10. Zaire
Zaire
Another chunk of pallet collapses into the fire, sending sparks up and a wave of heat straight across the yard.
I take a couple of steps back before my skin can start crawling again, only for Elio to come with me like we’re attached somewhere neither of us can see.
His fingers hook through one of my belt loops while he presses his mouth against the side of my neck.
“If I stand over there much longer, I’m taking my clothes off in front of Carter.” His lips brush my skin when he talks, and he tugs once at my waistband like the threat has options.
I laugh and catch his wrist. “Please don’t. He’ll tell that story until we graduate.”
“He already has stories about my dick.”
“That is somehow not helping your argument.” I lean into Elio anyway, trying to keep my hands to myself. We haven’t had another incident since Tuesday but that doesn’t mean the three of us aren’t itching out of our skin for some reason.
I glance over to see Auden setting his beer on the patio table without taking another drink and looking toward the trees again. I’ve caught him doing it four or five times tonight.
The woods start right past the edge of the fraternity’s yard, thick enough that the light from the bonfire only makes it a few feet between the trunks.
There’s nothing out there that should be interesting, but my attention keeps drifting in the same direction anyway.
Every time I look, something in my chest pulls a little tighter.
Milo looks up through the smoke curling over the fire. “Moon’s fucking huge tonight.”
“Shut up,” Carter says immediately, pointing at him with his beer. “I’m not listening to you argue about whether it technically counts as full again.” A couple of the younger guys laugh, but two of them look over at us and take too long to look away.
Elio lifts his head from my neck and gives them a slow grin until one suddenly becomes very interested in whatever Carter is saying. “They’re staring again. I swear ever since someone caught Auden walking around the house all hairy, they think we really are werewolves.”
I just sigh, not wanting to get into that discussion again.
The three of us are basically convinced last Saturday fucked us up but we’re still not sure how.
Dax has given us nothing, so the next step is asking Khalil.
“They always stare.” I glance over long enough to catch the other one looking away too, then settle my attention back on Elio.
“Usually, we’re doing something worth staring at.” Elio hooks his fingers back through my belt loop and pulls me another step from the fire. “Right now, we’re just standing here looking good.”
Auden finally turns around, his eyes dragging over us before settling on Elio. “You’re sweating through your shirt.”
Elio looks down at himself once before shrugging. “Still look good.”
I snort, but my own hoodie is sticking to my shoulders enough that I grab the collar and pull it away from my throat. We’ve been gradually moving farther from the fire for the last twenty minutes, and somehow I’m hotter now than when I was sitting right beside it.
Auden rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “Are either of you fucking roasting?”
Elio looks at him, then at me. “Thank God. I thought it was just me.”
“We’re barely near the fire anymore but it still feels too close.” Auden glances toward the dark stretch beyond the yard. “It’ll be cooler away from everybody.”
Nobody pays much attention when the three of us slip away from the bonfire. Guys have been going in and out of the house all night, and us disappearing together stopped being interesting to our friends years ago unless we come back looking like we did something worth asking about.
The voices behind us fade after the first few trees. Smoke thins with them, and for about ten seconds the night air finally feels good against my face.
Then I breathe in to catch the scent of wet dirt, pine, and beer spilled somewhere back near the patio. Elio and Auden’s sweetened scents hit me next as I relax into them. “God, it’s so much better out here. Everything over there smells so fucking loud.”
Auden gives me a look. “That sentence doesn’t make sense.”
I turn to tell him to fuck off and realize he’s holding his glasses instead of wearing them. “Neither does you walking through the woods blind.”
“I’m not blind.”
“You walked into a trash can last month.”
“That was one time.” He slides his glasses on, stares ahead for a few seconds, then pulls them off again. His expression changes when he looks at the trees without them. “They’re making things worse.”
Elio steps around me. “What does that mean?”
“I can see better without them right now.” Auden folds the glasses carefully and slips them into his pocket, frowning toward the path ahead. “Which is a problem considering I’ve needed them since I was nine.”
Before either of us can answer, heat rolls through me hard enough that I suck in a breath. It starts low in my back and spreads beneath my skin, making the hoodie suddenly unbearable. “Take this off me,” I growl, frantically pulling at the fabric.
