Never Forgotten

Warm Chills

I'd ended my noon class ten minutes early after one of my students, Bethany, hurt her ankle. It looked swollen and, from what I could tell, broken. I told her that it would heal fine, but she'd need to head to the hospital a town over for x-rays. I stayed with her until an ambulance arrived. By then the entire class was gone and the one person I'd been meaning to talk showed up.

"What happened here?" Jake questioned as he entered the dance studio. Spinning around, I smiled and motioned for him to come over to where I was. He took his time looking around and held back a smile. I could feel his eyes trailing over me and eyeing my rear as I bent over and picked up my purse from the floor.

"One of my students broke an ankle. She'll be fine. Did I say you could look there?" I asked suspiciously, trying to lighten the mood. He chuckled awkwardly, his eyes quickly looking at the floor where they belong.

"That's unfortunate..." He trailed off and stopped speaking as soon as I started to walk away. "Leaving so soon?" I stopped and stood in place, taken by surprise with his comment.

I was going to answer him back when I realized that he was flirting with me. How bizarre... He'd always been one to talk but never take action.

The tables have turned. My wolf yelped in excitement. She hasn't been this excited since the dream...

With Joe.

"Did you need anything?" I asked, crossing my arms in frustration and turning back around to find Jake a foot away from me.

"The truth about Hunter and you." He said, his eyes darkened when he said Hunter's name. He must be angry with him, too.

"The truth," I turned around and made my way out, waving goodbye to Lara, the other secretary, who was on the phone. "Well, I don’t want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so... You know what? It’s better if I tell you and get it off my chest," I turned around and gave him a dirty look. "Hunter cheated on me. He did the deed with some girl he's been seeing on the side for months, lied to me about it and when I asked him to be honest, he lied to my face and tried to cover his tracks. Happy?"

"He cheated on you." His nostrils flared, clearly angry. Covering my forehead, I took a deep breathe in and forced myself to calm down. Before I knew what was happening, Jake wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him.

He's hugging me…

The impact of his embrace was profound. He understands... Slipping my arms around him, I secured my grasp around his waist and rested my head against his shoulder. His heart beat slowed down to normal pace after a few seconds. His body was burning up underneath mine, his touch searing hot. His scent was different; he smelled like maple wood and honey. It was intoxicating.

He was the first to let go. His arms fell to his sides and raised his hands to his back pants pockets. I let go and backed away, speechless. That was... Nice.

"Do you have time to investigate?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah," I answering, nodding. "Is the house empty?"

"As far as I know," He sounded certain but didn't look so. "I'll deal with whoever comes walking through those doors. You focus on finding out what Lia's up to." I nodded and followed him down the block and to Moonstruck.

As soon as Jake unlocked the front door I had this terrible feeling that something was going to happen. I grabbed hold of Jake's right arm for support, my head spinning.

"What-" I placed my finger on his lip and listened for any noise. In the distance I heard a familiar voice speaking.

"You know damned well that they will have your head if you don't stand before the counsel. Being summoned isn't like being invited to some social event-"

"I know what I am doing, Joseph. Let me deal with my own problems and you take care of your own." Lia hissed nastily. Her voice echoed loudly though the house while Joe's was much softer.

"There wouldn't be an issue if you just did as you should!" He screamed, his anger escaping. A chill ran down my back.

"I will do as I wish!" She answered back, something hitting something loudly. Sounded like she punched a table or a wall.

"What are you afraid of, Lia?” There was a brief pause. Softly but firm, he continued, “You're hiding something, aren't you? Always hiding… You never change."

"Change? Change! What do you think I am? A shifter?" She practically spat, her voice vicious and full of spite. My claws were growing longer and longer by the second. How dare she talk to him like that. "I suggest you leave, Joseph. Now."

"I suggest you take control of your own miserable life before trying to control mine," He ordered, his voice steady. "You only have so much time left before they discover the truth. Before we all do." With that I heard something expensive break from upstairs. Jake opened the door and let me run out ahead of him. I grabbed his hand and tugged him out behind me. Pulling him to the side of the house, we hid beside the bushes and waited for Joe to exit. We heard the front door slam shut and footsteps patter down the stairs. I could smell Joe's scent from where we were hiding.

After a minute of crouching in silence, I let go of Jake's hand and stood up. Running my hands through my hair, I stared around the forest and up at the treetops. The leaves were already turning brown, the trees ready to shed their coats and streak for autumn.

"We're not the only ones who know Lia's hiding something. If Joseph knows something's up there's a huge possibility others suspect the same." Jake nodded and brought his hand up to his chin. Resting his head on his fingers, he massaged his chin as he silently thought.

"I'll talk to him," Jake started slowly. "I'll ask him what he knows and if he can help-"

"No," Interrupting him, I felt a pang of worry. "Don't do that. If she finds out he'll be outcasted. We can't let that happen."

"She won't find out," He looked up at me; an unfamiliar look crossed his face and quickly vanished. Standing up, he wiped his pants and motioned for me to walk. "I have to go take care of some business. I'll see you later."

I nodded awkwardly and began to walk down the hill. Dodging trees, I avoided stepping in large piles of leaves, afraid of stepping in mud. Just as I walked past a massive maple tree I saw a figure appear from behind it.

"Samantha?" Joe grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. I stumbled forward and fell on top of him.

"Hi," I awkwardly replied as I looked at him beneath me. My body began to shake slightly. My wolf began to yelp like crazy, my senses intensified a hundredfold. All I could smell was him. All I could feel was his body rubbing against me. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but when I saw how he was staring at me I felt embarrassed. "Sorry. I've gotta go."

Scrambling to my feet, I helped Joe up and ran off towards town. I could feel his eyes on me as I made way down.

"See you around." Joe called. Smiling to myself, I looked over my shoulder and back at Joe. With a quick nod, I watched a grin stretch across his face and his eyes sparkle. I turned back around and made my way to the nearest deli for lunch. My wolf barked in satisfaction, excitement for our next encounter with Joe growing with every passing second.

Something to look forward to…