by M. J. Scott
***
The change was uneventful. I didn’t hunt, just ran through the woods, reveling in speed and the sensation of eating up the ground beneath my paws. In reality, I was hunting for Dan but I didn’t catch his scent at any point and eventually, I returned to Ani’s as the sun rose and crawled into bed, exhausted and even more confused about what I should do.
Ani woke me around midday with a cheerful, “Pack meeting in an hour.”
She was way too chirpy and I hid my head under the pillow. Pack meeting. I’d see Dan finally. Question was, what reaction would I get? In all my thinking, I’d known one thing, even if I hadn’t really wanted to admit it.
I wasn’t ready to let him go. Not again.
Only trouble was, I had no idea how to convince him of that.
***
The first person I saw as I headed for the main house was Natalie, sitting by herself on one of the garden benches directly in my path. I hesitated, not sure if I should just go around her and avoid the inevitable confrontation. But then she looked up and smiled at me and something lifted in my heart a little.
I walked over to her, sunlight warming my skin. The air smelled like the pink and yellow roses blooming in the garden bed. “Natalie, how are you doing?”
Her smile was a little shaky but she nodded. “I’m hanging on.” She ducked her head a little. “I think I owe you an apology.”
I shook my head. “No apologies.”
“What I said to you—”
“You were upset. Don’t think about it.”
“Okay.” Her smile grew stronger. “Okay, thanks. But if you ever need a favor—”
I felt an answering smile bloom across my own face as something occurred to me, a way of maybe making Dan deal with me. “You know, there might just be something you can do for me.”
She looked puzzled. “What?”
I sat down next to her on the bench. “There’s something I need to know.”
***
After my conversation with Natalie, I was running late for the pack meeting. She’d answered my questions then gone on ahead. I’d heard her chuckling to herself as she walked across the grass. I was glad someone thought it was funny, because now that I’d had my brilliant idea, I was starting to feel distinctly nauseous.
My foot twinged a little. I wriggled my toes, glad of the distraction. The pain was almost gone after my change but I still limped slightly. It was tempting to use that as an excuse to stay right where I was but Ani would kick my butt for missing the meeting.
So I told myself to stop being a wimp, that facing Dan wasn’t as scary as facing Tate, and walked up to the house.
Everyone was already sitting in the circle as I walked into the room, feeling like I might just throw up. Heads turned toward me as I closed the door behind me. Sam was standing in the center of the ring of wolves and I saw Dan sitting near Ani.
My eyes met his and he looked away. I narrowed my eyes. Right. If he thought he could avoid me then he had another thought coming.
Despite the fact he wouldn’t look at me, Dan looked good. Not pale and bruised like he had at Tate’s. Apart from a bandage around his right wrist, he looked just fine. More than fine, actually, my heart sped up just looking at him and then redoubled as his scent hit my nose.
“So,” said Sam, looking at me curiously. “Who has business?”
My throat felt dry but I managed to say “I do.” I stepped into the center of the circle, ignoring the buzz of voices, looking only at Dan. He, apparently, was fascinated by something in his lap.
“What business?” Sam asked.
I looked at Dan again and wondered if I was crazy. But knew I had to find out. “I call claim,” I said loudly. “I call claim on Daniel Gibson. Full claim.”
Dan’s head flew up as the room exploded into conversation. Full claim meant bonding if we decided. It was a marriage proposal, or close enough to. Or so Natalie had told me in our little chat. If Dan turned me down he turned down any right to pursue me in the future.
“Full claim,” I repeated with only a slight quiver in my voice as Dan’s eyes finally met mine, all liquid silver that I might just drown in.
The look on his face told me everything I needed to know.
THE END
About The Author
M.J Scott is an unrepentant bookworm. Luckily she grew up in a family that fed her a properly varied diet of books and these days is surrounded by people who are understanding of her story addiction. When not wrestling one of her own stories to the ground, she can generally be found reading someone else’s. Her other distractions include yarn, cat butlering, dark chocolate and fabric. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Keep in touch with M.J.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/melscott
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMJScott
Her website: http://www.mjscott.net
***
Need more Ashley Keenan?
Watch out for THE DARK SIDE, coming later in 2014.
In the meantime, check out M.J. Scott’s other books:
The Half-Light City series – Roc
Shadow Kin Blood Kin
Iron Kin
Fire Kin (May 2014)
Table of Contents
Praise for Previous Books
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
About The Author