Raelya wandered in a moment later and came to stand near me quietly. I smiled up at her. “Hey. Won’t be much longer.”
Raelya touched my shoulder gently. “It is no worry.”
I smiled at her appreciatively. When I looked back at Joe, he was giving me a smirk that told me what he was thinking before he decided to voice his thoughts. “So’s this your girlfriend?”
Raelya smiled faintly and looked away. I coughed mildly. “Uh, no. Sorry, Joe, this is my—” My what? I could hardly say “packmate”. Raelya was too much to me to just be a friend, but what choice did I have? “—friend. I mean… Raelya. This is—”
Raelya reached for Joe’s hand and smiled at him. “I am Raelya Gunnarsdottir. I am Dakota’s new roommate.”
Joe smiled and shook her head. “Oh, well hello Raelya.” He said her name all wrong like “ral-yeh” and I didn’t feel so bad at myself for how much I generally butchered my pack’s names anymore. He also said it a little flirty-like, and my wolf roiled to the surface. I felt my shoulders edge ever so slightly toward him before I caught myself. Raelya’s hand on my shoulder tensed; she could sense my wolf’s unease and knew enough to figure how I’d react, no doubt.
But Raelya could take care of herself. She gave a pretty smile as she shook his hand then drew herself up and brushed her fingers along her braid. “And you must be Joe Davis, Dakota’s boss? She speaks highly of you.”
Joe grinned. “That would be me. And I’ll bet she does.” He narrowed his eyes at me playfully.
I shook my head and tapped the papers. “Focus, cowboy. She bats for my team.”
Joe sighed and went back to writing. Raelya tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh? Do I?”
I blinked and glanced up at her. “Uh, yeah? I mean—”
Raelya smirked at me wickedly. “I do not believe I have ever said that I am not interested in men, have I?”
Joe raised an eyebrow, then shot me a digging, triumphant grin. My stomach lurched with embarrassment. “Uh, well I guess… not precisely. But I figured—” I met her eyes. What was I going to say? I didn’t want to bring up the fact that she’d kissed me, or the uncomfortable longing I’d felt in return for her that had caused me a deal of grief in regards to my girlfriend. I still wasn’t quite sure how to define my relationship with Raelya and I didn’t want to strain it at this point. For once, I was at a total loss for words.
Raelya started laughing, then squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. “Dakota, I am just playing with you. You should see your face.” Her body language told me a different tale. I’m sorry, said the tilt of her head. Don’t be upset, said the set of her shoulders. I love you, said the brush of her hip against my side.
I laughed it off with her and Joe chuckled then sighed again, shaking his head. “Just my luck, eh?”
I recovered quickly from the deeper emotions, returning to the guise of happy-go-lucky joviality that I commonly wore at work. “You’re too handsome for her anyway, hot stuff.”
Joe snorted. “Shaddup, Shepherd.” He glanced at Raelya again with a good-humored smile. “Besides, I’m old enough to be your father.”
Raelya shared a devious smirk with me when Joe wasn’t looking. Her lips quirked up cutely with private amusement. “Oh, I would not go that far. I am older than I look.”
We all chatted a little more as we finished up the paper work. Casual conversation about our trip to Canada filled the silence that might have been awkward for me if I’d let that nagging embarrassment hang on, but I did my best to banish it with smiles and jokes as usual. Joe finished my resignation form and I signed it, then checked over the schedule for the next two weeks that he’d done me the favor of bringing along from the office.
“I haven’t done up the schedule for next week, so really, if you wanted to just do the one, I can get Dean and Phillips to take on the extra shifts and be done with it. What’s better for you?”
I smiled at Joe’s willingness to help me out. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that. I can work it if you need me, but if it’s no different, I wouldn’t mind going ahead and checking out by this Thursday either.”
Joe nodded. “Yeah, I figured you might say that. It’s no trouble, Shepherd. I’m gonna have to fill the schedule for a while anyway until we find someone to replace you, and with half the administration on vacation for the Fourth, that’s not gonna happen for a while anyway.”
