by Sable Sylvan
* * *
The next morning, Abigail got up early to help Alice pack the car. The ride to Dallas would be long, so they had packed snacks and beverages. Abigail went back upstairs to get a sweater and to try and get something else.
Abigail knocked at Clove’s door.
He answered, wearing only a towel.
Abigail tried not to blush but knew she was wearing her arousal on her sleeve.
“Hey,” said Abigail. “Uh…I was wondering if you had changed your mind.”
“Changed my mind?” asked Clove, leaning against the doorway. “About…?”
“About going to Dallas with us,” said Abigail. “After all, we’re going to be doing some Christmas shopping for next week, just some last minute stuff like decorations.”
“Can’t the help handle that? Or a decorator?” asked Clove.
“You have no idea how we do things in Texas, do you?” asked Abigail. “Come on. Come with us. It’ll be a lot of fun. We can look at the storefronts, sip hot chocolate…”
“I have to work on my thesis,” said Clove. “I’d go if I could. I swear. But…”
“Say no more, I get it,” said Abigail. “I got a lot of work done these past few days. Maybe what you need is a quiet house with no distractions.”
“Yeah, maybe,” said Clove. “Not that you’re a distraction or anything…” Clove looked over Abigail. She was wearing clothes that would be comfy for a long car ride, loose, warm sweatpants tucked into shearling boots, with a big cardigan. She looked a-frikkin’-dorable.
“You sure about that?” teased Abigail.
“I’ve gotta go,” said Clove. “Sorry. Have a fun time in Dallas.”
“Well, you have my number in case you need anything, right?” asked Abigail.
“Yeah, I have it, from Herb,” said Clove. “He emailed out everyone’s numbers a few weeks back.”
“Oh, okay,” said Abigail. “So…”
“I’ve gotta go,” said Clove, shutting his door.
Abigail was stunned. She’d been expecting something like a kiss, or at the very least, a hug. Clove had been so affectionate the night before, but now, he was practically ignoring her.
Abigail took a deep breath and went to her room to grab her extra sweater and went back down to the cars. Herb was driving Clove’s European car with Addy and Kai. Abby was caravanning with Allie and Sav.
“You got everything you need?” asked Sav as Abby got into the backseat.
“Yeah,” lied Abby. “I do.”
* * *
They made good time and got to Dallas in time to check into the hotel and still have a few hours of shopping. Dallas during Christmas was a magical experience. For the first time, Abby was able to afford to get whatever she wanted. They’d visited Dallas and Houston for the Christmas season before, with their parents, but this time they could buy stuff that wasn’t from the bargain bin. The sisters had already had many boxes of gifts sent to the house for their gift exchange over the last few weeks, but they were buying last minute gifts for people and buying decor.
While Allie and Addy looked at crystal ornaments, Abby looked at her phone. It was like a magic mirror between her and Clove, and the mirror was jet black when it was off. She woke her phone up. She hadn’t had any notifications in a while. Maybe her phone was on silent.
Nope, her phone was set to loud, and she had no new texts from Clove. There weren’t any texts at all, in fact. She had his number and the rest of the Scoville Brothers’ numbers programmed into her phone, but she had never received a text from any of them except for Herb. Clove was no exception.
Abby tapped his number and pressed the messages button.
“Hey,” wrote Abby, but before she could send it, she deleted it.
No. She’d tried hard enough. She had reached out to him so many times over the last few weeks, and he had pulled away every time. Maybe Clove was right. Maybe dating would just be drama that they didn’t need. It would be messy, and another mess was the last thing she needed.
“Hey, can I see your phone?” asked Kai, coming up to Abby.
“Yeah, here,” said Abby.
“Awesomesauce,” said Kai. She took Abby’s phone and turned it off, then removed the outer case, then the back case, and then the battery.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” asked Abby.
“I know why you’re checking your phone all the time,” said Kai. “You’re waiting for him to text.”
Kai knew what was going on between her and Clove? No frikkin’ way. They had tried to hide their attraction from each other, but apparently had failed.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Abby.
Kai pocketed the battery. “You’re telling me that you aren’t checking to see if Jason is texting you?”
Jason. Abby hadn’t even thought of him since the incident last week.
“No, I’m not,” said Abby truthfully.
“Then I guess you won’t mind me keeping this,” said Kai, pocketing the phone. “I’ll give it back to you at the end of the night, but while you’re here, enjoy yourself. You love Dallas. You love Christmas. Christmas in Dallas is your favorite winter thing. And it’s frikkin’ snowing! Come on. Let’s get hot chocolate, feed frozen veggies to some ducks, and have a good time…okay?”
“Okay,” said Abby. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be thinking about a guy. I can’t let a guy ruin my holiday.”
* * *
Abby and Kai went to get frozen veggies and cocoa from a stand that sold those two things, for tourists that wanted to feed the ducks that congregated in the lake in the middle of the large shopping center. Sav and Addy joined in while Herb and Allie went to get some more decorations for their tree. After feeding the ducks, it was back to the hotel to have some room service and watch Christmas movies on television.
