My thanks for all the love! I really appreciate all of the comments from the last chapter...
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Recap
After a few long moments, Amber shifted towards me. Her mannerisms were more predatory, but stilted, as if her body wasn’t used to working its limbs. I still hadn’t moved an inch. My breath was coming out in short pants and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. This Amber was more dangerous than the one I had previously encountered. I wouldn’t be able to predict what she would do. She looked so far gone, so far removed from the situation, that I wasn’t sure who was in her body anymore.
As she took one step after another, closing in on me, her hands reached out towards me, her fingers curled as if grasping my neck.
“She stole him from me. She needs to pay so I can get him back.”
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Chapter 25
I could hear her. I could hear her thoughts and she was standing in front of me in human form. Eddie’s dad must have been right, more right than even he knew. It had been less than a week but Amber was definitely more wolf now than she had been. For me to hear her now meant that her wolf side was becoming more prominent, was taking over her mind.
She was still coming towards me. I instinctively took a step back but then shored up my determination. I wouldn’t run. I couldn’t – I had to face her otherwise this would never end and I would always be scared.
“Amber, I didn’t steal him from you. He’s my mate. Eddie’s my mate and he never belonged to you.”
At my words, her eyes swiftly focused on my face. It was as if she was now actually aware that I was standing here. Her expression darkened and her lips curled up in a sneer. It was frightening, but I could deal with this better than I could when she looked haunted.
“NO. He’s mine. He’s mine and you stole him from me. And now he’s gone and you have to pay.”
I didn’t know what to say. How could I argue with her when she clearly had lost hold of reality? She wouldn’t believe anything I said to her, wouldn’t accept my reasoning. We were now only standing three feet from each other, little more than an arm’s length away. I could see her haggard face even more clearly, could smell her musky, dank odor.
How would this end? Would we change and fight here, in front of the shelter, where anyone could see? Or would I be able to convince her to take this into the woods, to at least protect both the kids and our secret? I couldn’t read anything more in her mind – almost as if her mind was blank, as if she was working on pure instinct rather than rational thought. That wasn’t good for me. That meant I would have no advantage, that meant she really was unpredictable.
A car turned into the parking lot then and Amber’s head snapped in its direction. She looked scared at the sight of it and before I could react, she was gone. My legs collapsed from under me and I knelt on the hard gravel, suddenly chilled and trembling.
They had been right. She had the ability to move from place to place in the blink of an eye. If she was as far into her wolf as I suspected, then the car must have frightened her away. Thank god. I didn’t want to think about what could have happened otherwise.
A shadow loomed over me and when I looked up, Tony was standing there, a concerned expression on his face.
“Are you okay, Ceci? I have my car, I can drive you somewhere if you need me to.”
I managed a tiny smile. “No, I’m fine. Thanks for the offer though.”
He helped me up and walked with me into the building. The kids were already gathered at our usual table. I guess they hadn’t seen or heard my confrontation with Amber. There was still no sign of Brian though. I frowned. He should have really been waiting for me outside. And if not, then he definitely should have heard Amber and me.
I didn’t have time to think about it any longer because the kids soon crowded around me. They had seen Eddie yesterday and had heard the younger kids talking, so they wanted their own questions about us answered. I relaxed bit by bit as we talked. Because they were older, they felt like they could rib me in ways the little ones didn’t. I felt like I was both friend and older sister, but that didn’t mean they didn’t make fun of me every chance they got.
Brian soon poked his head into the room. I looked up at him but he didn’t appear disturbed or secretive. He gave me a friendly smile and walked my way.
“Sorry. They needed me to help them with something out back. It took a lot longer than I expected.”
I nodded but didn’t respond. It was a perfectly logical explanation, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. I was probably still just shaken up about having seen Amber though, so I didn’t let it bother me too much.
Once I got the students settled, I thought about if I should tell Eddie about my run-in. He should know, as should both of our parents, but I needed to make sure that he didn’t freak out. I was freaking out enough for the both of us and I knew that he would take it harder. He’d find some way to blame himself again and I didn’t want that to happen.
When he came to pick me up a couple hours later, he was still in his cheerful mood, much like I had been for the majority of the day. I decided not to tell him, yet. I first needed to figure out how to break it to him, how to make it sound less scary than it had actually been. It would have to wait for at least a few hours since we were going right to the restaurant to meet his parents. I sighed but put a smile on my face.
As we walked back into his house after dinner, I reached out to stop him before he could head up the stairs.
“I need to tell you and your parents something.”
He immediately tensed, sensing my mood, and nodded. His parents had already gone into the family room so we went to go join them.
