Dire

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Denny laughed. “He’s a good one. He’ll also be a good mate. He cares about you, and he’ll give you the space you need.”

  “He’s actually giving it to me now I think.”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “He wouldn’t let my leave the house a few days ago.”

  “It was freezing and crazy witches wanted to kill you.” He gave me a knowing look. “Does it surprise you that he was a tiny bit protective?”

  “Fair enough.” I smiled. “You’re really normal.”

  “Okay, that’s a new one.”

  “This is the most refreshing conversation I’ve had in days.” The one with Gage about the weather was better than nothing, but this one was even more relaxed. “Thanks for it.”

  “Do me a favor and tell Hunter that.”

  “Why? Do you get brownie points or something?”

  “Something like that.”

  “So what do we do first?”

  “Do you think we should go for an all-out tree house or one that has a base on the ground?”

  “I guess it depends on how sturdy the trees are here. I’d build up if you can since the ground is so soggy. This is a cypress tree, right?”

  “And you even know botany.” He smiled. “Impressive.”

  “Knowing common types of trees isn’t impressive.”

  “It is, trust me.”

  “Do Dires not know that kind of stuff?”

  “I’m not talking about Dires, I’m talking about humans.”

  “Well, to me it’s basic anyway.”

  “And that’s what makes you cool.” He smiled. “Geeky is cool.”

  “Wait. Now I’m geeky?”

  A howl had us both turning.

  Denny clucked his tongue. “Uh, that’s Hunter.”

  I sighed. “Do you need to go?”

  “You sound disappointed.”

  “I don’t feel like going back yet, and I don’t really want to hang out in the woods alone.”

  “Tell Hunter that if he gets pissed at me later?”

  “I’ll say I made you.” I laughed.

  “I’m holding you to that.” He climbed up the tree to start building the house off of the wet ground.

  Something bumped me from behind. I turned to find Hunter in his wolf form. “Hi.”

  He transformed. “Hi? Is that all you’re going to say?” His voice was hoarse and his eyes angry.

  “Don’t blame Denny.” I didn’t want to get him in trouble. I was the one who had wandered off.

  “What are you doing out here? You could have been hurt.”

  “But I’m not hurt.” I crossed my arms. I was tired of having to explain everything I did to someone.

  “She’s helping me build a shelter. Did you know Mary Anne has an extensive knowledge of trees?”

  “It’s not an extensive knowledge.” I only knew the most common types.

  “Come on, Hunter finds your geekiness cute too.” Denny winked.

  Hunter’s face softened. “I prefer the term intelligence, but yes.”

  “I wanted a break from everything.”

  “I understand, but next time tell me.”

  I nodded.

  Then he turned to Denny. “And you will answer my call. Do you understand?”

  “Absolutely.” Denny made complete eye contact with him.

  “Good.” Hunter suddenly smiled. “This gives me an idea.”

  “An idea?”

  “Yeah. Want to go out tonight?” His eyes brightened.

  “Go out?” What was he getting at?

  “Yeah. Dinner, maybe go listen to some music. Anything you want.”

  “Why?”

  He took both my hands in his. “Do I have to have a reason to want to take you out?”

  “It’s just a surprise.”

  “There’s one caveat though.”

  “Which is?”

  “And I’m not happy about it.” He looked down at our hands.

  “Ok.”

  “You need to dye your hair. We can’t have you recognized.” He ran a hand through my hair.

  “Like dye it black or something?”

  “That’s what Jocelyn picked up.”

  “She picked up hair dye?”

  “Yeah, after what happened at the mall it seemed like a good idea.”

  “I’ve never dyed my hair before.”

  “Jocelyn said she’d help you with it.”

  “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

  “Sure you do. If you want to stay at the homestead you don’t have to dye it. We can cook at home tonight. But if we’re going out into the city…”

  “Got it. I’ll go find Jocelyn I guess.”

  “I’ll walk you.” He squeezed my hand.

  “Bye, Denny. Sorry to leave you to do this alone.” I found myself disappointed I wouldn’t have more time working with my hands, but going into the city with Hunter might be important. It might give me the opportunity to get answers from him he wasn’t willing to give around the pack.

  Denny smiled. “I don’t have to finish it tonight.”

  “All right, then let me know when you’re ready to get back to it tomorrow.”

  He tapped the top of his head. “I’ll eagerly await seeing the new hair.”

  “I’m nervous.” I wasn’t worried about not looking good. That wasn’t a concern. I was scared of feeling even less like me. That seemed to be a common theme now.

  “Don’t be. You’d look good with any color hair, or no hair.”

  Hunter squeezed my hand. “Yes you would.” He walked me back to the campfire. Everyone turned to look at us.

  “You found her.” Gage said it softly, but I heard concern. It was so different from the way he’d talked earlier.

  “I didn’t know I was lost.”

  “Next time tell us when you’re leaving.” Marni scowled. What was her problem? Did she get high off of making me feel bad now or something?

