“Was it Benji?” I asked, trying to make things easier. He looked down at my foot and shook his head.
“Funny story,” he said after a moment, “You remember the day we got together, how I kind of stood in the road to stop you from driving so fast?”
“Yes?” I asked, unsure of why he was bringing it up. Suddenly it dawned on me. “OH MY GOD!” I jerked my foot from his grasp and I curled into myself in shock. I covered my hands in embarrassment as I spluttered at the realization. They told me I had hit an animal- an animal!
“No, no, Sophia Rose, shh,” He moved forward and placed his hands on either side of my face, trying to calm me.
“I must be the worst girlfriend ever,” I moaned. I had hit him? One of the first things I ever said to him was an accusation of unsafe driving and I had just gone and pummeled him with my car.
“Sophie, come on.” He was laughing softly as he wrapped his hands around my wrists and forced them away from my face. Tears brimmed my eyes as I looked down at my lap in shame. I wouldn’t even know where to begin with an apology. What could I possibly say?
"Stop that or I’ll go crazy.” Noah took my chin and pulled my face up to look at him. He sweetly brushed his lips against mine even though I didn't deserve it.
"I could have killed you," I murmured pathetically against his kiss.
"No," he said, pulling away and looking very grim, "There was very little possibility that car accident could have killed me. When you ignored me for four days, yes, then you could have killed me. I was dying the second you closed the door in my face. I couldn’t breathe."
"That doesn't make me feel any better you know.” He laughed again and pulled me into a hug. How nice for him to be enjoying how miserable I felt. I pouted as a couple tears made their way down my face.
“Sophia Rose, will you please stop crying,” he pleaded, “I’m fine. You can’t kill me by hitting me with a mere car!” His hyperbole wasn’t making me feel any better either. I rolled my eyes at his forced casualness and he took my face in his hands. “I’m serious. I heal really quickly. It’s a shifter thing.”
“Really?” I asked, unable to not be distracted from this news, “How quickly?” His smile widened and he reached over to his nightstand to pick up the pair of scissors I had resting there. Before I could stop him, he laid it against the palm of his hand and cut a thin slice.
I instantly opened my mouth to protest but the sound was cut off from the gasp that escaped me as I watched the skin close back up almost and all traces of the cut disappear. It was the most incredible thing to witness. He really did heal very quickly! Still, that wasn’t a good reason for him to inflict more harm on himself.
“I wasn’t asking for a demonstration.” I pulled the scissors out from his hand and walked over to my desk. My breath was only slightly shaky as I opened a drawer and tucked the scissors away. That was a pretty freaky thing I had just witnessed, and I felt like I was taking it surprisingly well.
I turned around just as Noah pressed up against me, a sly smile on his face. Before I could ask what he was grinning about, he lifted me onto my desk, leaning down to kiss me fiercely. My hands flew to his face in response and I opened my mouth to him, humming softly as he slipped his tongue in. Encouraged by the noise, he hitched my leg to his hip and forcefully pushed me back further onto the desk. As my back hit the wall, my butt ran into my pencil cup, causing about thirty pencils and pens to spill over the desk and onto the floor.
He laughed as he broke away, and I went about picking them up quickly, all the while trying to catch my breath.
“What was that for?” I asked, when I had gathered up the last of the writing utensils and deposited them back in the cup.
“I love you.” He shrugged. I probably won’t ever get tired of hearing that.
“I love you too,” I replied honestly.
➹➹➹
Noah
“Say that again,” I demanded instantly. I thought I had heard it, but I couldn’t be sure. She smiled and her eyes flew up to the ceiling in embarrassment.
“I love you too,” she repeated with a shrug. “I do, okay? I lo-“
In a burst of desperation, I pulled her into me and kissed her until I was seeing stars. She laughed happily against my lips, sending a tremor throughout my entire body. I pulled back to look into her eyes, needing to be sure that this moment was real. Her round cinnamon eyes met mine and I felt as though the entire world could burst into flame around us and I wouldn’t care.
Unexpectedly, her loving eyes narrowed.
“What time is it?” she asked, curiosity etched in the wrinkles of her furrowed brow. Keeping one arm around her, I reached over to the desk chair and into the pocket of my jeans, pulling out my phone.
“It’s almost five am,” I read. “Why?” She pushed herself out of my arms and ran around the room, picking up all my things haphazardly like a chicken with its head cut off. I watched her with an amused smile on my face.
“You have to go! My dad is getting up for work and he is going to come in and check up on me any minute now!”
I groaned and threw myself backwards onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as if it had the answers as to why every glorious moment with Sophie was fleeting. She pulled on my legs, and I made things difficult by acting lifeless. I fought to hold back a laugh as I observed her struggle to move me.
I allowed her to pull me up to a standing position, but then I went limp again. She struggled to hold me up as I swayed and drooped like a zombie. I was acting like a petty child, I knew it, but I really wasn’t ready to leave and end our magical night.
“Come on,” she whispered, her smaller frame surprisingly managing to get me all the way to the window. She opened the window and threw out my clothes and boots, and together we watched them rain down onto the grass. “Your turn,” she said as she turned to me with a smile. God, she was adorable.