I took in a deep breath before I began. I was nervous. I knew what their reaction would be but I didn’t know how badly they would take it.
“I saw Amber today."
The entire room stilled. I don’t think they knew how to respond. A whole slew of emotions passed over Eddie’s face – surprise, confusion, concern, anger, worry. He finally settled on worry. He was already holding my hand so he just pulled on it to bring me into his arms.
“Are you okay? What happened?,” he asked, his face buried in my hair.
“I’m fine. She was at the shelter. She just appeared and then disappeared a few minutes later.” I turned to look at Eddie’s dad. “You were right – she does have that ability.”
The Alpha frowned. “Did she approach you?”
“Briefly, but she got scared off by a car. She’s changed. A lot. You were right about that too. Her wolf has taken over. I could hear her speak even though she was in human form.”
All three of them looked taken aback. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “That’s why I’m sure that she’s lost a lot of her humanity. I doubt I would have been able to hear her otherwise.”
The Alpha’s frown got even deeper. “That isn’t good. It just makes her more volatile. What did she say to you?”
“She said that I stole Eddie from her and that he was hers.”
“Is that all?” Eddie didn’t look convinced that I was telling them everything, which I wasn’t. I didn’t want any of them to know that she had threatened my life.
“Pretty much. The whole thing didn’t last for very long and we spent the majority of that time just staring at each other.”
I could feel Eddie suddenly tense up. “Where was Brian when this was happening? He should have been there.”
“His car was there but he was in the back. I guess some of the guys asked him to help them with something. I didn’t really ask. He came in a couple of minutes later when I was already with the kids.”
Eddie wasn’t satisfied. I could tell that he wanted to rip into Brian for not being there when I needed him. After all, what was the point in having a guard if he wasn’t there to guard me? It had bothered me at the time as well, but now I was more apprehensive. It all seemed a bit too coincidental for my taste, but perhaps that was just how my luck ran. Brian’s whole demeanor didn’t come off as suspicious so I was probably reading more into it than was there.
“I’ll speak to Brian later. His first priority is definitely you, which means he should have been waiting for you. First, we need to figure out what our next step is. I don’t want to keep you from doing what you normally do, Ceci, but perhaps we should rethink some things.”
Eddie’s dad had gotten serious. I was so used to seeing him friendly and smiling, that his changed tone was disconcerting and made me realize just how potentially scary this situation really was.
“I don’t see why things need to change. If you talk to Brian, and he’s there from now on, she won’t have the chance to approach me again.”
“Maybe. But now that we know for sure that she can transport herself through space, we’re going to have to be extra careful. I won’t risk losing you or getting you hurt. You mean too much to Eddie and to this family as a whole.”
His mouth had set into a grim line, his forehead furrowed in concentration. Eddie’s mom was pale beside him. She hadn’t said anything, but she looked scared and upset. They were a part of my family now, officially or not, and I knew that they cared for me like a daughter.
We spent the next hour talking about what we could do to both keep me safe and draw Amber out. I don’t think they really wanted to discuss the latter, especially in front of me, but I knew that we would have to confront her eventually. The problem would be making sure she didn’t disappear once we had her.
In the end, nothing was really decided. Eddie’s dad agreed to let me continue on as normal, as long as I made sure never to be alone anywhere. This meant that I would have to get Matt to wait with me at the shelter if for some reason Brian wasn’t there. That was fine by me since it was better than the alternative, which would have been for me to stop tutoring and basically hibernate until Amber was caught.
Eddie was still tense with worry, but he knew that I wouldn’t want to change my life just to go into hiding. He was by my side for the rest of the night, once again always having some sort of physical contact with me. His touch calmed us both.
Later, once we were in bed, neither one of us fell asleep right away. We were on our sides facing each other, our arms and legs intertwined. We spent long minutes just gazing at each other. His fingers would brush against mine then move up to caress my cheek and touch my hair, but he never broke eye contact. Eventually, he kissed me on the forehead and told me to try and sleep. I nodded and told him the same.
I buried myself deeper into his arms, kissed him lightly, and closed my eyes. I heard him sigh before shifting into a more comfortable position, all the while making sure that we were as close together as possible. In his arms, I found warmth and comfort, safety and tenderness. Even with what had happened earlier, I fell asleep quickly, reassured by his presence.
The next day passed by without incident. I returned back to my house with Eddie after he picked me up from tutoring. I hadn’t seen my parents all week, although I had told them over the phone about my encounter with Amber. I was worried about how they were holding up. It must have been so difficult for them, keeping their emotions in check, all of these years. I didn’t want them to blame themselves for what was happening.