Elio grabs the hem as soon as I lift my arms and drags it over my head, nearly taking my shirt with it before he pulls that back down. He keeps the hoodie over one shoulder instead of giving it back.
Cool air hits my arms and does absolutely nothing. Actually, it makes it worse.
“Fuck.” I rub both hands over my skin, trying to get rid of the prickling sensation running across my shoulders.
Elio’s smile disappears. He’s flushed now too, his overgrowth of curls damp around his forehead while he tugs at his own shirt. “I can’t stay in this, Z. I feel like I’m going to crawl out of my skin.”
Auden comes closer and closes one hand around my elbow. His palm is almost as hot as mine. “Then we keep walking until it settles.”
I grumble about him not sweating out his clothes but follow him, needing something to concentrate on that isn’t the heat rolling through me. My nostrils flare as my dick thickens in my pants, thoughts of Khalil running through my head. “Seriously? This is bullshit.”
Elio laughs as I reach down to palm myself through the sensation, Auden ripping my hand away when I go for a second stroke. “Whatever it is, it always goes away after a little bit. Right?”
Fear moves through his eyes just as they flash with something animalistic.
I give in and keep walking, the three of us passing the spot where guys usually sneak off to smoke and keep going until the bonfire is little more than orange between the trunks.
The ground dips farther into the woods, leaves shifting beneath our shoes while the noises from the yard disappear behind us.
My right knee buckles and I catch myself against a tree before staring down at my leg, expecting to see something wrong. It looks exactly the same, but the joint feels too tight beneath my jeans, like something inside it shifted half an inch where it shouldn’t.
Then my teeth start hurting. “What the fuck?” I press my tongue against one of my canines and jerk it away when pain shoots through my jaw.
A strained sound comes from behind me as I turn and find Elio bent forward with both hands planted on his thighs. His curls have fallen across his face, and when I reach him, I catch his chin and lift his head.
His eyes stop me. I know exactly what Elio’s eyes look like. I know them sleepy, pissed off, laughing, drunk, glassy from sex, and narrowed right before he says something he knows is going to get him in trouble.
They’re dark brown.
They have never been gold.
“Elio.” My thumb moves beneath his eye before I can stop myself. “Your eyes are fucking glowing.”
“I can feel something happening to them.” He catches my wrist, breathing too fast. “And you should probably look at Auden before you start judging me.”
Auden steps close enough that I don’t need to ask. His amber eyes have gone brighter too, brighter than I’ve ever seen them.
Another wave of pressure tears down my spine, and I grab the tree again while my whole back tightens. Auden reaches for my shoulder as my leg shifts beneath me.
“Zaire, you’re shaking.”
“So are you, dickwad. Fuck! Something hurts. Everything hurts.”
He looks down at the hand on my arm. His fingers are trembling hard enough that he finally notices.
For the last week, we’ve laughed every time our searches brought up werewolves.
Elio sent me some stupid full-moon meme yesterday.
Auden spent twenty minutes explaining why unexplained strength didn’t mean any of us needed a flea collar, and I agreed because the other option was ridiculous.
Then I remember seeing Dax’s phone this morning. I straighten as much as I can. “You remember those pictures I told you I saw?”
Elio frowns. “The wolf ones?”
“There were two.” I rub my jaw, trying to work out the ache while I talk. “One had Dax and some guys I’ve seen around Khal’s house. Then he swiped, and there were wolves in almost the same place.”
Auden goes still beside me. “You said you thought it was edited.”
“I did.” I look back toward the direction of the house, even though we’ve gone far enough that I can’t see it anymore.
“One of the wolves had the same chain one of the guys was wearing. I figured Dax was fucking around with some app or something because the alternative sounded stupid.” I hiss as pain shoots down my right leg.
Elio stares at me, just as his hair becomes impossibly curlier. “You left out the matching jewelry.”
“Because I didn’t think they were turning into fucking wolves, Elio.”
Auden’s hand tightens on my arm. “Dax knew what questions to ask us, too. We’ve been trying to figure out what was going on and he’s been there every time.”
I drop to my knees and place my hands on the Earth floor as my spine cracks. “Holy fuck, we were all whining the night Khal fucked us. Like he had a knot. I don’t think all those creature stories were wrong.”
Elio laughs before it turns into a gasp. “Well, someone should have said that this part hurts. Ow!”