  “The only one Mary Anne needs to notify is me. She did nothing wrong.” He turned us toward Jocelyn. Evidently he didn’t like the way she was talking to me. “You ready to work on some hair?”

  “Of course!” Jocelyn grinned.

  “We’re going out tonight, so maybe you can help her pick out one of her new outfits too.” Hunter smiled before releasing my hand.

  “I told you you’d need a cute little dress.” She put an arm on my shoulder and led me toward her cabin.

  Chapter Twenty

  Hunter

  “You look amazing.” It took me a few seconds to catch my breath after seeing her walk outside. I missed the red hair, but the jet black hair running down her back suited her too, and her dress. That dress. It nearly undid me. Tight in all the right places, it showed off her curves, and the halter top gave me a view of the barest hint of cleavage.

  “Thanks.” She looked down. She wasn’t good at accepting compliments. She was going to have to get used to it now that she was with me. I was over my annoyance about the dream. She’d been through so much. It wasn’t fair to expect her to forget about Gage so quickly.

  I took her chin in my hand so she had to look at me. “You are absolutely breathtaking.”

  “Thank you.”

  “The dark hair works for her, doesn’t it?” Jocelyn asked.

  I released her face and instead took her hand. “It does. It brings out her green eyes even more.”

  “I don’t even look like me. Between the hair and this dress, I feel like I’m playing dress up.”

  “You don’t usually wear dresses like this?” If not, I hoped she planned to do it again. She looked irresistible.

  “No. I prefer more coverage.”

  “You don’t need more coverage when you’re with Hunter.” Jocelyn brushed off her concern. “I wouldn’t worry about anyone else trying anything.”

  “You never have to worry when you’re with me.” I took her hand.

  She didn’t say anything, she just looked at us. That wasn’t a good start to the evening.
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  “Have a fun night you two.” Jocelyn grinned. She seemed oblivious to Mary Anne’s hesitation.

  I led Mary Anne toward the truck. It meant walking past the campfire where the rest of the pack was sitting. She caught Gage’s eye, but she quickly turned away. On his part, he didn’t even smile. I’d been right. His feelings for her didn’t go as deep as either of them thought. In time they’d learn to be friends again.

  “Where are we going for dinner?” She waited for me to unlock her door.

  I helped her up and waited while she buckled her seatbelt. “What kind of food are you in the mood for?”

  “Probably not the same kind you are.” She smiled lightly.

  I closed her door and hurried around to my side. “I’m in the mood for anything you want.” If something interested her, I’d eat it. She’d yet to show any sort of preference toward food. She’d only had a few bites of any meal she’d eaten with me.

  “I doubt Dires eat sushi.”

  I pulled the truck around and started the slow drive back down the dirt road. “Sure we do. Plus, I know of a great place that’s also a Japanese steak house.”

  She laughed. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Does that work? There’s great sashimi and rolls.”

  “You know about different types of sushi?”

  “Does that surprise you so much?”

  “Yes.”

  “I am not just a backwoodsman.”

  “The next thing I know you’re going to tell me you like tofu.”

  “We eat mostly meat, but that doesn’t mean we can’t eat other things. My taste buds don’t mind the variety.”

  “You’re so different than how you originally appeared.” She ran her teeth over her bottom lip. She was thinking.

  “Maybe it’s because you saw me the way you wanted to see me.”

  “Couldn’t I say the same thing about how you saw me? As the girl from your dreams?”

  “Yes. But you’re even better than I expected.”

  “In what ways?”

  “You’re even smarter and more interesting than I imagined.”

  “In other words you were only thinking about how I looked before.”

  “And how you felt. I loved talking to you in my dreams, but our talk always turned into something else.” I ran my thumb over her hand. “Seeing you yesterday…” I could still picture every inch of her, wet and so beautiful. “Maybe if I play my cards right I’ll get to enjoy that again?”

  “Is that what tonight is all about?” She tensed.

  “Of course not. Tonight is about enjoying each other’s company and going on a real date.”

  “A real date with real after date activities?”

  I laughed. “Let’s focus on the real date part. We’re going out for sushi.”

  “How are you so calm about everything?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be calm?” I continued down the long dirt road. Had she picked up on my bad mood earlier?

  “Moving so suddenly, knowing you still have to finish changing Gage, trying to find a way to end the hunt. There’s so much to not be calm about.”

  “You only live once. Why waste the good moments with worrying?”

  “This is a good moment for you?”

  “Taking my soon to be mate out on a date when she looks absolutely breathtaking? Yeah, that’s a good moment.”

  “Why did we have to tell the Sabers that we were already mated? I mean, they are going to figure out the truth anyway.”

  “They already have. Well, Jocelyn has.”

  “Then what was the point?”

  “I didn’t want them meddling, second guessing our decisions.”

  “In other words you didn’t want them trying to convince you that you had the wrong girl.” She looked out the window into the darkness.

  “I knew I was right.” I put a hand on her leg to get her to look at me. “That was never in question.”

  “But they might not think so.”