My parents pulled me into a big hug when I saw them. My mom had tears in her eyes, but she was trying to keep a brave face. I did my best to appear unaffected and chatted with her about my days at Eddie’s house.
It felt strange being back home again. I had already gotten so used to Eddie’s room and bed, that walking into my own room was weird. Everything felt slightly off, which sounded so silly since I had only been away for four days.
My mom had prepared a veritable feast for dinner. She loved to cook in general, and she definitely loved to entertain. Having Eddie here with me was good because he kept the smile on her face, even if it didn’t always quite reach her eyes. I don’t know how my parents managed to keep their concern from me in the past, because they were definitely stressed, even if no one talked about it. Conversation at dinner was somewhat stilted, as we were all doing our best to act normal when none of us felt that way.
The entire night ended up being nerve-racking, but only because I did my best to act cheerful. I didn’t want to worry my parents more than they already were, but their obvious concern was bringing my own uneasiness back to the surface. It had been simpler around Eddie’s parents because, as the Alpha couple, I think they were slightly more used to the stress. Although my dad had a lot of responsibility as Third in the pack, my mom had been much more sheltered from any problems.
I was glad when we finally went up to bed. I was exhausted with the pretense. I’m pretty sure they all saw through it, but I felt like I had to keep it up, if only in order to keep myself sane. It wasn’t that I was any more frightened than I had been before I saw Amber again, but it made the situation real. It had been easy to dismiss her to the darkest recess of my mind, allowing myself to focus more on all of the happy things that had happened. But now that I knew that she was back, I was forced to consider all of the possible endings to our precarious relationship.
There was still the “period of grave danger” that the old woman had predicted for me to think about. Just because she had hinted that I would survive this encounter didn’t mean that everyone I knew would. I had to think about how Eddie, our parents, and even Lindy and Matt fit into this whole mess. I couldn’t imagine losing any of them and I needed to figure out a way to end this without drawing any of them in. It would be next to impossible, since I knew that I would never be left by myself again, but I honestly didn’t know what else to do. Eddie’s dad was right – Amber was volatile. Which meant that she could end up hurting the people close to me. No one was guarding them and even Eddie didn’t seem to be concerned with his own safety. I sighed. I would have to think about this some more.
Friday morning brought the rain. It had been so nice out these past few weeks that we were bound to get nasty weather soon, but it was sad that it had to come when we were going to celebrate Matt’s birthday. The weather also seemed to accurately reflect my mood. I usually liked the rain, but today I was feeling as glum as the sky outside.
“Hey – are you feeling all right? We can stay home today if you’re not up to it.”
I turned to see Eddie walking back into my room, hair still glistening wet from his shower. He looked concerned, again. I hated to see him look like that, which was more often than not these last few days.
“I’m fine. Just the weather I guess. I hope it stops raining before dinner.” I put a feeble smile onto my face, hoping it would be enough.
“I think it’s supposed to. I’ve always kind of liked the rain. There’s something about the air afterwards. And I like splashing in puddles.” He grinned at that and I had a feeling I would need to wear my rain boots today. And a rain jacket. And maybe some waterproof pants if I had any.
Sure enough, as soon as we were walking towards the school from the parking lot, Eddie splashed in a huge puddle, soaking his jeans almost halfway up his calves in the process. I rolled my eyes but laughed. Seriously – he was so playful and childish sometimes. Which I guess was better than him brooding about Amber. It really was a good thing I was wearing rain boots. We spent the next ten minutes jumping in puddles, drawing disbelieving stares from our classmates and getting extremely wet in the process. Eddie had somehow managed to find all of the deepest puddles so that even with rain boots, my jeans were drenched.
Once we were both out of breath from laughing, Eddie looked me over and gave me a mischievous grin. “I think maybe you should take off your jeans so that they can dry. I wouldn’t want you to get sick.”
“My jeans are in better shape than yours. Why don’t you strip?,” I countered.
“Well…if you insist.” His hands moved to unbutton his jeans. He then slowly slid his zipper down, tooth by tooth. When he was halfway unzipped, I crossed my hands over my chest and raised one eyebrow.
“Are you going to stop teasing me and just take them off or what?”
Eddie’s hand stilled and he looked at me in shock. I almost started cracking up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him more flabbergasted. I started tapping my foot, as if impatient. “Well?”
He grinned then, an impish, lopsided smile that made my heart flutter. “Oh, now you asked for it.”
