The Last of White Dawn

Chapter 18: Within Reason

The bed is shaking under me when I open my eyes from a deep and concerning sleep. At first, I try to remember where I am. Before long, the words Seb muttered to me last night before leaving come to mind and I move swiftly. I roll over and grab the legs bouncing up and down on the bed, ready to extend my claws into the intruder.

"It's me!" Celine shouts with laughter in her voice.

"Celine!" I groan and release her leg from my grasp. "What the hell?"

"Sorry, sorry! I came to wake you up for your fitting and then it's time for rehearsal," she lays down comfortably in Seb's spot on the bed.

"How did you even get in here?"

"Someone isn't much of a morning person," she teases which earns her a morning growl from me. "Jeez, okay. Seb gave me your key when we ran into each other at breakfast. He said he wouldn't be back until later and that I should make sure you got up, got a cup of coffee which is waiting for you in the kitchen, and got to rehearsal on time." She pauses and waits for me to look into her eyes. "He said something about a long night and you probably not getting a lot of sleep." The implication in her voice is clear.

"It's not what you think," I groan again, pushing myself into a sitting position and rubbing my eyes clear.

"Mmmmhmmm," she skeptically looks at me with her eyebrows raised.

"We didn't get that far," I mutter with a smile pulling at the edges of my mouth.

"Oh, I knew it!"

"We didn't do what you think!" I tried to justify myself, but the girl was downright giddy for me.

"Well whatever you did, I hope it was amazing."

"Amazingly frustrating, considering no one got to finish what they started," I grumbled. I threw my legs over the side of the bed and headed for the closet.

Celine bombarded me with a thousand and one questions as I picked out a pair of dark-washed skinny jeans and a soft white sweater. I plucked some socks from the drawer and popped on a pair of white running shoes as she chattered on about her own first sexual experiences. Part of me tried to tune her out because I didn't want to image her in such compromising positions, and the other part listened intently, trying to imagine myself in them instead.

"You said something about coffee," I try to steer the conversation back to more moderate topics as I emerge from the closet.

"In the kitchen," she gets up from the bed and marches herself into the kitchen like she lives here. "I brought it from the pack kitchen. Someone said it was hazelnut espresso and Seb said that was something you might be interested in."

I smiled and smelled the cup. It was something I was interested in. On our third day of traveling Seb had made a point to bring me into a fancy coffee shop to try a few flavours. I told him the hazelnut was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. He swore he would always bring me hazelnut coffee when we found our new home.

"He seems like a real sweetheart," Celine eyes me from across the kitchen island.

"I am a very lucky girl to have him for a best friend."

"Oh please, he loves you."

"I love him too. That's why this works."

"What about your mate?"

"We've been over this. We both know that in just a few days I am going to be scented and there is a chance that someone else out there is looking for me. I don't think Seb would wish to hold me back from my destiny if it wasn't him."