Chapter 10 #2
Cody and his wife, Thalia, sat with me while we ate a big meal of roast venison, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. I drank water rather than wine, and while the conversation was on light topics, nothing strenuous, it still flowed easily.
It had been the most relaxed I had been since I got here.
Now, all the kind thoughts I had about Cody were gone as I lay in my bed, struggling to move. The desire to shift to heal my sore body was strong, but I now understood why Cody had made me not shift the night before.
Eventually, I stood and looked at the ladder leading to the lower floor with apprehension.
I didn’t think I could get a few steps down a rope ladder without falling.
I did my best, but I landed hard and flinched in pain.
The low chuckle behind me made me turn, and I saw Killian and Cody watching me.
“It’s a good burn, right?” Cody asked as he walked further into the shelter.
“There are parts of me that feel like I’m on fire,” I groaned, not caring what they thought of me.
Killian snorted. “The first time Wolfe told me not to shift, I didn’t get out of bed, so either you’re stronger than you think or we need to go harder on you today.”
They both chuckled when I looked at them in alarm at the thought of them training me harder.
“Tell me where you hurt,” Cody asked. He nodded once I told him all my aches and then, after a glance at Killian, they walked outside. “Come out and shift,” he called.
I’d never been so eager to shift in my life. As my wolf stretched out, my body healed. When I shifted back to my human form, I felt soothed.
“Ugh, that’s better,” I told them with relief. They had both turned from me once more while I was naked. “You don’t need to keep turning away,” I said softly. “We’re shifters.”
“And you’re our alpha’s mate,” Cody replied easily. “Out of respect for our alpha and you,” he added a little bit more quietly, “we turn away.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from saying we didn’t do that in the Hollow, but I had highlighted enough differences between us, that I said nothing, just dressed quickly.
“Same again today?” I asked, almost eagerly, and for the first time since my father had passed, I saw an almost friendly look from Killian.
“You up for it?” he asked simply.
“I know what I’m doing wrong with the turn,” I told him honestly. “I figured it out last night as I went over everything I learned. I’m anticipating the turn, not feeling it. Too much in my head, I need it to come more naturally.”
He exchanged a glance with Cody and then nodded. “Let’s go then.”
I hesitated. “Oh…no breakfast?”
Cody looked over his shoulder, almost like he was checking no one could hear him. “Thalia is on breakfast duty this morning,” he told me in a low whisper. “You’re going to want to pass on that.”
They were both looking at me in earnest. “She can’t cook?”
“Burns everything, and not in a good way,” Killian said with a straight face. “We’ll hunt on the way and hope the rest of the pack left enough game nearby for us to eat.”
I went back into the shelter and came out with three protein bars, handing one to each of them. “Found them in Wolfe’s trunk.”
“Nice,” Cody said, eating his in two bites. “Thanks, Rowen. See you at training later. Good luck with that turn.”
Killian finished chewing, pocketed the wrapper, and then rolled his neck on his shoulders. “Same route or do you want to try another?”
“Same, I want to make sure I have the same fluidity as you do, and then we can test me elsewhere.”
“Agreed.”
My body felt twice as beaten by the end of the day, but I had eventually smoothed out the turn, and I’d gotten Cody on his back once in the sparring ring. Killian joined us for the evening meal, and while it wasn’t as relaxed as I was with my own pack, it was still a pleasant day.
That’s how I spent the next week with Stonefang. Killian and I ran and trained as my wolf in the morning, and then Cody did his best not to beat me into an early grave every afternoon. Any questions I had about the Hollow went unanswered, and I soon learned not to ask.
On my way back to Wolfe’s house one late afternoon, with the same firm instruction not to shift, I paused when Thalia called for me to wait.
“Everything okay?” I asked her when she caught up.
She pressed a small hard rectangle into my palm, glancing over her shoulder.
“It’s been almost two weeks,” she whispered quickly.
“I’d be climbing the walls if I didn’t speak to Cody.
Keep it short, and tell him not to out me to my husband.
” She started to turn away but paused. “Um…anything sexual, make sure you delete those messages. I don’t want to have to talk Cody off the ledge if he thinks I’m sexting the alpha. ”
“Wh-what?” I looked at the cell phone in my hand. “I don’t know how to use this,” I whispered back, but we heard Cody and Killian walking up the hill.
“You’re smart, you’ll figure it out.” She hurried away from me.
“Thalia!” I hissed after her, but it was no use, she didn’t look back.
A few minutes later, I sat on Wolfe’s bed, staring at the phone with a sense of trepidation. Did I want to talk to him? Yes. I pressed a button that looked like a speech bubble. Thalia had said delete messages. Was this a message?
A list of names I didn’t recognize appeared, with Cody at the top. I looked down the list, realizing that touching the screen made it scroll up and down, until I saw “alpha.”
My finger hovered over it, and then I pressed it, surprising myself. I read the last message sent some time ago, confirming a supply order had been made.
I saw the blank box with the faint word message in it. I pressed it, and a small gray block of letters appeared. Tentatively, I typed out hello.
An arrow appeared at the end of the box. I touched it.
I let out a small sound of surprise when I saw the word “sent.”
I watched, fascinated, as three dots appeared, each one pulsing in rhythm, and then I read the message.
Alpha: Is Rowen okay?
My heart skipped a beat that his first question was about me. Did that mean something? Slowly, I pressed the letters, thrilled at the ease of it.
Me: It’s me thalia gave me this she thought we might miss each other
I pressed the blue arrow.
Me: dont tell cody
There were no three dots, and I frowned. Had I done something wrong? I jumped when the phone rang, and Alpha appeared on the screen. I saw the options to accept or decline.
I hit accept. “Hello?”
“Princess.”