Chapter Fifteen
Being with Tabian in his element was so eye-opening.
This was the most capable man she’d ever met.
He’d been a patient instructor for her and Bay as they’d set up camp and given them tasks off camera.
The cameras dotted the campsite. There was one with a tripod farther back that captured Tabian building the tent, tables, woodburning stove, camp chairs and the fire.
There was one tied to a nearby sapling, one mounted in the tent, and one in the bed of the truck, where it had filmed Tabian cooking them dinner—steak smothered with mushrooms, carrots and a vegetable and noodle dish that was fighting to be her favorite food now.
The cameras had been hard to get used to for a bit, because she had it in her mind that she and Bay needed to be hidden, but Tabian was comfortable talking to them, or drawing them in to see something, or taste food.
He said he could edit anything out that he wanted to, and so as the hours had passed, she and Bay had settled into a rhythm ghosting in and out of frame.
Tabian was so confident in everything he did.
Bay had fiddled with a drone for an hour, and any questions he had about it, Tabian knew the answers without even looking at the instructions.
When Bay had the hang of flying the thing, Tabian asked, “Do you want to come out and find firewood with me? You can learn what wood to look for and use the saw.”
Bay glanced over at Tru. “Is it okay if I go?”
She smiled and nodded. “Go have fun. I’m going to get ready for bed.”
Tabian approached with strong, powerful strides and pulled her in, kissed her cheek. “We will be right through there,” Tabian said, pointing. “We won’t go too far. Call out if you need anything.”
“I can Change fast,” Bay assured her. “I can be back here in five seconds, tops.”
She grinned. “You used to say that when you first met me. Do you remember?”
He nodded but then ducked his gaze and headed toward the woods behind Tabian. “Five seconds,” he reminded her. “I bet Tabian could be here in two.”
She stood there with the mushiest feeling in her chest, watching Tabian lead Bayen out into the woods.
She trusted him with the boy. Twice, she’d seen Tabian reprimand Bay for his attitude, and instead of his wolf snarling in his throat, Bay had listened and adjusted.
Maybe the boy had needed a firm-handed male werewolf to guide him all along. She’d done her best, but she was soft, and understanding, and never wanted to upset him. Tabian didn’t care about that. He would call out his shit, but in a soft-spoken way that urged Bay to listen, not to argue with him.
How was Tabian just naturally good at everything?
He was the sexiest man alive already, but now he was bonding with Bay?
There was something so innately attractive about a man who had nothing to gain from effort with an attitude-riddled teenager, but who sat in the uncomfortable moments and gave the kiddo a chance to get them out of it.
She’d just watched it all evening as they’d set up camp and eaten dinner, and she was in awe.
Tabian was a man who just knew what to do, and because of that, she got to relax around him.
She didn’t have to be on the lookout, or worried about saying something uncool, or in fight-or-flight mode.
She could just ease herself into a peaceful moment and appreciate it, and goodness it had been so long since she’d known peace.
To the chatter of the boys in the woods, she dressed out of camera-range and pulled on a thick hoodie over her night clothes.
She shoved her feet into a pair of old off-brand wool-lined warm boots and made her way to the cooler.
She grabbed a pair of beers for her and Tabian and an orange soda for Bay and set them on the table near the fire.
She dragged her and Bay’s camp chairs from the outer edges of the camera space.
He’d said he was turning off all the cameras soon so they could just enjoy the rest of the night.
In town, her habit in quiet moments would be to grab her phone and check emails, or social media, or messages.
She did it to avoid her own thoughts, but out here, she denied the urge.
She sank into her chair and draped a blanket over her legs, arched her head back and looked up at the sky.
It was almost dark, and she could see two stars up in the sky.
She bet God was going to put on a show in the sky tonight when it was full dark.
There was no light pollution out here to hide the stars.
The echo of laughter reached her ears, and the smile that stretched her face felt so good.
This was the moment.
It was the moment when she knew everything was going to be okay. It was the reset moment. She and Bay had been like a tea kettle on the verge of whistling with heat but tonight had been like taking them both off the stove and letting their temperature return to normal.
Tabian was doing this.
She knew her heart, and she knew it was too soon, but she loved him already. How terrifying, after everything she had been through with Zane that she fall in love so quickly like this, but there was nothing she could do about it but run.