I grimaced. “Ech, bad timing?”
Joe shrugged. “Nah. You get out of here, kid. Get out and move on to better things.” Joe huffed and quirked a thoughtful smile. “I’m proud of you for chasing that old dream.”
I smiled back, touched. “Thanks, Joe.”
“Now get out of here. You’ve got bigger things to do than patrolling around this place, running off the bums and tackling crazy cultists.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I guess I do.” I glanced at Raelya and her knowing smirk told me she was thinking what I was thinking. If only he knew.
5
Moving In
Amorie texted me “I love you” just before sunrise. It was short, sweet, simple and thoughtful of her to take the time to contact me when she was likely hurrying to beat the sunrise after such a long, busy night. I let myself smile at the sentiment even as I felt a pang in my stomach over the distance between us. I wanted her to be here. Instead, she was very far away, and it felt like our time together was always incredibly brief.
I wanted to see her more often, to spend time with her, and to get to know her better. If we were lovers, if we were in love, we should be together more than we had been so far. At the same time, I knew she was incredibly busy right now, and some of that busyness was due to the three days we’d spent together when I’d dropped in on her in Nashville. It’s not like she’d had time to plan a reprieve from her duties. Making up for the things she’d missed was costing her every spare minute we might otherwise have had now.
Still I wanted it to be better than that. I wanted us to be a constant, not an occasion. And it really bothered me that we weren’t. I knew that was selfish, even childish in some ways, but I couldn’t really control how I felt. At least I could control what I did with those feelings, however. I texted her back. “Love you too. Rest well.” I wondered if she’d even see it or if she was already settled in. To my delight, she texted back. “And you, little wolf.” There. I felt we were connected again. Funny how much difference the few characters on my screen could mean to me.
Maybe it was the just that we had been so busy and absent for the last few days, since my trip to Canada and through the weekend. Maybe it wouldn’t feel so bad in a few days more when she was less busy and we were both more capable of communicating, even if just by text or phone.
Raelya smiled at me sidewardly as we coasted through Gatlinburg. “From Amorie?” She asked, glancing toward my phone briefly.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “Just saying goodnight. Or good morning. You know.” I tucked my phone away and started adjusting the radio. There was usually nothing but talk shows on this early, but Raelya had a couple of CDs tucked into a little case in the visor, so I put one on at random. It turned out to be a lovely Celtic-rock album.
Raelya started humming along with the singer as the song began, and I just leaned back in the seat and rested for the remainder of the ride. We chatted a little about the music and such, but I was feeling thoughtful, and eager to be home. Now that there was a place that truly felt like home again, anyway.
We arrived at the pack house and it was nearly six in the morning. Raelya and I went ahead and unloaded my things, carrying everything upstairs into the new room I’d be calling my own. It was right next to hers. We weren’t the only ones awake, which was good because I’d have felt bad if I were interrupting everyone’s sleep by bringing my stuff inside, but I noticed that Elisa and Elliot were up and busy with something in the living room and Ralof had apparently already set out for work as his truck was absent. This was my new home, and this was my new family. It was still
going to take some getting used to.
Raelya and I finished settling my boxes into my new bedroom and I flopped onto the nicely-made bed that had been a guest-room bed until now. I’d been assured that moving my old bed wasn’t necessary if I wasn’t attached to it as it was easier to leave the current bed in place than it would be to move it into storage. I planned on being here a while, so I might replace it eventually, but for now, bed sweet bed it was. Still, it wasn’t mine. It didn’t smell of me. It smelled of other wolves, fresh air and the very faintly-scented detergent that Elisa used on the household linens since stronger smelling stuff would have irritated the noses of werewolves.
Raelya settled down onto the end of the bed next to my legs and smiled at me. “Tired?”
“A bit. You?”
“Yes. It is getting late for me. What do you want to do?”
I sighed and sat up. “Rest. The trip messed up my schedule, but normally I’m asleep at this hour.”