“You Americans know how to do Christmas,” admitted Herb.
“I forgot, this is your first Christmas, isn’t it?” asked Abby.
“Yes, and it’s something else,” said Herb. “It’s not as…traditional as Christmas in Norway.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Sav, a hand on her hip.
“It means that, like everything, Texas does it bigger and better,” said Herb. “And I’m glad we’ll all get to make some new traditions of our own, together, as one family.”
“Yeah, it’s too bad Clove isn’t here with us,” said Alice. “Oh well. I hope he’s getting a lot of work done at home.”
“Me, too,” said Abby softly.
“Oh, here,” said Kai, passing the phone, case, and battery to Abby. “Now you can mess around on this as much as you want.”
“Thanks,” said Abby. She put her phone back together and turned it on. There were some notifications from social media, a few spammy emails from her college, about events happening on campus over break, and…a text message.
It was from Clove. It was the only text message that either of them had sent the other.
Abby opened the message.
* * *
Abby,
I was wrong. I’ve been wrong since the beginning, about you, about us, about the feelings I feel for you. I feel something for you, Abby. It’s all I can think about. Ever since we kissed at the engagement party, you’re the only woman I’ve been able to think about. No matter where I go, I can’t run from my feelings. I should have told you this before. It’s easier to do over text message than to say to you in person. Every time my polar tries to tell you, I stop the bear, but I’m not stopping anymore.
I can’t wait to see you again. The room is empty without you here. I haven’t gotten anything done. I can’t work with you around because you distract me. I can’t breathe without you around me, because you are my air. I don’t want to eat. I don’t want to sleep. I just want to see you.
Without my beauty, I am but a beast.
Love,
Clove
* * *
Love. Had Clove written the word ‘love�
� in the text message? Abby did a double take. Was Clove admitting he had feelings for her? Her head said, ‘no way, no how,’ but her heart said, ‘of course.’ Abby could hardly believe it, but she knew that it had to be true.
“I need to go,” said Abby. “Back to the manor.”
“Is everything all right?” asked Herb.
“Yeah, I just…have some unexpected business to take care of,” said Abby. “Alice, can I have the keys to your car?”
“We’ll call you a car,” said Herb. “You’ll be home as soon as possible.”
“Abby, everything is all right, isn’t it?” asked Alice.
“It’s more than all right,” said Abby, tears streaming down her face, tears of relief. “It’s perfect.”
Chapter Seven
As soon as Clove sent the text, he regretted it. He had avoided telling her his feelings for so long and for a good reason. Neither of them were in any position to be together, so why have a romance that would leave them heartbroken?
After all, how could a beast like Clove ever find love? It was different for a woman like Abby, a woman with curves, a beauty by any reasonable standard. But Clove…well, his brother was the alpha of the clan, or at least would be, once their father and grandfather retired. The Scoville Polars were hunters, and what Clove was supposed to be focused on hunting down was a degree, with highest honors, just as Herb had told him.
So why did it feel like he was supposed to be hunting down something else, and following not the scent of success, but following his heart?
Clove couldn’t help but yell into a pillow. He didn’t want to wake the staff. There was no way that he could handle these emotions without yelling out, and without having an outburst. He rolled over his sheets, grabbing them, pulling them over his body and then bursting out of them, the sheets still in his fists, ripping as Clove thrashed on the bed.
There was no way that Abby could love a beast like him, a man who couldn’t keep his cool, a man who couldn’t keep his shift at bay. Before he had met Abby, this hadn’t even been a concern. He’d been challenged by her, that much was sure, but he had managed to keep his shift under wraps. That is, until the engagement party. The soft feeling of her lips against his haunted him.
Clove couldn’t handle it anymore. He ran out of his room, wearing only his silk boxers.
“Master Scoville!” cried a member of the staff who was carrying towels. “Is everything all right?”
Clove didn’t have time to answer. He opened the door with one hand and started to run out into the snow, but before he made it past the porch, he shifted, his clothes tearing, his body changing as the beast was unleashed.
The staff member had put the towels down and rushed downstairs to see what was wrong. The door was open. There was a set of human footprints on the shallow spray of snow over the porch. Past those was a set of large footprints, the imprints of the paw pads blurred by new snow, so anyone who saw them could only describe them as the tracks of a beast.
* * *
It was still night when Abby arrived back at the house. It was early in the morning, but the sky was still dark. Dawn hadn’t even broken yet. One thing was for sure. Fallowedirt was seeing more snow than it had seen in Abby’s recollection. Maybe it was true what they said about shifters. Maybe they did bring strange weather and stranger events. She barely recognized the town when it was covered in a layer of snow and ice that, if she were in a less distracted mood, she would have enjoyed. All she could think about was Clove and what she should say to him when she saw him.
The large black town car stopped outside of the mansion’s front door. Abby noticed a scrap of red. Was it blood? No. It was a scrap of red silk fabric. She let it flutter away in the wind and knocked at the front door, as she had forgotten her keys in her rush to get back.
