“I’ve been waiting over an hour for you to wake up. It was taking too long.”
I glanced at the window. It was barely sunrise. A yawn cracked my jaw before I could say anything else.
“What’s the hurry, today?”
She just grinned at me.
“You’re behaving oddly,” I said, pulling myself and my bedding off the floor.
“Not really. I’m just wondering if there’s anything you wanted to tell me.” She kept grinning at me, a big goofy smile that hinted she knew some big joke.
“Mary, did you take some of the medicine from the paper bag?”
She huffed.
“Of course not. It wouldn’t work on me, anyway.” She gave me a pouty face. “Are you really not going to tell me about last night?”
“Last night?” I said, completely confused. What was there to tell? We’d gone to our room, Thomas came in, once we were settled into our beds, and sat on the floor. At some point, members of his pack jumped up on the roof, woke me, then...I blushed.
“Finally!” she said. “I saw him hold you.” The goofy grin was back.
“You were watching?”
“Absolutely. So...you seemed to like it.”
I started to remake my bed and tried for innocence. “Of course I liked having him next to me. Someone was walking around on the roof. It was unsettling.”
She snorted.
“And the touching?”
“Reassuring.”
“You mean exciting. I could smell what being next to him did to you.”
I stopped straightening the quilt to stare at her.
“So could he,” she said. She walked around the bed and gripped my arms. “If you like him, even if he can’t Claim you, tell him. Tell everyone. Be happy.”
“Mary, I’m fifteen. I won’t be sixteen for another few months. You know what will happen if I tell him or any of them I have a preference. I’m not ready for that.”
“Stupid human rules,” she said, with a shake of her head.
“Stupid werewolf ways,” I said back at her using the same tone of exasperation.
She laughed and followed me from the room. I was quiet, thinking of what she’d said as we made our way to the common room. Did I prefer Thomas? I liked him, but I’d had crushes on other boys before. Thomas wasn’t a boy, though. He wasn’t a man, either. He was a werewolf. I needed to remember that.
“Good morning,” Gregory said when we walked into the main room. He lifted a pot from the stove and brought it to the table.
I peered down at a pot full of oatmeal.
“You cooked?” I couldn’t keep the surprise from my words.
“Yes,” he said with a smile at Mary.
I glanced at her. She blushed prettily as her gaze remained locked with Gregory.
“I’ll just take a bowl with me outside.” I was talking to the room. Neither paid me any attention as I quickly served myself and left.
Thomas and a group of almost a dozen men faced off in the yard. I studied his back and wide stance. His crossed arms and tense jaw told me just as much as the glares from the men he faced.
I took a bite of oatmeal as I walked toward the group. When I reached Thomas’ side, my stomach executed a wild flip.
“Good morning, Thomas.”
“Good morning,” he said softly, not looking at me. My pulse leapt as I thought of last night.
Thomas inhaled, then sighed and turned to me.
“Charlene, you should stay inside.”
I scrunched up my face as if considering what he said then shook my head. He frowned at me. I lifted my spoon. “Oatmeal?”
Amusement crept into his gaze.
“What are you doing out here?”
I shrugged and made to eat the oatmeal on the spoon. Thomas grabbed my hand and fed it to himself. I blushed, cleared my throat, and got to the point.
“I had a thought last night as I was listening to the little patter of footsteps on the roof.”
Thomas’s gaze grew very serious.
“And that thought gave me an idea.” I turned to look at his men. “Why not send them out to find others and spread the word about what’s happening here.”
Several of the men smirked as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
“When you’re out there, be sure to tell everyone how you found females here and how we’re trying to make this place into a home.”
“Charlene...” The caution in Thomas’ voice was unmistakable.
“We’ll go,” one of the men said, stepping forward. Eagerness poured from him.
“Of course, you will. The thought of finding enough men to break the pack apart and remove me, the terrible human, from your lives is perfect motivation.”
That wiped the smiles from their faces. Finally, the one who’d challenged Thomas spoke up.
“Why would you suggest this if you know that’s what we intend?”
“Why indeed,” I said. I smiled, took another bite of oatmeal, and studied them. “Perhaps I believe there are more of your kind out there interested in what we’re trying to build here. More than you think.”
“We?” the man said.