Raelya laid her head very gently on my shoulder. “You could stay in my room if you would prefer. We can turn on a movie and if you can not sleep, you can at least rest for a while.”
I grinned. “Slumber party part two? I’d like that. It’ll be easier to get used to sleeping here if I have something familiar to cling to.” I laid an arm around Raelya’s waist and squeezed her indicatively.
Raelya smiled. “Good. Come then.” She got up and I followed her out of my new room into hers after grabbing a change of clothes. I wanted to wear something comfortable and well-worn, so I pulled out my favorite oversized Sherlock tee, the one that said “I am Sherlocked” and some boxers for the night.
Raelya’s room was the same warm and inviting place it had always been. It was a cozy room with pretty floral curtains and a hand-made quilt on the bed. Her walls bore many items that I knew had stories behind them, like an old airplane propeller with “Spitfire” blazoned across it in burning, faded letters, a pair of old aviation goggles, and a grappling hook thingy that might actually have been an anchor; I had no idea. But I made a note that it’d be a good idea to ask her about them at some point.
I glanced around and noted two other doors in the room. “One of you is a bathroom.”
Raelya smirked and pointed. I took her directions and closed the door behind myself to change in privacy. I decided on a quick shower since it had been a long day and I’d been pretty active. I didn’t think I’d broken a sweat despite carrying boxes down flights of stairs and all the work of packing before that. Being a werewolf had its perks and one of them was better endurance than average humans.
I thought about that in the shower. I’d always felt I was weirdly lucky with fitness. I was a little quicker than I had a right to be and my stamina was better than precisely made sense considering that I was a bit of a couch potato, but now that my wolf was active, I was definitely noticing that I’d become even more capable in those ways; maybe I felt a little stronger to boot. Nothing spectacular, but I had noticed it wasn’t as difficult to carry those boxes as I’d have expected.
A quick shower later, I stuck my head out and asked Raelya if I could borrow her hairbrush.
“Of course,” she said. “Forgot yours?”
I shrugged. “Actually couldn’t find it. I would have sworn I tossed it in the same bag as my shampoo and stuff, but apparently I’d have been wrong.”
Raelya smirked at me. “What is mine is yours.”
“Thanks.” I grinned and ducked my head back into the bathroom to finish up.
I emerged a few minutes later in my night clothes with freshly towel-dried hair and a big smile. “It feels good to be home.”
Raelya had donned a soft-looking, sleeveless night gown of pale blue satin and was settled comfortably onto her bed with a book in hand. I darted to the bed and vaulted over her, landing on the bed beside her. Raelya laughed at my antics. “I am glad that you are happy, Dakota.” She leaned her head down and nuzzled at my forehead. I nuzzled back at her, responding to the wolf inside.
“So whatcha reading?” I leaned against her shoulder and peered at her book.
Raelya twisted the paperback around to show me the cover. “It is a fantasy story. It is beautifully written, and very exciting.”
I read the title carefully and nodded. “I prefer movies.”
Raelya smiled. “I know you do not read for fun very much.” She tilted her head slightly. “It is because you are dyslexic, yes?”
I nodded. “It makes reading slow and difficult. Too hard to have fun. Well, I guess I could if I really wanted, but it’s usually more of a headache than it’s worth for me. I’ll just wait till the movie comes out.”
Raelya smirked at me cleverly. “And what if it is never made into a movie?”
I scoffed playfully. “Can’t be that good if they never make a movie out of it, can it?”
Raelya thumped her book on my head softly. “There are a great many wonderful books that have never become a movie.”
I shook my head. “Craziness. Movies are like reading a book in a tenth of the time. Plus special effects and eye-candy.”
Raelya shook her head as she marked her page and set the book aside. “Many of the movies that are made from books do no justice to the words they are based upon.”
“Yeah, that’s what people say, but can you really say that Harry Potter was more fun to read than watch? Half of the fun was seeing the magic stuff come to life like that.”
