Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
My skin tightened and my muscles rippled as my body fought the shift.
The need to protect what was mine overpowered all common sense.
Between the guys questioning me about my relationship with Laney and Adan coming in here like he did, it was too much for me.
I took several breaths, fighting for control.
I didn’t want to scare Laney. Not after the perfect time we’d just shared.
“Rowan?” Laney asked, probably wondering if I was okay.
This was not how I wanted to spend the moments after we’d just had sex. We should be together. My nails slid back to normal, and I rubbed my face to hide my eyes, hoping they weren’t glowing in the darkness of the room.
The overpowering need to know consumed me, so, against my better judgment, I asked, “Did he see you naked?” If he did, I’d rip his eyes out.
“Adan?” Her brows pulled together, confused. “I don’t think so.” She clutched the blanket in her hand, covering her breasts.
I needed to calm the fuck down and make sure everything between us was fine. Hopefully, she didn’t hear any of the bullshit Danny was spewing downstairs. I went over and climbed into bed. “They shouldn’t be questioning me,” I mumbled to myself, lying on my back and staring up at the ceiling.
“They’re your friends,” Laney said, reaching out and touching my arm. “They should be able to speak their minds. It doesn’t mean you have to do what they say, but you should be able to listen.”
My muscles immediately relaxed from her touch. I turned my head, observing her. She had no idea what I was. What I was capable of. If she knew and understood I was the alpha, she’d know how offended and upset I was right now.
My packmates saw Laney as a half-breed, a weakness, and were already starting to push and challenge me.
It was only a matter of time before this came to a head.
I needed to assert myself, my position in this pack, and put an end to it.
Just not when Laney was anywhere nearby.
I couldn’t risk her getting hurt in the process.
It was time to tell her what I was. What she was half of. The problem was my own fear of telling her. I didn’t know if she’d be receptive to it yet. However, I couldn’t put it off much longer.
“I don’t understand why your friends are so against us being together,” she admitted. “Is it because I’m not fully like you, or is there more to it? Do they not like me? Or do they think I’m not good enough for you?” She moved her arm to my chest, drawing circles with her pointer finger.
“Let’s talk about it tomorrow,” I said. “It’s late, and we need to get an early start in the morning.”
“How early?” she asked. “I rather enjoy being in your bed. I’d thought perhaps we could stay here all day.”
I chuckled, liking the sound of that. “As great as that sounds, I have plans.” I encircled her wrist and pulled her glorious body against mine.
Thank fuck she was still naked. I could get used to this.
Kissing her, I wished she was strong enough to shift.
I’d love to run through the forest with her at my side.
Then we’d be together completely. In every way possible.
Just having her in my arms relaxed me further. “I’m sorry about all that,” I whispered against her lips. I hated that my friends had come in right after. It was her first time, and I wanted her to have good memories of us, not what dicks my friends were being.
“It’s fine,” she said, resting her head on my chest.
Wrapping my arms around her, I held her tightly against me, never wanting to let go.
The next morning, I woke up early and got everything ready for the day. Once the truck was packed, I crawled onto the bed, kissing Laney to wake her up.
“It’s too early,” she muttered. “I’m still sleeping.”
She was beautiful lying on my bed, her dark hair splayed across my pillow. I could get used to having her here and waking up with her every day.
She opened one eye. “You’re still there?”
I pulled the blanket back. “It’s time to get up. Breakfast is waiting.”
She sat up. “You should have started with that.” She peered toward the window. “Is it even light out?”
I chuckled. “Yes, it’s light out. The blinds are closed.”
“Well, okay then.” She eyed me. “Breakfast, you said?”
“Yup.” As tempting as it was to kiss every inch of her, I refrained. I wanted to get out of the house before the guys woke up. I didn’t want anyone tagging along with us. Plus, the hike was long. If we didn’t get on the trail by ten, we’d never make it there and back before dark.
Laney went into the bathroom. She came out fifteen minutes later dressed in leggings, a tank, and a sweatshirt tied around her waist. “Can I borrow a hat?” she asked. “I forgot mine.”
I gave her one of my old baseball hats. Just when I thought she couldn’t get any sexier, she did.