“Hello?” shouted Abby. “Is anyone there?”
The door opened. A member of the staff, a woman with graying blonde hair, answered the door.
“Thank you so much,” said Abby.
“Miss Abigail, please wait,” said the staff member.
“No time,” said Abby, dropping her jacket at the door by slipping it off of her shoulders. She ran up the stairs, to her suite, but once she reached the bedroom wing, she saw that the door to Clove’s room was open.
Abby rushed over to the open room. The room was empty of any living souls.
“What?” asked Abby, talking to herself.
“Miss Abigail,” shouted the staff member, who had followed her up the stairs.
Abby turned. Huffing and puffing, the staff member waited at the entrance to the bedroom wing. Abby walked over to her.
“Do you know where Clove went?” asked Abby.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” said the staff member. “Clove, I’ve known the boy since he was a child, has never done anything like this before. That’s why I’m so worried.”
“Done anything like what before?” asked Abby.
“He ran off into the snow, didn’t you see the footprints?” asked the woman.
“The snow? Oh, shizz,” said Abby. “I have to go after him.”
“You can’t. The snow is too heavy,” said the woman. “You’re not like him. The Scoville Polars can take this weather, but you…”
“I can handle it if it means finding Clove,” said Abby.
“At least put on a warmer jacket,” insisted the woman. “And boots. Your sister has them in the mud room near the entrance. It was meant to be one of your surprises, but I’m sure she’d rather you have your surprise ruined than catch a death of cold.”
“Thank you,” said Abby, before rushing down the stairs to get changed into warmer clothes. The mudroom lockers had names on them, so she pulled the large puffy winter jacket out of her locker and put on a pair of real snow boots before heading out.
The estate was dark at night. They hadn’t had lights put in anywhere except for along the driveway up to the house, along the porch, and in the backyard. Abby couldn’t see anything out in the snow. Every time she thought she caught a glimpse of something moving, it turned out to be a wisp of snow blown into the air. Every time she thought she saw Clove’s polar form, it turned out to just be a snow dune.
“Clove!” shouted Abby. “Clove!” Abby didn’t get a response in the form of a roar. Only the howls of the wind answered her call.
* * *
Clove. Clove. The times Abigail had called his name haunted him like a ghost as he wandered the snowy hills and valleys of the estate, formed by the mounds of icy rain as if he were Heathcliff wandering the moor in ‘Wuthering Heights.’ How could Abigail haunt him, even here? He could escape his human form, but he could not escape his human feelings.
Clove. Clove. It was like he could hear her calling his name, in real life. Clove. Clove. He had to get her voice out of his head. He roared, trying to block out the sound that was coming from inside his head.
Clove? Clove! Even though he roared, he could still hear her calling him. He roared again, louder, as if he were a wolf shifter baying at the moon, except Clove was roaring for fate, begging for a release from the feelings inside his heart.
Clove lowered his gaze and saw something moving. Was there somebody else out there? There couldn’t be. If he had seen another shifter, that would’ve been one thing, but a human? In this weather? No way, no how…
But his eyes couldn’t deceive him.
A figure, petite, but with layers covering its curve, was there. Its scent was blown toward him, and he recognized the scent. Human. Female. Scared, but not scared like prey was scared. Scared like humans were scared, scared of something emotional, not something physical.
And the figure was calling his name.
“Clove! Clove!” shouted the girl. “Where are you?”
Clove roared and walked over the dunes of snow to the figure, through the blizzard, and the figure’s face came into view.
It was her. Of course it was her, how had he not scented her before? She had been
calling his name, and there she was, her cheeks pink, her hands nearly blue, shouting his name as tears streamed down her face, freezing to form a necklace around her décolletage.
“Is it you, Clove?” asked Abigail.
Clove nodded and motioned to his back.
“You…want me to get on?” asked Abigail.
Clove nodded.
“I’ve never done this before,” said Abigail, getting on Clove’s back gingerly.
* * *
She had found him. It had only taken half an hour, but, he was there. She had felt lost in the snow, in the dark, but when she heard Clove’s roar, she had gone toward it and followed the sound of his bellows to find him.
He was fine. Thank goodness, he was fine, but she couldn’t exactly say the same about herself. She was shivering. She had never felt this cold before, and it was no wonder Clove was insisting on carrying her home.
She got onto Clove’s back and put her hands against Clove’s fur. She took two big handfuls of fur and held on tight, trusting Clove to take her home, to take them home.
* * *
When they reached the porch, Abigail knocked at the door.
“There you two are,” said the staff member who had followed her up and down the stairs. “I was about to call for search and rescue. Get inside, before you freeze to death.” The woman was holding a big red flannel robe.
Abigail got inside and hung her things in the mudroom. When she came back out, Clove was already in human form, wearing the flannel robe.
The middle-aged woman had her hands on her hips and was shooting Clove a nasty glare as he stood in the hallway with the robe wrapped around his body. She had an imported Norwegian newspaper in one hand, leftover from Herb’s breakfast, and before Clove could react, she was swatting him with the rolled up paper, hard.