by AJ Skelly
I smiled and nodded, my finger absently twirling a piece of his damp hair. The thought of Sam Wolfe wanting to kiss me made my stomach twist with anticipation. Wolf was dancing around like she was doing the cha-cha. I ignored the rational part of my brain that told me this was not a good idea.
He closed his eyes. “Meg, if you keep playing with my hair like that, I’m going to kiss you a lot sooner, rather than later.”
I giggled—actually giggled—and wiggled off his lap.
“We should go to bed.” Once the words were out, I couldn’t take them back. I peeked at Sam, smirk on his face. “You know what I mean,” I stammered as my cheeks heated again.
My fingers grappled with the mugs as I snatched them from the table and took them to the sink, my face flaming. I had just set them in the sink when Sam’s hands slid around my waist, turning me to face him. My stomach dropped to my toes and butterflies swarmed in my gut. Wolf let out a contented sigh. Sam’s hands were warm through the thin knit of my pink tank top. No guy had ever affected me the way Sam was now.
“Meg.” His voice was low. A deep rumble from his chest. My hands rested on his forearms, wanting to walk up his biceps and slide down his chest. What? I blinked and focused on what Sam was saying.
“Was it you or your wolf that kissed me at the theater today?”
His gaze held mine, uncertainty, desire, and curiosity flashing across his face. This was Sam. The real Sam. Not that he hadn’t been real before, but tonight he’d made himself vulnerable to me. He’d leveled. And the look he was giving me now pulled at my heart, and I felt another little piece break off. Was it possible that I could be falling in love with Sam?
“It was me.” The words came out soft like a warm breeze on a spring evening. He closed his eyes and his face relaxed. Without opening his eyes, he spoke.
“Meg, unless you stop me, I’m going to kiss you right now.”
His eyes opened, searching my face. I didn’t move, my lungs freezing.
He brought his hands up slowly and cupped my face, his lips brushing mine lightly, again with more pressure, still light, but more deliberate. The third time his lips came down I moved into him, my hands sliding up his arms as I leaned my face up, wanting more. My brain piped up that this was not a wise thing to be doing if I wanted to remain human, but I shoved the rational side of myself back down, intent on enjoying this moment.
One of Sam’s hands slid back into my hair; the other trailed down my back to rest at my waist, pulling me closer.
His lips. His lips!
It wasn’t a fiery kiss of passion. It wasn’t so urgent as the one at the theater. It was long and slow and deep and…intimate. I’d been kissed enough to know when a guy was kissing for his own pleasure. And I knew Sam was enjoying this, but it was more than that. This kiss was about me. The way his lips moved, the way he cradled my body against him. It was all about making me feel…loved.
I stopped thinking and let my body mold itself to the hard planes of Sam’s chest, my hands wrapping around his sides. It was as if his lips were trying to speak to my very soul. Maybe they were.
For long minutes, we stood there in the kitchen kissing. It could have been an hour. I wasn’t sure. There was no pressure to do more, no urgency to kiss as much territory as possible, no wandering hands.
It was the most intimate moment of my life. If I had been unsure of Sam’s emotions earlier in the evening, any doubts were soundly laid to rest. Heat curled in my belly. Sam loved me. Without question.
Sam pulled back first and leaned his head against mine, his eyes closed.
“Good night, Megan.”
I tiptoed up and kissed his cheek. “Good night, Sam.”
He smiled at me, and for the first time since this whole ordeal began, Sam’s blue eyes shone.
****
It was rainy and overcast Monday morning. I was dying to talk to Rachel, to get my emotional bearings, using Rachel as my ever-present sounding board. There wasn’t a good way to do that on the phone when the object of the conversation was always within hearing distance. However, the rest of the weekend had been more relaxed. I’d baked, and we hadn’t kissed again except for a quick good-night kiss Sam had placed on my cheek last night. He was more open with me. His smile came quicker; his touch did, too. He wasn’t demanding, and he wasn’t pushy, but he was consistent.
It was drizzling when we reached the school parking lot.