She didn’t want to run.
She wanted to lean into this feeling and absorb every ounce of good mojo Tabian provided them with and hope she could repay him in the same way.
There was something so peaceful about quiet woods, dotted with the laughter of her boys, where everything was just…okay.
After everything, her life was okay.
She’d found her place after all, and she knew she was just at the beginning of it, if Tabian kept building with her.
There was something so comforting in knowing that.
Sure, they might go back home, and the tension could rebuild again.
She could C-minus this entire stepmom gig again and Bay could go back to his love-hate relationship with having her tell him what to do.
But for tonight? For tonight, all was well, and she was learning to sink deep into the embrace of all-is-well moments.
When they returned, Bay was hungry again, for the fourth time tonight. They set armloads of firewood near the big tent and Tru stood to dig through the grocery bags and find the marshmallows.
“What are you doing?” Tabian asked quietly as he approached.
“Helping?”
He slipped his fingertips to her hip and leaned down, kissed her lips gently, and twitched his head back toward the chair. “I saw that smile when you were just sitting there. Relax. We’ll take care of the rest.”
“Okay,” she said softly as she watched him head back to join Bayen at the back of the truck. Why had that made her so emotional? Tabian just took weight off her plate without even trying and was letting her keep her peaceful moment.
Oh, she loved him.
Slowly, Tru sank back into her chair and opened her drink, took a sip.
When Bay and Tabian returned to the fire, Tabian stoked it and added a couple more logs. Sparks flew into the air, and crackled and popped as the smoke billowed straight into the sky. She’d missed the smell of earth and campfires, and the sound of frogs.
But most of all…most of all…she’d missed the sound of Bayen’s laughter. He’d been chuckling all night at Tabian’s one-liners. He’d even dished it back a couple of times.
Out here, his wolf seemed settled. His eyes hadn’t lightened all night, and his smile was easy.
“How long has it been since you camped with anyone?” she asked him curiously.
Bay was stabbing marshmallows with a thick piece of metal wire. “Uuuh, since my dad.”
“A year?”
He cleared his throat. “I should’ve specified. Since my dad took me when I was little.”
Tabian’s smile faded and he lowered his attention to opening the chocolate packaging. “Did he teach you a lot?”
“He smoked a bunch of dope and refused to put up the tent my mom had sent with us. We were near a dock, and he made me sleep on this little boat. I got motion sickness.” He held his marshmallows over the fire.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had smores.
I’ve seen them on tv though. I always wanted to try them.
My dad fed me a package of saltine crackers, and I drank out of the pond.
I had a stomachache for a week after the trip. ”
“Geez,” Tru uttered, regretting that she’d even asked the question. “I’m sorry.”
No wonder he was having fun here.
Bayen shrugged. “Doesn’t make me sad anymore. He made me tough.” He blew the flame off his burning marshmallows. “Good for him.”
Tabian ghosted her with a glance and offered her a half-smile. “Self-taught man,” Tabian said lightly. “Nice.”
Bayen snorted. “The first time I tried to build my own tent, I did it before my Change. I had waited too long and I didn’t feel good. You know that achy feeling you get in the pit of your stomach if you’re on edge and holding the wolf back too long?” he asked Tabian.
“Yep. Sucks.”
“Totally sucks. In my head, I thought I needed my tent to be built so my wolf would come back to my little make-shift den and not dump me somewhere in the woods. It took me two hours to build the stupid thing.”
Tabian laughed. “We’ve all been there.”
“Yeah, and then I accidentally Changed while I was all pissed off at the tent, and the wolf ate it.”
“Ate it?” Tru asked.
“Seriously. My dinner was a big patch of tent fabric. And the asshole wolf didn’t bring me back to the den. I Changed back three miles away and had to hike back. Naked.”
Tabian threw his head back and laughed. “That sucks.”
“I was like checking the sun for directions and guessing. I thought I was going to be lost in the woods forever.”
“What did you change after that?” Tabian asked.
“I stopped making my tent beforehand. I just Changed whenever I got there and checked surroundings, and then sometimes the wolf would bring me back to my supplies, and sometimes not. I learned the art of the naked hike.”