With omegas.
I know that’s not your fault either, though I reckon that’s why I acted like an ass about it.
” He rubs at the back of his neck, nudging his beanie he’s wearing a little and making it sit slightly off-kilter.
“My alpha has been…restless. I know we barely know each other, but that doesn’t change what we are or that I’ve been worried about you.
I don’t want you to think you have to go out of your way to avoid me. ”
Ah, so he noticed. Great.
“Your…alpha?”
“It’s hard to explain,” he says. “It’s like there’s this wilder side to me. Almost like my wolf runs the show sometimes.”
“Will that happen to me?”
“Probably,” he tells me. “After you come into it more, I imagine. Anyway…Again. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I say after a beat. And, weirdly, I mean it. “It’s actually a relief to know that I’m not the only one losing it because of some hormonal bullshit.”
He chuckles softly, the low sound enough to warm me from even a few feet away. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “You’ve really dealt with this before?”
He looks aggravated, like maybe he said more than he meant to, but nods heavily. “Like I said…you’re not the first omega I’ve met.”
Wow. The pure shock of something that feels dangerously like jealousy coursing through me is powerful and potent. And ridiculous. Definitely ridiculous.
He heaves a sigh as he goes on. “What we are…it’s like we’re designed to be drawn to each other.
The more time we spend together…like that—the more we’ll want it.
It’s just our nature. It’s not…you that I’m wary of, Tess.
It’s the situation. I’ve played this game before and lost. But I want to help you if I can.
” His brows shoot up as he realizes what he’s said.
“With questions, I mean. If you have any. If I can answer them.”
“Well, I mean…that’s good, I guess.” My lips part as I shake my head. “For me, at least,” I correct, laughing awkwardly. “I’d definitely love to be able to ask questions if they come up.”
“Of course,” he says. “Anything you need.”
It’s a foreign sensation for me, the possibility of needing someone, and I don’t know what to make of it. Normally, it might irritate me, the thought of having to rely on someone, but for some reason, with Hunter, it just…doesn’t. Is that what he was talking about? Is that just what we are?
Anything you need.
All I can do is hope that it doesn’t come down to me needing his dick again, because will I really be strong enough to not go to him next time? I don’t know if I can survive another embarrassment like that.
“I appreciate it,” I tell him. “Really.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets, offering me a thin smile. “No problem.”
“And…I guess I should actually say thank you.”
He cocks his head. “Thank you?”
“For…” My cheeks heat. “For helping me. For being the good guy. You could have really taken advantage of me that night, but you didn’t. And now that I know you’ve had bad experiences with people like me…Well. Thank you.”
“Oh…” He rubs at his neck, shifting his eyes to his feet. “It was no problem.”
And right there on the tip of my tongue are questions about the omega he knew—what she was like, how they met—all sorts of things that aren’t my business to ask or even to think, but they’re waiting there anyway.
I open my mouth, not even sure what’s about to come out of it, but thankfully, Chase saves me.
“Yo, Tess!”
I turn to my brother. “Yeah?”
“Can you come look at this? I need your eyes.”
“Be right there,” I say.
He goes back inside, leaving me alone with Hunter again.
“Well,” I say. “I guess I’d better get back to work.”
“Lots of fixin’ to do,” he answers with a wry smile.
I match it with one of my own. “Lots.”
I leave him there, feeling better than I did before I found him. Maybe we can put the weirdness behind us. It’s only hormones, after all. It’s not like it meant something. Provided my body behaves, maybe the rest of my time here will go by smoothly. Maybe Hunter and I can even be friends.
Flashes of his naked chest flit through my thoughts, from the defined muscles to the thick fur there that shouldn’t be as appealing as it is.
Friends, I remind my stupid, horny brain. Just friends.