“I’ll drop you off at the door so you don’t get wet.”
“Thanks,” I said, genuinely pleased. I flashed him a quick smile and made to open the door. “I need to talk to Rachel. Is it okay if I catch you between classes?” I was confident enough with my wolf not to require Sam’s presence every second.
He raised a blond eyebrow. “Sure. Hope it’s something juicy.” His lips curved into a devilish smile. I felt my face heat and jerked the door open, making a mad dash for the school.
Rachel was by our lockers, stuffing her English book into her backpack.
“Hey, Meggie!” she chirped, wagging her eyebrows at me. Rachel was always a morning person.
“Hey back. Time to spill.” I cut right to the chase. We only had about fifteen minutes before the bell would ring for first period.
“Absolutely! Library?”
I nodded, and we took off at a decent pace.
“So…repeat of the theater? I need details!” Rachel prompted as we neared the door.
I grabbed her hand and carefully checked the aisles as I dragged her to the far back corner. No one ever bothered to check out the reference books that weighed as much as the quarterback of our football team. Things were dusty and undisturbed back here but right next to a large window. If there hadn’t been a window to the outside here, it would have been the perfect spot for making out at school. As it was, it made this an ideal spot for a private conversation.
“Beyond that. Rachel, there has been a major development. Apparently, I’m Sam’s mate.”
Her eyebrows shot up her forehead like they were on fire. I quickly filled her in on the basics of the conversation. And about the kiss.
“I swear, Rachel. I’ve never been kissed like that before. Ever. It was like…defining. Only, I’m not sure what it defined. I can tell Sam likes me. In fact, I’m pretty sure he loves me,” I admitted as I bit my lip. “I think there’s credence to this mate thing. It all sounds far-fetched, but I believe him.” I groaned in frustration. “But I want to stay human! I can’t be a wolf forever. That would be a disaster of epic proportions. I’m not even good at being a wolf! And we want to start a baking business. Go to college. I want to travel. I want to go home with Grandpa. I…I don’t know how to be a wolf and still be me. It feels like I’d have my entire future ripped away. And not to be totally selfish, but I have dreams. None of them involve fur and three-inch canines. But…that means giving up Sam. And he’s sort of grown on me,” I admitted.
“Wow. That’s a lot to take in. At least this way, it’s out in the open. And you know how he feels. Which is totally awesome, by the way, and even better that he’s an amazing kisser. So the big question is, how do you feel about Sam?”
“I have no idea. That’s what you’re supposed to help me figure out.”
She sympathetically patted my arm. “We’ll figure it out. You’ll figure it out. And no matter what, you’ll always have me.” She gave me a cheeky grin.
“Tell me you did not entertain the thought of me staying wolf.”
Rachel winked. “Come on. We’ll be late.” The warning bell rang in confirmation. “We can continue this after school. I’ll come to the cabin, and we can do more baking. We have ground to cover for HarvestFest! Maybe we can send Sam out for more flour or something.” I smiled at her as we scooted to first period.
****
I had trouble focusing on my schoolwork. My thoughts kept straying back to staying human, now that I knew how Sam felt. Did that make a difference in my desire to stay in skin? Should it make a difference? I honestly fe
lt more confused than anything. Wolf didn’t help. Anytime I thought about Sam, she pushed up feelings and thoughts that were best left in the dark recesses of my mind if I wanted to survive this without a permanent side of dog breath.
Fourth period came, and Sam was waiting for me, gorgeous and muscled as ever, leaning against the wall in his green flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up to his forearms. It made his eyes stand out even more and they twinkled at me as I approached.
“Get things squared away with Rachel?” he asked casually.
“Not remotely.” I grimaced.
“Hey, it can’t be all that bad. Can it?” A note of uncertainty crept in.
“No, no,” I quickly reassured him. “I’m stuck in my own head. If that makes any sense.”
“Not a lot.” He bent down. “But I’d be happy to distract you.” His breath tickled my ear and sent Wolf scampering around. I felt myself blush even as a grin threatened the corner of my mouth.