He reached over and grabbed me around the waist, tossing me over his shoulder as if I didn’t weigh a thing. I screamed out in surprise but he just laughed and started walking towards the gym, his long hurried strides making my head bump into his butt. I turned my head to see if people were watching, and was surprised to see that the parking lot was empty. I guess that meant we were late for homeroom.
Eddie didn’t stop until we were inside the building. He gently put me down and I stumbled from the rush of blood.
“Whoa. You okay?”
I nodded and looked around to see where we were. We were in a hallway off of the gym, which was eerily quiet at this time of day.
“Why are we here?,” I asked, confused.
Eddie just smiled and grabbed my hand, tugging me along until we were in one of the rooms reserved for health class.
“You said I could ravish you in an empty classroom.”
My jaw actually dropped. Eddie wagged his eyebrows and winked at me. I immediately started backing away towards the door. I wasn’t scared, but I was nervous. I didn’t want to get caught with my pants down, literally. And I couldn’t believe that Eddie had actually taken me up on a sarcastic remark I had made weeks ago. Well, in fact I could believe it because it was totally something he would remember and store away.
“Oh no you don’t.”
He picked me up and sat me down on the teacher’s desk. He really moved too quickly for me sometimes. A second later, he was positioned between my legs and leaning towards me with his hands flat on the surface of the desk. My heart started beating erratically. Eddie smiled – he could hear it.
He slowly bent his head so that his lips were just touching me. A whimper escaped from my throat right before his lips pressed themselves more urgently against mine. My lips parted automatically, letting him in. He greedily accepted the invitation and began plundering my mouth. My hands found their way around his neck, my fingers curling themselves into his wet hair. I was suddenly hot, despite the water that soaked my jeans and my hair.
Eddie leaned further into me, pushing me back until I was lying on the desk. Drops of water dripped from his hair onto my face. He licked them off with his tongue. His hands moved to unzip my jacket, working the zipper at a more frantic pace than he had earlier on his jeans. Once done, he pushed the two sides aside so that I now lay open to him in just a blouse and tank top. His fingers grazed my sides, my stomach, my neck. His hands finally settled on my breasts, lightly palming them.
He never broke our kiss. I was feeling lightheaded. I couldn’t do more than just return his kiss. My hands had completely stilled around his neck, my eyes were closed, my body tense with the feel of him on top of me, surrounding me, touching me. It felt so good.
Eddie used one hand to pull the neck of my blouse aside. He bent down to kiss the top of my breasts before gently sucking. I arched into him, needing more. My hands moved down his back, getting wet from the rainwater still on his jacket. I didn’t care. I reached under his clothes until I felt the heat of his skin under my fingers. Eddie moaned.
I don’t know how long we spent like that. I eventually unzipped his jacket and pushed it onto the floor. His sweater went next and was quickly followed by his t-shirt. My own clothes stayed on, but Eddie had pulled aside all of the fabrics keeping him from my breasts, including my bra. He tongued me gently, then nipped at my skin and blew softly to ease the sting. I heard a bell ring in the corner of my brain, but I didn’t register what it meant. I just needed more of this, more of him.
A couple of minutes later, I heard a door open and footsteps. Eddie must have heard them to because he stilled on top of me.
“What the heck is going on in here?!”
I blinked and locked eyes with Eddie. His were still lust-clouded, as I’m sure mine were. We didn’t move for several long seconds. Eddie then jerked his head over his shoulder to see who had interrupted us before swiftly fixing my clothes so that I was once again fully covered. He eased himself off of me and gently pulled me up.
I kept my gaze down at the floor. My cheeks were now flaming and I really didn’t want to know who had caught us. If he had been just a few minutes later, I’m sure he would have seen a whole lot more.
“Hey Coach.”
My head snapped up. Eddie’s tone of voice was casual, more amused than anything else. His eyes were twinkling and he had a grin on his face. I slowly turned my head to face our intruder. Mr. Samuels, one of the gym teachers stood with his hands on his hips, trying to look indignant but mostly failing. It was obvious that he found our situation humorous.
“Eddie,” he paused to give me a small smile, “shouldn’t extra-curricular activities be saved for after school?”
Eddie palmed the back of his neck and had the sense to actually look embarrassed. “Yea, usually. But I couldn’t help myself.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and gazed down at me before continuing, “Can you blame me?”
Mr. Samuels laughed. “No, actually. But that doesn’t mean you can just cut class to make out with your girlfriend.”
I blushed again. This was beyond mortifying.
“I’d apologize, but I’m not really sorry. And I can’t promise it won’t happen again.”
