Chapter 45
Evie
Zane doesn’t leave my side all night. Not while we’re eating, not while we’re watching sports’ highlights with his roommates, and not while we pick up.
“Stay here tonight,” Zane says when it gets really late.
I consider it. I’m tired, and I don’t feel like making the trip back to campus.
More than that, I don’t know if I want to stay in my dorm room by myself. Not tonight, anyway.
“Okay,” I agree.
Zane nods. “I’ll take you over early.” He takes my hand. “Come on. Let’s get you set for bed.”
I tug my hand from his. “If I stay, I’m taking the couch.”
He turns around. I can tell he wants to argue, but he nods. “Okay.” He claims my hand again, and he leads me to his room where he digs out a pair of sweatpants. “Those tie around the waist.” Next he hands me a soft FMU t-shirt, but I hand it back to him.
“Can I have the one you’re wearing?” I surprise even myself. He pauses and eyes me a moment before he reaches back with one hand and pulls on the back of his shirt and pulls it over his head before handing it to me.
“Thanks.”
He grabs the shirt he originally offered me and pulls it over his head. “I’ll go out, so you can change.”
Once he leaves, I slip into his sweats, rolling them up at the waist because they’re so long.
I hold his shirt up to my nose and take a deep breath.
It smells like him, and the scent wraps around me.
I pull it on and relish the feel of it. Not only is it soft, but it’s still warm from his body heat.
There’s something so comforting about wearing his shirt and smelling his scent that helps center me tonight after feeling so off after seeing Jace.
I open his bedroom door and walk out to the living room.
He’s already got a sheet on the couch. “Say the word, and you can have my—” his words trail off when he turns to look at me.
He takes a deep breath. “You can have my bed if you want it.”
“This is fine.” I help him finish setting up the couch. “Thanks, Zane. For everything.”
He turns to me and wraps me in his arms. “You don’t need to thank me for anything.”
I find myself clinging a little tighter to him than I usually do. I just really feel off tonight. Seeing Jace really bothered me more than I thought it would. Knowing Zane has to be exhausted from his game, I force myself to pull away. “Sleep well.”
He leans forward and cups my jaw with his large hands.
“You too.” And then his lips touch mine.
It’s gentle and soft and over almost before it’s begun.
My eyes are still closed when he pulls away.
“I better leave while I still can.” He runs a hand over my hair and then leaves the room without another word.
I settle on the couch. I hear the guys for a little bit, but eventually, it quiets down.
I know Quint and Zane are exhausted from their game, and Slate crashed on the couch when he got home from his game.
I only know he had a game because he told Zane how many goals he scored.
One. I’m not sure how long I lie awake, staring at the ceiling.
I try not to think about Jace, but my mind keeps going to him.
I’ve moved on, and I don’t want to live in that fear again.
But as hard as I try not to think about him, my mind keeps going there.
Why was he at the game? He purposefully let me see him, but he didn’t talk to me or approach me.
Why? What’s he trying to accomplish? And then I think about how they turned into those black awful creatures, like a wolf but also not.
My breathing speeds up. Jace’s smirk flashes before my eyes, and my stomach turns.
I hear something hit the outside door, and I freeze.
My panic threatens to take over me. There’s another sound at the door.
Before I even realize what I’m doing, I throw the covers back and rush to Zane’s room.
“Zane.” My voice is a panicked whisper. “There’s something out there. ”
He’s in front of me a moment later, his hands on my arms. “Stay here. I’ll go check it out.”
“No, wait.” I grab his arms. “Don’t go out there. If it’s Jace or Sam, then it’s not safe.”
He gently pries my hands from his arms. “It’s okay, Evie.”
“No. You don’t understand. They’re dangerous, Zane. They’re...terrifying.”
“I’m just going to get a look.” He’s gone a moment later, and I don’t know what to do with myself.
I walk over to his bed and sit. I hear the murmur of voices and know that at least one other guy is awake now.
A few minutes later, Zane enters the room.
I can feel his presence, even if I didn’t see his shadow.
He turns on the light, and I blink in the brightness.
When I look at him again, my breath catches in my chest. He’s shirtless, only wearing black athletic pants.
He crosses the room in two strides, and I stand up to meet him.
I lift my head. “Was there something out there?”
His eyes meet mine. “Yes.”
“What was it?”
“We’re not sure yet. Slate’s tracking it down.”
“Do you think it was Jace?”
His eyes don’t leave mine. “I’m not sure.” His hand reaches out and holds my face tenderly. “You need to know, Evie, that you are safe with me. Always. I will never let anything happen to you.”
I don’t look away from him. “If you go out there and track them down, I want to go with you. I don’t want you to face them alone.”
Zane’s face goes tender. “Baby, it’s my job to protect you, not the other way around.”