“You’re impossible,” I whispered back, trying not to enjoy his flirting so much.
“You’re tempting,” he retorted. His hand grazed the small of my back, ushering me into the classroom and toward our seats.
I caught a few looks as we came in together, obviously together. Apparently, we weren’t old news yet. Or maybe we appeared more together now. After all, we had kissed in a pretty major sort of way in front of half the student body at the movie theater, and we were on a much deeper level of communication now. Did that show in our body language? I knew I felt a lot more connected to Sam on some level, but that made part of me want to pull away. Not to get too close—when all the other part of me wanted to do was throw myself back into his arms. I was a mess.
Chapter 33
Sam
Meg was definitely distracted. I hoped that was a good thing—like maybe she was thinking about me. I had no idea. Trying to figure out the workings of Meg’s female brain was more than I had the energy for today. I got my notebook out and tried to take notes. Meg was doodling more than usual, still jotting down things here and there with her pink pen—she color coded all her classes by ink color—but doodling little vines and hearts and scrolly loopy things. I nudged her knee under the table. She glanced up, and I winked at her. She rolled her eyes at me even as she grinned and turned back to her notes, vines momentarily forgotten.
Fifth period rolled around, and I walked with her to her next class on the way to mine. She didn’t object when I loosely grabbed her hand, so I went a step further and twined our fingers. She smiled up at me shyly. So far, the not-really-but-maybe-we-are-sort-of-dating thing was going well.
Noise pressed in all around us, and the smells from the cafeteria—lingering eggs from breakfast and could-use-a-few-more-minutes-in-the-oven casserole for lunch, body spray, body odor, pencil lead, and old textbooks—were stronger than normal.
My legs rooted to the ground as one scent suddenly stood out from all the rest. My body jerked to attention, and each of my senses homed in on that smell.
“Sam?” Meg asked, and then her head whipped around, too.
It was wolf.
The same wolf I’d smelled at the theater. I didn’t know this wolf. It made me uneasy. My hackles raised.
“I smell it, but it’s faint. There’s too much other stuff.” She tugged my sleeve as I glanced around, taking in all of the surroundings and other students milling around. I didn’t see anyone I didn’t know on sight, and the scent wasn’t completely fresh but not more than a few hours old.
Meg tugged my hand and traffic resumed where we’d been standing. We were outside her science classroom.
“Do you know them?”
“No. I don’t. And that’s what worries me. I don’t like it. I smelled the same one at the theater when I left to go get sodas, too.”
A tiny frown appeared between her eyebrows.
“It’s strange for one to be coming through like this and not announce themselves, right?”
“Yes. We make a point to let residents know if we’ll be in the area.” I put my hand to the small of her back again, ushering her toward the classroom.
“Keep your eyes open. Wait for me after class. I’ll walk you to lunch.” I couldn’t help that my eyes trained to her lips. “Be careful,” I said quietly instead.
“I will. You, too.” She squeezed my arm and went into science.
Another quick scan didn’t show me anything out of the ordinary. My senses were on high alert on the way to Humanities.
****
I was hyper-aware of everything but my classes for the rest of the afternoon. Lunch passed peaceably. We sat together at our normal table, ate bland rice and chicken casserole, and I scanned the room about once a minute. I caught Cade between classes and quietly told him to keep a nose out but not to alarm anyone else yet.
I had never got a chance over the weekend to talk to Dad about the strange wolf scent at the theater, either. I had meant to fill him in but had been distracted by other things, namely Megan’s lips. I resolved to tell him that evening. It was one thing to get a random whiff at the theater. It was another to find that the wolf had been to the school as well.
****
Finally, the bell rang at the end of seventh period. I had homework, thanks to my distractedness that afternoon. Meg was waiting by my locker, which brightened my mood considerably.
“Hey.” She smiled.
“Hey back.”
“Find out anything else?” She referenced the new wolf. “You were pretty distracted today at lunch. Are you worried?”