I punched Eddie lightly in the arm. How could he say that to a teacher?! We were probably already in trouble, no need to make it worse.
“Uh huh. Just be more careful next time. You might get caught by someone who isn’t as forgiving as I am.”
He turned to leave, but Eddie called out. “Hey Coach? Can you give us a late slip? What period is it anyway?”
Mr. Samuels rolled his eyes and chuckled. “It’s the beginning of second period. Come with me to my office and I’ll get you those late slips.”
Holy crap. We’d been making out on a desk in an empty classroom for almost an hour?! I numbly followed the two of them out, shaking my head in disbelief and still embarrassed at having been caught by a teacher.
Eddie walked me to History and gave me a light kiss and a wave before heading off to his own class. He was really unbelievable sometimes. I was still shell-shocked at what had just happened and he was as calm and happy as usual.
I honestly can’t say that I remember anything that happened in my classes. Lindy gave me a curious look when I walked in late, but I brushed her off with a small smile and a shake of my head. Lunch and gym with Eddie were the only periods I can recall – lunch because Eddie kept teasing and touching me and gym because Mr. Samuels was there, giving me a knowing look that made me flush all over again.
After school, Lindy and Matt followed Eddie and me back to my house. We had a couple of hours before we headed into Boston for dinner. Matt had brought a horror flick with him, which wasn’t really my cup of tea, but it was his birthday. Eddie of course, loved it while I shrank into his side, hiding my face in his shoulder.
After the movie was over, we decided to leave early so we could walk around before dinner. I remembered that there were some cool shops along the same street as the restaurant. The rain had finally stopped, so the air felt fresh and clean. We spent an hour going into the different stores, goofing around and generally just having fun. I felt relaxed and happy.
Even when we were seated at our table for dinner, the laughter and conversation didn’t stop. I looked over at Matt and smiled. I was glad we were able to take him out tonight. We never got to really spend time together during school and since I’d been with Eddie every free minute, I hadn’t gotten to talk to Matt much.
Lindy suddenly reached over and grabbed my arm excitedly. “Oh, Ceci. Guess who I met the other day?”
“Uhhh…I don’t know. Who?”
“Maple and Fria!”
“Really? I haven’t seen them in a while.”
It had definitely been at least two weeks since I last talked to them. I felt sad for some reason. I didn’t really know them very well, but they had become my friends in the short time we had spent together. They were the first animals I had struck up a conversation with, the first non-weres I had shared my secret with.
“Yea. I heard them thinking about you. I was out in the woods by myself and they were curious when they saw me. They were actually having a really funny conversation – wondering if I knew you, then debating about whether or not weres talked to each other or if we didn’t acknowledge that we were weres when we were in human form. They were definitely surprised when I started giving them my input!”
I smiled. I could imagine Lindy and Fria getting along really well. Both of them were friendly and outgoing, while Maple and I were definitely similar in our reticence and wary attitude. How ironic that I would befriend two deer who were the equivalent of Lindy and me? I chuckled out loud at the thought.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing really. I just realized that Fria and Maple are very much like you and I.”
Lindy’s mouth broke out into a grin. “You know, you’re right. I was just going to say how suspicious Maple was of me, and that’s totally how you would have reacted!”
I laughed. “Yea – she gave me the same attitude when we first met. But she’s sweet once she gets to know you.”
“Uhh…I don’t mean to interrupt, but who are Maple and Fria?”
I looked over at Matt, who had a completely confused look on his face. Poor Matt. He really didn’t deserve to be left out so much.
“They’re two deer that Ceci started talking to a couple weeks ago.”
Understanding dawned on Matt’s face. “Oh yea. I remember you mentioning them a while back. I didn’t realize that deer had names.”
I laughed again. I hadn’t thought about that. I guess it was weird. I would have to ask them about that when I got a chance.
The rest of dinner was nice. It felt like it had been such a long time since Lindy, Matt, and I had gone out like this. And now Eddie was included. He fit right into our group. We had to fill him in a couple times when we talked about some funny things we had done in the past, but he just grinned and joined in on the laughter. I could tell that he was still in a good mood from our little adventure this morning.
“Do you want to get dessert here and then get ice cream, or will just ice cream satisfy you?” Eddie had a completely serious expression on his face, but I could hear the teasing note in his voice.
I stuck my tongue out at him. “Just ice cream is fine.”
Everyone laughed. As we were headed out the door, I noticed Brian sitting at a corner table with another guy, both of them almost hidden in the low lighting. What was he doing all the way out here? How long had he been there? Had he heard our conversation?