CHAPTER 5 #2
Her expression shifted then, a mischievous twinkle in her eye that I’d learned to be wary of long ago. That distrust only deepened when she waggled her brows at me. “I noticed you both slept out there. What’s that saying? Gentleman in the street…?”
“Will you lower your voice?” I said, on the verge of panic.
She grinned wider, waiting for an answer. Her silence seemed like a threat.
“Nothing happened,” I said. “We talked. A lot. And then fell asleep fully clothed on top of the covers.”
“Ooh, kinky.”
I clamped a hand over my mouth and smothered my laughter, both grateful that she’d lightened the mood and thankful that my relationship with her had always been somewhat ridiculous.
Half an hour later, I was ready to go. Mom and I had packed in record time, working together to sort through the essentials.
We let the conversation drop early on, but only because I promised her that I would call on the trip down so we could have a more open discussion, free from the threat of being overheard by Dad or Michael.
“That was quick,” Michael said when we hauled my stuff downstairs.
“I hadn’t really unpacked from school yet,” I told him.
“Is this everything?” He looked from my duffel bag of clothes to my two boxes, one of which was filled with shoes, the other schoolbooks.
I nodded. “Everything else can stay here cluttering up their house for now.”
“I believe I took more luggage on my last vacation.”
“Well, yeah, business suits take up a lot of space, so that makes sense.”
“I didn’t wear suits on vaca—” His eyes narrowed when he realized I was teasing.
Mom and Dad chuckled.
I shot him a grin, swung my duffel over my shoulder, and headed out to the truck.
Michael joined me a moment later, the boxes stacked in his arms, showing no sign of strain beneath their combined weight. Guess he was still a shifter after all.
“I think everything should fit in the cab with me,” I said. A wall of gray clouds hung low over the mountains, and the smell of rain permeated the air. I didn’t want my stuff to get soaked.
He set the boxes on the passenger seat and closed the door. Something about the way he lingered made me feel like he wanted to say something.
“What is it?” I asked.
He leveled his gaze at me. “Are you an alpha?”
Uh-oh. I had hoped to avoid this conversation for as long as possible. I shook my head.
He lifted a hand and brushed the air in front of me, reminding me of Audrey. “Then why does your power feel like this even when you’re relatively calm? Last night, in the crowd, I could pick it out like a beacon.”
I sighed. Might as well be open. Starting our relationship off with lies would only come back to bite me in the ass. “It’s a long story. One I’m not ready to tell you yet.”
He dropped his hand and nodded. “Understood. But you should know, the arrival of a werewolf packing such a punch may attract unwelcome attention in the city.”
“I’m used to it. This past semester, I couldn’t turn a corner in Amherst without bumping into a witch who just happened to be there.”
“The witches of Amherst are quite aggressive, I’ve heard.”
I nodded. “They got so annoying that I was thinking of completing my degree online rather than put up with them anymore. Is it that bad in the city?”
“No one will trouble you so long as you remain in our territory. The coven controls Cambridge, however, so if you decide to attend classes there, we may need to formally request a special dispensation if you’re to pass unharried in their quarter.”
Alexa, please translate that into modern vernacular, I thought, but kept my smart-ass comment to myself. I didn’t know him well enough to tease him 24/7 yet.
“I guess we can worry about crossing that bridge when we get there,” I said.
“That we can. Are you nearly ready?”
There was an unsettled quality in the bond.
Impatience? He felt like he itched to be on his way, and I found it a little infectious.
The sooner we got to Boston, the sooner we could break the news to his family and try to settle into some semblance of normalcy.
Whatever our new normal would look like.
“I’m ready,” I told him.
Saying goodbye to my parents proved harder than expected. Mom and I both cried. Dad hugged me so hard it was like being at the chiropractor.
“Thank you again for your hospitality,” Michael said. “And for your patience and understanding. I will never forget them.” He spoke like he felt he owed my parents a great debt. Like a knight promising a hallowed boon to common folk.
“You’re welcome,” Dad said, reaching out to shake Michael’s hand.
They released each other, and Dad wrapped an arm around Mom’s shoulders. The mingled smell of their anxiety and stress lessened some with the contact. Maybe over time Michael and I would overcome our current level of uneasiness and likewise find comfort in such casual touches.
Mom met my eyes. “You both have a place to stay here, anytime.”