We quietly made our way downstairs and outside to my truck. Driving down the street, I handed her a tumbler.
“What’s in here?” she asked, opening the top.
“Hot green tea.” Mine had coffee.
“You do pay attention,” she said more to herself than to me. “Good sign.”
I tried to pay attention to all things where Laney was concerned.
I drove us past the school and to the highway heading north.
Laney began drilling me on all things rugby.
She wanted to know about the different positions, how points were scored, and timeouts.
She asked about the different positions I’d played, which ones I preferred, and if I’d ever gotten hurt.
If she noticed my cuts and scrapes from last night were gone, she didn’t mention it.
Thirty minutes later, I pulled into the south parking lot for the Wellington Forest Green Sage Trail. This was the hike I wanted to take. I parked the truck and opened my door.
“Wait,” Laney said, looking around. “What about breakfast?” She had a panicked look in her eyes.
I reached behind the seat and pulled out a paper bag. “I got us bagel sandwiches. Come on, let’s go.” I grabbed my backpack which had the rest of the supplies we’d need for today.
Laney hopped out of the truck and joined me as we headed for the start of the trail.
“Have you done this one before?” she asked.
“I have. It’s one of my favorites.” I glanced at the sun, noting the time. We were right on schedule.
We took the trail, winding our way between the thick trees, the smell of pine heavy in the air. Being out here like this always helped clear my head.
Laney started rapid-firing questions at me. Things like my favorite book, food, movie, song. She never ceased to have something she wanted to know. Most were simple and didn’t require any thought.
After about a mile, the trail passed a small waterfall that fed into a lake. I led Laney over to a fairly flat rock so we could sit and eat our breakfast.
“This is pretty romantic, Ward,” Laney said as she took a seat on the rock. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
I sat next to her and took out the bagel sandwiches, handing one to her. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”
She bumped her shoulder against mine. “Then I guess it’s a good thing we’re spending the day together, because I want to know everything there is to know about you.”
Her words sent a thrill of excitement through me. I felt the same way about her.
“I’ve never been on a hike before,” she admitted.
“How is that possible?” She had a smidge of cream cheese on the corner of her mouth. I reached forward, wiping it off with my thumb.
She shrugged. “My mom doesn’t like nature. She prefers her lab. My dad is always working or on call.”
Then it was a good thing I’d brought her out here. Even if she didn’t shift, she still had wolf blood in her. To deny that part of herself from being out in nature, where it belonged, seemed cruel.
As we ate, I told her about a few of the camping trips I’d taken with family and friends through the years.
“The worst one was when Jacob, Danny, Seth, and I decided to go camping on our own so we could drink without our parents knowing. We were loaded up with so much beer that we didn’t take enough food with us.
When we got there, we pitched our tents and started drinking.
We were all drunk off our asses. I woke up naked on the ground about thirty feet from my tent.
To this day, I still don’t know what we did. ”
A laugh escaped her lips. “Sorry,” she said, trying to stifle it. “I can picture the four of you doing that. How old were you?”
“Seventeen. And our parents found out. We were in so much trouble.”
“How’d they know?”
I scratched the back of my neck. “We came home reeking of alcohol. My dad went through my truck and found our trash. Looking back, we should have stopped somewhere to unload all the empty cans. Lesson learned.”
We’d finished eating, so I gathered our trash and put it in my backpack. Standing, I held out my hand to Laney. She took it, and I pulled her to her feet.
We continued on the trail.
“Why’d you choose to major in agricultural business?” she asked.
“My family owns a large farm,” I said. “I plan to help my dad run it, and I’ll eventually take it over one day. I’m also minoring in animal science.”
She was quiet for some time, probably wondering about my life choices.
Which weren’t actually choices so much as a path laid out decades ago by my great-great-grandfather.
He’d wanted to ensure the survival and safety of our pack, so he bought hundreds of acres in a remote part of New York.
He established a large farm which has been handed down from generation to generation.
The farm had grown so much that we were able to sell some of our livestock and food to local stores, making a decent living.
My family had always been well off financially.
It was now my father’s duty to make sure our pack was taken care of.
One day, it would be mine. The enormity of the responsibility felt like a weight on my shoulders.