I shoved three textbooks into my bag and zipped it up as I replied. “Yeah. It’s unusual enough in and of itself, but I don’t like that whoever it is has been here at school, too. That makes it more than a coincidence. I need to make sure I tell Dad about it tonight. You ready to go?” I hitched the straps of my backpack over my biceps to my shoulders and reached for her hand.
“Yep. Rachel is planning on coming over to the cabin tonight. I forgot to mention earlier. We were hoping to get some baking and prepping done. We’ve got tons to do before HarvestFest is this weekend.”
“Sure, that’s no problem. I’ve got homework anyway, so I’ll be out of your way.”
“Sam!” someone called down the hallway as we were just leaving the doorway to the freedom of the parking lot. I glanced back where Jake was jogging down the hall.
“Go ahead,” Meg said. “I’ll wait by the car.” She smiled. “He looks concerned and probably doesn’t want me listening in.”
Jake did appear concerned. His brows were furrowed, his hands clenched into fists as he closed the distance between us.
“Okay,” I conceded. “Be there in a minute.”
“Sounds good.” She flashed another smile, and I desperately wanted to give her butt a quick squeeze as she turned around but knew that would result in my untimely death, so I shoved my hands in my pockets and turned my attention to Jake.
“Jake, what’s up?” My nose wrinkled as I sniffed something…foreign on him.
Jake glanced around, his longish brown hair flipping around as he confirmed that no one else was in the immediate vicinity. A few girls chatted down the hallway and a few lockers shut further down. We were alone enough for Jake’s comfort.
“Sam, we’ve got a serious issue.”
He had my full attention.
“There’s a new kid at school.”
“Is that what I smell? Where’s he from—I’ve never smelled anything like it.”
“I know, sorry.” Jake grimaced. It wasn’t a bad scent, just something outside my range of sensory knowledge.
“It’s fine. Just new. So why are we concerned about the new kid?”
“He’s one of us. But not.”
My eyes narrowed. “He’s what?”
“He’s a half-breed,” Jake whispered, his voice barely audible.
My mind froze on that last phrase, but I didn’t have time to process because there was a loud screech from the parking lot.
; “Megan!”
Chapter 34
Megan
I walked out into the cold afternoon sunshine, reveling in the slight heat on my face after being cooped up indoors. I was ready to be back at the cabin and up to my elbows in flour. Baking was such therapeutic stress relief. I selfishly hoped whatever Jake needed didn’t take too long.
Picking my way across the black top, I kicked a little pebble with the toe of my leopard ballet flats, thinking again of the thoughtful gesture the shoes represented as I watched the rock skid away. It stopped about ten feet in front of a black sedan. I didn’t have time to process anything else because, at that moment, the sedan roared to life and charged across the pavement straight for me.
Time stopped and sped up at the same time. Wolf took over without my permission, jerking me to the side and coiling my muscles as the car careened mere feet in front of me. I landed in a crouch and sprang from the ground to land behind the flagpole, embedded in a thick border wall of concrete. Fur rippled softly under my sweater, but I willed my bones to stay as they were as the black mass of metal screamed over the remaining feet between us.
The whine of metal on concrete set my teeth on edge and the fur poking through my arms stood on end. The car swerved at the last second and scraped a path of destruction down its shiny sleek side as it mashed up against the concrete wall I hid behind.
There was no question. That car had intended to hit me.
“Megan!” I kept my head down as exhaust fumes choked the air and the snarl of the engine shrieked out of the parking lot and down the street.
My head came up, eyes dilated and more wolf than human, and only barely visualized Sam’s face in front of me before he swooped strong arms around me and hauled me to his chest. My head was muffled against him, and I think he cursed before releasing me enough that my eyes could focus on him.
His face was wild and frantic. His heartbeat throbbed in the vein of his neck. His hands ran over my shoulders and down my arms, checking for injury.
“Megan! Are you hurt? I should have been with you! Are you all right? Megan?” His words tumbled over themselves as his own eyes dilated dangerously large. He’d never been remotely out of control until now, his eyes belaying his bare emotions.