“I know. I love you,” I said.
“I love you, too.”
Michael and I said our goodbyes and left.
We’d agreed earlier that I would follow him down to the city. He drove with great care, an abundance of caution for the cars around us, and at the speed of an octogenarian. At this pace, it would take three hours to reach Boston, but at least that left me plenty of time for phone calls.
I dialed Mom first.
“What do you guys really think of him?” I asked her.
“Hang on, I’m just walking out the door now.”
“I want to talk to her, too!” Dad yelled in the background.
“Later. She and I need to have some girl talk,” Mom told him.
I heard the door shut and the wind pick up as she sped away from the house.
“Okay, good now,” she said a few minutes later.
“So? Thoughts?”
“He’s not who we would have chosen for you, but then the Goddess knows better than us, so She must have paired you with such a stuffy wolf for a reason.”
“He’s so polite, Mom. I think I might suffocate beneath the sheer weight of his respectability.”
She chuckled. “Don’t dim yourself for him. Be the incorrigible Layla we know and love. If ever there was a man in need of a woman to upend his boring life, it’s Michael.”
“In his defense, there’s a lot more going on under the surface than he lets on. And he’s not entirely lacking in the humor department. I’ve felt a few hints of it over the bond.”
“Interesting. It didn’t really show in his scent. And his face sure didn’t give anything away.”
“I know. He works so hard to mask everything, but it’s there. Maybe he’ll open up more with time. He managed to make me laugh last night, when it was just the two of us, so there’s hope.”
“Did he make you anything else last night?” she asked, innuendo heavy in her tone.
“I told you, nothing physical happened between us. Well, okay, we did try holding hands, but it felt like sticking my fingers in battery acid, so it was pretty short-lived.”
“Battery acid, huh? In a good way, or a bad way?”
“I have no idea how, but kind of in a good way?”
“Trust me, I get it. The first time your father and I slept together, it felt like I disintegrated on a cellular level.”
I gagged. “Too much, Mom.”
“My brain short-circuited.”
“Mom!”
“I lost math for three days.”
I clutched the steering wheel and dry-heaved.
“I’m just saying that everything is intense at first, and it gets worse before it gets better,” she said.
That sobered me right up. “Great.”
“Be careful not to let the bond confuse you. Sit down and set some boundaries. And try not to jump into bed together before you’re fully ready.”
“I don’t plan to,” I said.
“Are you even attracted to him? I couldn’t tell from your scent.”
“That’s because I’ve been keeping any thoughts like that under lock and key.
I do think he’s good-looking. And yes, I’m attracted to him, but…
not in an entirely sexual way? It’s more akin to antagonism.
Like, he’s so put together that I want to shove him off balance.
Get under his skin a little to see the wolf hiding beneath all the layers of human refinement he’s draped himself in. ”
“Be careful. You know better than anyone else that sometimes coping mechanisms are all that holds a person together.”
“Good point. I’ll try not to push him too hard until I know him better.”
“How are you doing otherwise? Boston is a big city filled with some seriously dangerous creatures.”
“It’s more the sensation overload I’m worried about right now. Living on the outskirts of Amherst was a struggle. All those college kids filled with hormones and alcohol. I’m guessing a city is going to be much worse.”
Mom barked a laugh. “Why do you think your father and I never leave the boonies?”
I chuckled, sobering a few seconds later. “Thank you for what you said before we left. It’ll be good to escape back there every once in a while.”
“Of course, Lala. You can always come home, you know that.”
“Please don’t be upset, Mom, but…”
“But it doesn’t feel like home anymore?” she asked, her tone sad. “Remember, you’re speaking to an old bonded lady. I understand. I may still cry about it after we hang up, but I get it.”
Regret punched through me. I should have kept my mouth shut. “I’m sorry.”
“You keep apologizing. Don’t. None of this is your fault.”
“Well, then I’m sorry you’re upset.”
“My sweet girl. Try not to let the big city make you jaded.”
“Never.”
We talked for another half an hour, Mom giving me advice based on what she could remember from the early days with Dad, and me peppering her with questions she didn’t always have answers to.
Apparently the bond was different from couple to couple.
Her trying to explain how she and Dad were able to metaphysically page each other over it proved too confusing for me to follow.
“I swear it’ll all become easier with time,” she promised before we hung up.