“Alright, fine, goodbye,” I murmured cooperatively, leaning down to kiss her. She moved her lips away at the last second; clearly knowing that necking would only detain me longer. With a smile, I proceeded to kiss her everywhere but, showering her face with soft pecks.
“Are you trying to get murdered? Because that’s what will happen if he finds you in here!” She gasped desperately as my lips made their way down her neck.
“Relax, it’s fine.” I hastily placed a kiss on her collarbone. “He’s not even awake yet.” It was then that we both heard the creak of his mattress that indicated he was, in fact, getting up for the day. I straightened up and tried to focus my hearing to gauge his movement, but it was difficult with Sophie pushing against me with all her might.
“Get out of here! Oof!” she grunted, her voice muffled in my chest. “Leave, you big tree!” I came back to life with a laugh and pushed her from me.
“What did you just call me?”
“You’re a ridiculous tree,” she insisted, “You’re too tall!”
I snorted and pulled her in for one last kiss before I placed my hand on the windowsill and jumped over, plunging to the ground. When I landed I heard her gasp from above and I glanced up with a smile and two thumbs up to ensure her that I was fine. I had jumped down from heights much bigger than one story before. Hurriedly, I dashed around the yard to pick up my things and hid along the side of the house where I could change into my clothes undetected.
I crouched amongst the hedges as I waited for her father to head off to work. When the coast was clear, I made my way down the street to where I had covertly parked the truck. My original plan was to pick up some bagels and bring them back so that we could have breakfast together, but seeing myself in the rearview mirror I realized my damp clothes were disheveled and had me smelling a little too much like a wet dog. It was a better idea to go home and change first.
The moment I entered the house I was surprised to see my friends were all up and congregated together. Instantaneously, they bombarded me with worried questions and it dawned on me that the last any of them
had seen or heard from me was the day before when I had gotten up and left without an explanation. Even Connall was expressing concern, and he usually never seemed shaken by anything.
“Sorry, I had some errands to run.” I shrugged, playing off their distress like it wasn’t a big deal. Frankie punched my arm and I laughed. “Honestly guys, I’m fine. In fact, I’m great.”
“So you got Sophie back,” Milo guessed. I couldn’t contain my responding smile.
“How’d you do it? Did you hold a boom box outside of her window? Recite some poetry perhaps?” Benji joked as the group followed me into the kitchen. He wasn’t far off, actually. I poured myself a cup of coffee from the pot.
“We talked, that’s all.” I shrugged again. Frankie and Milo shared a look as they sat on the stools in front of the island counter.
“Oh, okay, ‘that’s all’.” Milo hummed. “Noah, if that was all you wouldn’t be grinning like the Cheshire cat.”
“Nothing happened,” I insisted, taking a long dramatic sip. “She just told me she loves me.” I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but somehow my smile managed to grow even wider.
Frankie groaned. “We stayed up all night for you and that’s the big news? I thought you had gotten laid.” Normally that would have sparked a bit of rage in me, but nothing could ruin this great day. Suddenly bored, she got up and left the room. Connall left as well, saying nothing as he patted me on the back on his way out.
“Atta boy,” Milo said, getting up, “Well, now that the crisis is averted, I’m going back to my place to sleep. Let me know if you want to throw around a football later.”
Suddenly Benji and I were the only ones left in the room, and he was looking at me with a scrunched up nose.
“She said she loves you?” he asked, “While you were wearing that? You look like a drowned rat.” He shook his head in disbelief and left the room.
“Thanks so much for the support, guys,” I called out to them, “Feels good!”
“What are you shouting about?” Ma came into the kitchen wearing pajamas and a silk robe. She eyed me up and down and placed her hands on her hips. “And why do you look like you’ve been tossed about in a tornado?”
“Sophie and I are back together,” I replied with a smile, as if that answered both her questions.
“I told you that girl would come around.” She came forward and hugged me. It was true, she never once questioned that Sophie loved me. At the time I disagreed but now I knew it to be true. “Are you finally going to shave now?” She rubbed the stubble on my chin when she pulled back.
“Yes, Ma.” I placed my hand over hers as I pulled it down and noticed the tiredness in her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Of course.” She moved away to fill herself a mug of coffee as well. “I got your message that you were meeting with Chloe, finally. How did that go?”
“Surprisingly well.” I moved to the fridge to hand her the creamer I knew she would use. She smiled appreciatively as I continued, “She doesn’t expect her aunt to know much more about the Rippings than we do, but she agreed to at least ask. In the meantime, she’s offered up the help of her coven for anything we might need. We’ve sort of formed an alliance.”
She nodded slowly as she poured the creamer into her coffee. “And were you sensitive to her feelings when you told her about Sophia, given you two have a history?”
I was at a loss of words. “H-history?”
She placed the creamer down on the counter and looked me in the eye, “You think I didn’t know?”
“What? No! I thought if you did you would try to stop it!”
“You knew what you were doing was against the rules.” She took a sip from her mug. “You didn’t need me to tell you. If I intervened you would only have resented our kind even more. It was an important lesson you had to learn all on your own.”
