Chapter 37
The next three days go by like watching a tree grow.
Stark only talks to me when we’re at dinner.
He never comes to bed. Jocko has been giving us both space ever since I snapped at him yesterday, after he told me when our date would be, since Stark couldn’t be bothered to talk to me himself.
The days without Stark’s touch now seem to bug me as much as not turning—because I needed more annoying daily body sensations.
On date day, I wait out on the back deck for him. He was in the shower while I got dressed.
Jocko walks out of the forest in his wolf form and turns “I heard you two are going on a real date.” He stands below the deck steps.
Pink fills my cheeks. “We are. I hope he likes it.”
“Aloka, the man is obsessed with you.”
“Not lately.” I blow out a breath.
“One of the pack families brought up your mating when we were looking today. I guess it travels fast when it’s him, but you added to it like fire. They made a comment about how he should eliminate you from the pack. If I wasn’t there, and Mitus, he would’ve killed the guy.”
“Well, I’m glad you were there to stop him.” Irritation rings in my voice. Stark hasn’t touched or looked at me in days. Including a full moon, which I spent alone.
“And? Do you know anyone else who kills pack members for their mate?”
I would.
“Okay, fine. He still likes me.”
“I’m glad you’re here, if it matters. And be nice to him. I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know he doesn’t get worked up over small things. You two will be more than okay.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you later.”
Jocko disappears inside, and I wait.
I sense tingles on the back of my neck just before Stark walks out dressed in a suit. Damn. I gawk at his look. I want to tear it off him.
“I’d like this look to stay, yet . . .” I move off the stairs so he can see I’m in a pair of runners and shorts. I could give up on the whole plan and take him back to bed.
“You asked for a date.”
“A different type of date. You might want to go change.”
He spins back toward the door.
This is the right thing to do. I force a deep breath. No need to panic. Hopefully after today, he still will be mine—or at least I’ll be with Mom and Pratt.
Stark comes back out dressed down in a pair of joggers and a black T-shirt. Even now, he still looks perfect.
I pick up the backpack I prepped earlier and swing it on.
“What type of date is this then?”
“You’ll see. It’s a long walk—or run, if you’re up for it.”
“I could use another run today.” He twists in a stretch.
“Okay, then let’s go.”
I lead off for the trails on the right side of the house.
A run might help me too. We run in silence for a long while.
The birds chirp in the afternoon sun. I miss when he used to ask me questions with no regards to if I wanted to answer or not.
I skip over a fallen tree and veer to the left.
I’ve only been here once. The river still sounds a little bit away.
He’s probably confused about our near three hours of running.
My lungs are fired up, and without snow on the ground, it’s easier to hide—not that I need to hide that from him.
When we hit the water’s edge, I slow and stop.
“The river?” He stops beside me.
“No, I thought maybe a water break.”
I hand him a bottle and grab myself another. The water cools my whole body, and I know it’s going to be fine. He might be mad, but either way, no one came to hunt me down when he saw my hair, or when I cured his stomach, which seems like so long ago now.
“Here.” He hands me back the water bottle and looks out down the river. “How much longer?”
“Um.” Not long on four feet. “Maybe two hours?”
“Okay, let’s go. We’ll be coming home in the dark.”
I nod and turn to follow the river. When we hit the widest spot where the water flows heavy, I search for the opening in the trees.
Low bushes hide the trail entrance and scrape at my bare legs as I climb over them.
Stark ducks a few times. I weave off and on the path to avoid low branches.
The sound of water quiets as we run away from the river.
When we reach the top of a cliff, I stop.
“This?” he asks.
“No.” I climb down the side between two trees and start walking carefully along the slope in a zigzag. The sound of water starts up again.
“Could you, like, talk to me?” Six hours of silence with him has been awful.
“About?”
“Anything.”
“Why are you taking me down a cliffside?”
Such a good question.
My hand grips a branch on the steep slope. “So, you’ve never been here before?”
“No, I don’t explore outside of pack business.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
My foot catches a root and Stark catches me.
“Thanks.”
He lets go and shakes his hand.
“Do you get tingles?” I ask.
“Tingles?”
“Like when we touch. It’s happened since I met you. Now it’s faint when we’re in the same room. I used it to find you.”
His face changes, and a small smile hints at the corners of his lips. “I didn’t know you felt them too.”
“It freaked me right out, actually.”
“Me too.” He laughs, and it fills me with happiness.
“Why didn’t you give Graden the books?” I ask.
The sound of water rushing grows the lower we get. My hands cling to each thin tree trunk as we walk.
“They don’t need to read them.”
“That’s it?”
“Did you think it was something else?”
“I wasn’t sure.” I lower myself and leap down onto the rocks below.
“How’d you find this?”
“Unlike you, I’ve had a lot of time to wander.” Years of time.
We step out of the trees, and Stark gasps.
I smile. The waterfall isn’t ginormous, but a rock path goes right behind it.
I grab his hand and walk him toward the mist. Under the falls, the noise bounces off the rocks as water flows fast over the edge from above into a pool.
Farther away, the water calms and leaks into a small stream.
After Stark takes it all in, we walk past the falls, out of the noise, and onto a large rock ledge. I take a seat and pull out the snacks I brought.
“I can’t say I expected this for our first date.” He takes a bite out of the sandwich I hand him.
“You’re mad at me. I wanted to do something.” I keep my eyes on my own food, knowing his are on my face.
“I’m not,” he defends. It’s not much of a defense.
“What would you call not talking or sleeping with me then?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good answer.” I poke his shoulder. We sit in silence, mist filling the air a few feet away. I lean back and let the sun hit my face.
“It’s a lot, with the assault on the humans, which I’ve learned you were much more a part of than you said, and other things. You don’t talk to me,” he says.
“You like rules,” I say.
“I like you safe.”
Will he still like me after this?