Meant For Him (Book 1 in the Golden series)

Chapter 16

Rush

    The entire ride to Boulder Creek, it's silent. Adrian is sitting in the back, sunken into himself and I know he's horrified at himself for getting carried away with that girl.

I know he's not ready yet to embrace all this. It's all so new to him. At least I've had time to digest my transformation and I hadn't needed blood from a living human to survive. Even hunting for food hadn't been so scarring. But I'm sure Adrian will learn self-control soon enough.

I certainly don't have any humans at Boulder Creek that will willingly let Adrian feed from them. Wonder how he'll make do.

At last, at the end of a very long road trip, we pull up at my home. Abigail looks happy to be here. Adrian's face is expressionless. There's a haunted look in his eyes and my heart drops.

As soon as we get out of the car, we're swarmed with my pack-mates. Each of them are exclaiming in utter surprise that I'm alive. Apparently? Word had gotten out that I had died. I notice that they all give Adrian a wide berth, some even giving him nasty looks and baring their teeth at him. Adrian has no reaction.

Hanna and Blaire shove their way to the front of the crowd and when they see Abigail in one piece, they grab her in a hug. Then, after they're done, they step back to inspect me carefully. They make sure I'm not hurt and when they're finally satisfied that I'm fine, they grab me by my arm and snap, "Let's go. Now."

"Where exactly are we going?" I ask.

Hanna sends me a withering glare. "We are bringing you to Thane, of course. He's been eating himself up about your death. No matter what we do, he's just too sunken in his grieving for you. Speaking of, how are you alive?"

"Long story," I say, as a way of dodging their questions. The only one getting answers right now would be Thane. After a nice punch in the face.

Abigail hurries after us but Blaire shakes her head at her. "No, you stay here with the vampire. We'll be back shortly."

They lead me into Thane's house, a rather nice living area. The girls don't bother knocking- they just stomp on in without invitation.

Blaire and Hanna leave me by the door, saying they'll wait for me outside. They close the door behind themselves and I swallow hard. This will be hard to explain to a grieving friend.

I glimpse the back of Thane's head. He's donned all in black and he's seated at his desk. His head is bent down and his breathing is slightly ragged.

I step forward, forgetting that there's a loose board on the floor and it squeaks loudly.

Instead of turning around to face the source of the sound, Thane's head snaps up and his back straightens. "I told you I don't want food, Blaire. Or company."

"It's not Blaire," I say, keeping in mind that he thinks I'm Blaire and not Hanna.

Thane finally whirls around and when his eyes fall on me, he winces, and his eyes widen in surprise. "I knew I've gone mad," he whispers. "I'm hallucinating."

I raise my hands. "I'm not a hallucination, Thane. It's really me."

"So you've said the last time you visited me," he says back.

My brow shoots up. Last time I visited him? What's he talking about?

I step forward again and touch him. "I'm not a hallucination, Thane," I repeat.

His soft gasp fills the room. "You're real. I'm not imagining you."

"No," I say gently. "You're not. I'm really here."