Raelya smirked at me. “Perhaps the effect is less if you have seen real magic before.”
I blinked. “Oh. Wow. I uh… Yeah. I didn’t think of it that way.” Raelya laughed.
We turned on a movie on Netflix and chatted and I managed to fall asleep after an hour or so of snuggling up to my packmate in a bed that smelt less foreign than my new one next door.
6
Where the Heart Is
I slept fitfully, dozing in and out for hours. Years of working a night-shift job meant I was normally sleepy in the daytime and wide awake at night. But the recent trip to Canada had required me to swap for a few days, and I hadn’t really settled back into my normal rhythm just yet. I imagined that the notorious “jet lag” might have had something to do with it also. I’d never flown before, so I wasn’t really familiar with the feeling, but it sounded right, if media was to be trusted on the subject.
Sleeping next to Raelya certainly made it all easier though. My wolf was content and practically purring from the comfort of resting with another wolf. Even as annoying as it was to wake up repeatedly from a general lack of restfulness, at least I could snuggle back in next to Raelya and she would doubtlessly tuck an arm around me, or sleepily brush her fingers through my hair a few times, and that was all I needed to drift off again.
We woke after noon and drifted down stairs in our PJ’s seeking breakfast. Elisa was out working in the garden, so Raelya offered to teach me how to make pancakes. I could manage a box of Bisquick, but Raelya scoffed at using a mix for something as “simple” as pancakes, then proceeded to do kitchen magic that defied explanation and somehow turned a handful of white powders and milk into the yummiest, fluffiest pancakes I’d ever had. Elisa believed that everyone should be able to basically take care of themselves, which to her, meant knowing how to cook, sew, grow and hunt food, and a few other things. Maybe there was something to that. The most I knew how to do in a kitchen was microwave leftovers and ramen. I could probably manage a frozen pizza and a grilled cheese. More than that was asking for trouble.
But Raelya made it look so easy, I wanted to learn more. She took a handful of frozen berries and a couple of tablespoons of sugar and turned it into a berry sauce in less time than it took me to separate a pack of bacon strips. I layered the God of Meats onto a griddle next to the pancakes and in a few minutes, we settled down at the bar with a delicious breakfast and Elisa’s in-house juice mix. I took a bite of the fluffy, buttery, sweet berry-sauce topped pancakes and groaned in delight. Raelya smiled at me quietly as she did the same.
I wandered around the side of the house and found Raelya helping Elisa in the garden. She had apparently gone upstairs and changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a loose brown tank top at some point after breakfast, and her hair was freshly braided. I came over to see what they were up to and Elisa began conscripting me into cutting peppers from the little plants that lined the newest pair of garden boxes. She’d had Ralof build them earlier this year just opposite the original set that ran the length of the house, forming a little path around to the back yard.
I politely declined Elisa’s offered pair of snippers and promised to return and claim them after changing into daytime clothes as I’d been wandering around in my night shirt and boxers still. Elisa nodded once, glancing me over and smirking as she went back to work, claiming that she could never be sure with the way we younger ones tended to dress. I didn’t bother pointing out to her that my Sherlock shirt could double as a tent in a pinch.
I went upstairs and changed, then came back down to help with the peppers, and spent the next hour digging around in the garden, pulling up weeds and snipping bits of food from the little plants Elisa had lovingly tended. I marveled at how much I was enjoying myself by the time the work was done; I never did stuff like this. Who’d have known it could be so much fun? Or maybe it was just satisfying to spend time with Elisa and Raelya, working quietly together, talking and laughing, being useful to my family. Being accepted by them. Belonging.
Raelya drove me to work that evening. She smelled of fresh herbs and tomato vines. It struck me how much more actively I was using my sense of smell now that my wolf and I were reunited. It’d only been a few days since I’d reclaimed the wolf and rejoined her fully, so it was surprising to me that these changes had come so quickly. I don’t know why I’d expected it to take longer, but I had.
Hunted (Auralight Codex: Dakota Shepherd Book 2) Page 4