  I pulled off onto the highway that would lead us back toward town. After living in so many different places, they were starting to blur together. Back country roads always felt the same, whether they were covered in snow or surrounded by cypress swamps. Nearly all of them had seen better days and were fine when no one else drove down them, but were infuriatingly long when you were stuck behind someone slow. I wasn’t in a rush that night, but the highway was empty. It was just Mary Anne and I in the old Chevy truck. She wasn’t shivering now. She’d thrown on one of Jocelyn’s coats for when the shock and awe of the mild fifty-five degree weather wore off. It was far warmer than it had been further north, but it wasn’t warm by human standards.

  Her face was marred with worry lines. She wanted to ask me more questions, but something was holding her back. Maybe it was out of fear of upsetting me?

  “How far out from the city are we?” That wasn’t the question she wanted to ask.

  That didn’t mean I shouldn’t answer it. “Back at the place it’s about twenty miles. We’re nearly there now.”

  “Have you spent much time down here?”

  “In New Orleans?” I shook my head. “Not recently.”

  “Yet, you know restaurants?”

  “I asked around.”

  She looked at me funny.

  “I suppose it’s strange to you I’d have friends.”

  “No.” She seemed horrified. “That’s not it at all.”

  I laughed. “Relax. You didn’t offend me.”

  “I can never tell how you are actually feeling, and it frustrates me.”

  “I’m impressed you care about my feelings.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She gave me what I assumed was supposed to be an intimidating glare, but it was too cute to do much more than make me smile.

  “Just that I’m glad you’re warming up to me.”

  She slumped down in her seat. “Don’t get carried away, I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings.”

  “I bet.”

  We drove the rest of the way in silence, but she seemed more relaxed at least. I found some street parking about a block away from the uptown restaurant, and we headed toward it. Luckily there wasn’t much of a wait, and we walked through the decorative curtains to our seat toward the back of the restaurant. I’d requested the seat specifically. Part of keeping a low profile was staying away from everyone else. I also liked the privacy it afforded us. Even with her coat on Mary Anne attracted lots of attention. Once she took off the coat, forget it. Every man in the restaurant and plenty of the women watched us as we walked to our seat.

  I gave Mary Anne time to peruse the menu while I studied her. This was the first time she’d shown interest in a particular meal, and I hoped it met her standards. I wasn’t exactly the biggest sushi connoisseur.

  “Do you do this much?” She penciled in a few things on the separate list of sushi rolls.

  “Do what exactly?”

  “Take women out for sushi.” She set aside the pencil and paper.

  I smiled. “So you are interested in my past dating history?”

  “No, I’m just curious if this is what Dires usually do or if you are trying to cater to what you think I want.”

  “Would it matter to you if I was?”

  “It would.”

  “Why?” I took sip of water while I waited for her answer.

  “Because if you were only doing this for me, it would be further evidence that you’re trying to shove a square peg into a round hole.”

  “Meaning?”

  I had to wait for an answer while the waiter came over to take our order. What felt like forever later he walked away. And not without checking Mary Anne out first. I hoped my glare would keep him in line afterword.

  When she still didn’t say anything once he left, I asked again. “What are you getting at with that analogy?”

  “Meaning you want me to be the girl from your dreams. You want there to be this undeniable reason to take me as your mate when it’s
only a coincidence. You like red heads.”

  “I also like dark hair.” I reached across the table and took a piece of her hair in my hand. “You’re wrong. That’s not what I’m doing.”

  “But what if it is? Have you thought about that possibility? Because it means you might actually be moving further away from realizing your goal rather than closer.”

  “Why are you so dead set against believing in us? In believing in yourself?”

  “I do believe in myself. I just don’t believe I was ever supposed to have anything to do with your world. I promised to stay with you, but is that a promise worth enforcing when it could take you away from what you want most? What if it interferes with ending the hunt?”

  The waiter brought over our food. My glare seemed to have worked because he hurried away quickly.

  “How is it?” I refused to let her doubt ruin the evening. It was normal for her to be questioning her role, but eventually she’d have to accept it.

  “Fine, thanks.” She ate one piece.

  “Are you really that unhappy?”

  “Does that matter?” She set aside her chopsticks.

  “Of course it matters. Your happiness always matters.”

  “Then, yes.” She looked down.

  “With me?”

  “I miss my parents. I miss my life.”

  “I already told you I’d find a way for you to see them again.”

  “And I appreciate that, but it doesn’t mean I can’t miss them. It doesn’t mean I don’t still want to go to college and have a normal life. It doesn’t mean I still don’t want Gage.” A look of shock crossed her face, like she couldn’t believe she’d spoken those words.

  I couldn’t really believe it either. I didn’t touch my steak. I had no appetite.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Neither am I. I’m only eating to make you happy.”

  “Then stop!” I hadn’t realized I’d raised my voice until everyone in the restaurant turned to look at us.

  Mary Anne looked terrified. In all the time we’d spent together she’d never looked scared of me.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Can we just go?” She pushed her plate away.

  “Home?”

  “Anywhere.” She sighed.

  I tossed some bills on the table. “Sure.”