“I’m not going to let something happen to you, Zane.”
He gives me a soft smile. “Come here.” He tugs me forward and pulls me into his arms. “I love you,” he says against my hair.
I stare at him. “I don’t think you understand, Zane. They’re dangerous.”
His eyes darken. “I understand more than you know, Love.” His hands curl around my face. “But I will keep you safe.” He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but Slate appears in the doorway. Zane kisses my temple. “Why don’t you sleep in my bed? I won’t be in here for a while.”
He disappears with Slate. I debate a moment and then follow him out to the living room.
Four sets of eyes turn my way. I swallow at the sight of four obviously fit men staring at me.
All of them are only wearing pants. But my eyes drift to Zane.
He’s just a step above everybody else. He walks over to me and wraps his arms around me, drawing me into the group.
There’s something about the way they’re all looking at me.
I pull away from Zane. “What’s going on?
” When Reid, Quint, and Slate all turn to Zane, I do the same.
“What aren’t you telling me, Zane? I know there’s more going on. ”
He turns to me, his face assessing before he nods. “Come with me. I want to show you something outside.”
“Okay.” He turns to Reid and nods his head to the back door. Zane turns on the outside light and keeps hold of my hand as we step outside. When we get outside, he releases my hand and puts his hands on my shoulders. Reid steps out quietly. “I’m a wolf shifter, Evie.”
The air is sucked from my lungs, and I can’t quite compute what he’s saying. “Is this because of what I told you about what happened in the woods? That’s not funny, Zane.”
Zane looks over at his best friend. “Will you help me?” Reid nods, and Zane turns to me.
“He’s going to show you. I’ll be right here the whole time.
” He walks over to me and steps behind me, putting his chest to my back.
He drops his big hands on my shoulders and runs his thumbs over my collarbones.
The movement is soothing, and I find myself reacting to his calming presence.
“Okay, Reid.” I stare at Reid, wondering what in the world is happening.
“I’m right here,” he says right against my ear.
Reid turns away and pulls off his shirt. When he puts his hands on his pants, I turn around and put my head in Zane’s chest. “Why’s he stripping down?”
“Give him a minute,” Zane says near my ear.
I hear the rustle of clothing, and then I hear something else.
Then there’s only silence. Zane’s hand comes up to the back of my neck, and he kneads it gently.
“Reid’s in his wolf form now.” Zane’s voice is so low and calm, I almost don’t even register the words.
When I do, I suck in a breath. “What?”
“Look,” Zane says softly. I almost don’t turn around.
Almost. I lift my eyes to Zane’s and notice his eyes are lighter in the dark; they’re almost glowing.
“I will never let anything hurt you,” he promises in a low voice.
I turn around slowly. Somehow, I already know what I’m going to see before I do.
I force myself to turn, even as fear courses through me.
I'm picturing the dark, horrifying creatures I saw in the woods that night with Sam and Jace. And yet, when I finally turn around, that’s not what I see.
I see a beautiful wolf, not the ugly, awful creatures I saw in the woods.
I push back against Zane, but he’s solid behind me.
His hands drop to either side of my waist. “You’re safe. He would never hurt you.”
For some reason, my mind latches onto that. “Why?” I ask, though I should be asking how this is even possible.
“Because you’re my mate. He knows that and will only ever protect you.”
My mind doesn’t really compute what he’s saying. “How is this even possible?”
“Reid is in my pack,” Zane says softly. “My dad is the alpha of our pack. There are about two hundred of us in our pack. All of us are shifters, meaning we’re half human, half wolf.
We maintain complete control of our wolf and our minds when we shift, and that makes us different than wolves out in the wild.
We keep our wolves hidden from the human world for safety's sake, or we would be hunted for science or killed because of the threat humans think we are.”
I listen to what Zane’s saying, even as I keep my eyes on the wolf. “Is it, or he, I guess...dangerous?”
“Not to you, but to a threat? Yes. Reid or any of us in our wolf form are predators and are deadly to any that threaten our pack or our mates.”
Mates. There’s that word again, but I don’t ask about it yet. “And you turn into a wolf too?”
“Yes. Do you want to see my wolf?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly.
“Okay. There’s no pressure, Evie.”
I stare at the wolf a little longer before I finally gain the courage to ask what I want to. “So, what were those creatures in the woods that night?”
I can feel his muscles tighten around me, but he keeps his hold gentle.
“My father believes they’re skinwalkers.
” I swallow because that sounds absolutely terrible.
“As wolves, we get our power to transition from human to wolf and back again from our wolf and the power of our pack. Skinwalkers are humans that get power from dark magic to empower them to shift into those creatures. They’re not real wolves; they’re a manifestation of dark magic. ”
A full body shiver rolls through me. “And Sam and Jace are those...skinwalkers?”
“I believe so.”