She had a point. In those days I was essentially the worst moody teenager ever, and I blamed everything on being a shifter. I saw it as a curse, an affliction I was burdened with hiding for the entirety of my miserable life. It must have hurt Ma to see her son reject himself and his clan so much.
“I’m sorry if I was ever difficult,” I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder. She laughed and I was happy to see it brought more color to her skin.
“You’re forgiven.” She placed a hand on my cheek. “It was all worth it to see the great man you have become today.” I pulled her into a hug and buried my head in her neck, warmth spreading throughout my chest. “Whew, Noah, did you just come out of a swamp? You smell terrible!”
I laughed and pulled back putting my hands in the air in surrender. “Okay! Message received! I’m going to take a shower!”
Chapter Twenty
Sophia
Having not slept all night, I more or less napped the entire day away, thankful that I had the day off from work. When I finally woke up around late afternoon, I felt more energized than I had in days. Now that Noah was back in my life, I had a new positive outlook. Finally, the secrets between us were out in the open and Noah and I were closer than ever. It felt really good, to say the least.
After a relaxing bath and a session of primping, I texted him and invite him over for pizza and a movie. I would have loved to go to the ranch and maybe spend some more time with Liath Macha, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to pick me up and take the drive there and back so many times for my sake. Not even ten minutes after I texted him, he was knocking at my house. Excitedly, I ran down the stairs and threw open the door, pulling him inside. Almost immediately, I was enveloped in his arms as he kissed me greedily, spinning us around slowly. I loved it when he lifted me.
“Hi,” I said simply as he placed me down.
“Hi.” He kissed my forehead and straightened up with a smile. “Did you have a good nap?”
“Very nice,” I affirmed, drawing out every syllable with a satisfied stretch. “How was your day?”
“Very nice,” he replied, just as slowly.
“Any particular reason?” I led the way into the living room. He followed me and we sat down on the couch together.
“I can think of one,” he said, tapping his finger on the tip of my nose. Our eyes connected and we moved to each other as if we were magnets of opposite charges. It was amazing how quickly we adrenalized each other. When we kissed it was like we were each other’s life source and we could never get our fill. By the time we finally broke apart again, his hair was mussed up and my lips were puffy. Momentarily satiated, we moved to rest horizontally, his long limbs draping off the side of the couch.
“I missed that,” he said with a sad sigh as he nuzzled his nose in my hair.
“Me too,” I agreed, “Next time I’m stupid and not speaking to you, you should still come over to just make out.” He laughed mirthlessly.
“I would hope that would never happen again, but I’ll hold you to that. When words are failing, we’ll just resort to communicate through body language.”
“Exactly,” I said, “But I doubt that day will come. You’ve already told me your deep dark secret, right? There’s nothing else to scare me away.” He was silent in thought and I raised my head to look at him in surprise. “That was the worst of it, right? You’re not, like, a convicted murderer or something?”
“No, that was the ‘worst’ of it, if you’d like to call it that,” he said with a frown. I could tell my phrasing had insulted him and I placed a kiss on his chest in apology. “I think I should still tell you about what’s going on with the pack, though. There’s sort of a… threat against us.”
I sat up in alarm and his eyes watched me warily. I tried my best to look as open and understanding as possible. He sat up and proceeded to go into detail about all the drama that had been going on, detailing the vendetta some ex-member held against them. It hurt my heart to hear about Adeline being poisoned, and I finally understood why it evoked the reaction from Noah that it did.
“I cannot believe you were dealing with an attempte
d murder on your mother and I was yelling at you and giving you a hard time!” I covered my face with my hands. Yet another tally under the list of Moments In Which I Was The Worst Girlfriend Ever.
“Meeting you was the best thing that could have happened to me that day,” he said, pulling my hands down, “Don’t feel bad for acting so feisty. It was hot.” I shoved his shoulder and he laughed.
“You are the only person on the planet who enjoys my anger,” I accused. He leaned forward and kissed me quickly.
“That’s what makes us perfect for each other,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Yeah,” I agreed, running my hands around the back of his neck and tugging him back for a longer kiss. When we broke apart, I pouted in contemplation as I considered everything he had just told me. As he waited for me to gather my thoughts, he slowly ran his thumb back and forth across my bottom lip. “So these people are being taken from their families? Against their will?” I clarified after a moment. He nodded forlornly.
“It’s more than just being kidnapped. When a shifter is ripped from their clan, it’s like they’re ripped from their soul. They become aimless. Their logic and morals slowly disintegrate and transform into a wild, rabid frenzy. They’re unpredictable, maniacal, and violent creatures. It seems as if Beau intends to become their new alpha, but a pack like that would be next to impossible to control.”
“I just don’t know what Adeline could have done to deserve that,” I mumbled, “Or even those poor shifters in Canada. What does he have against them? Why is he doing this?”
“He was always a violent guy,” he said, his eyes unfocused with distant memories, “Apparently there was a time when he was my dad’s best friend but I avoided him because I could always tell he was a little off. It was clear to everyone that he thought he was meant to be the alpha, and the fact he wasn’t was a source of great frustration. I guess jealousy just got to him and he snapped, deciding to make himself Alpha of a new pack.”
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