“About what?”
“Every little thing Mary does drives him crazy. All he wants to do is touch her, hold her close. The waiting is testing his resolve.”
His insinuation that he was experiencing the same thing with me made my stomach twist happily. He kept his left hand on my right one, and with his other hand, lightly traced the curve of my jaw.
“You tempt me, Charlene. I want to kiss you every time I see you and lay beside you every night. Claim or not, I belong to you, and the distance you want is getting harder to maintain.”
His thumb skimmed the edge of my bottom lip and my breath caught.
“Thomas, please. I can’t...” Couldn’t what? Kiss him? I already had. And I really wanted to again. But he wasn’t after a single kiss. He wanted much more. He wanted commitment, a Claim I couldn’t give him. “We don’t know what will happen when the rest of your pack returns.”
Frustration crept into his gaze.
“Right.”
He picked me up again and continued running. I was careful to keep my hands hooked around his neck.
We didn’t run much longer before he slowed to his version of a jog, then finally stopped. He bent as he released my legs, straightening once my feet touched ground. He didn’t release his hold around my shoulders but used it to hug me close to his chest. I tipped my head back, wondering at his mood. But he quickly dropped a kiss on my forehead and released me.
“This is the edge. Winifred posted it when she officially purchased it.” He pointed to a sign that prohibited the hunting of any animal on this land. “Beyond this, there are a few parcels of open land and then protected land. It’s perfectly placed for us to roam. But only here are we truly safe.”
We started walking to the left. Ahead I saw another sign nailed to a tree.
“My mother and father ran on a stretch of land much further north. I grew up with snow three of the four seasons. When they died, Grey and I decided to head south. We’d heard about this place and were curious why an Elder would waste time with it. It lived up to our low expectations. Still we stayed in the area.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Grey was twelve and I was nine.”
Nine. I was stunned.
“That’s a long time to be on your own.”
“Not on my own. I’ve had Grey.”
“If Grey’s older, why are you the pack’s leader?”
He gave a single, short laugh.
“If you asked Grey that question, he’d tell you he spent enough time leading me that he didn’t want to do it anymore. And maybe some of that is the truth. He’s always watched out for me. I think pushing me to lead the pack was another way of leading me. If that makes sense.”
Not really but I didn’t say so. For a long while, we walked in silence. Eventually my stomach started to rumble. He grinned at me and took my hand in his.
“There’s a creek ahead.”
I didn’t see what a creek had to do with my growling stomach. When we found it, he dropped to his knees and studied the moving water. Then his hand darted forward, splashing into the water and immediately retreating. He held up an ugly looking brown thing with beady eyes and two pinchers.
“What is that?”
“Lunch,” he said with a grin. He broke off the tail, put it to his mouth, and sucked. When he pulled it away, the shell was empty. I barely noticed that. I stared at the thrashing top half. He noticed, and his expression changed from amusement to mild shame.
“Sorry,” he said. He quickly tossed the top half into the water. The little creature sunk to the bottom. I watched others like it scurry forward. Soon it was buried under several of its own kind.
Thomas stood, looking uncomfortable.
“You were fine with the fish,” he said.
I understood what he meant. Before, while he’d caught the second fish, the first had flopped around on shore until it stilled. That hadn’t bothered me. I was realistic. I knew I needed to eat. I just couldn’t eat something while its top half was alive to watch.
“It’s fine, Thomas. Just a bit shocking. I’m not that hungry anymore.”
He nodded and led me away from the creek. My stomach continued to growl as we walked, though. He remained silently thoughtful beside me, his eyes on the ground rather than the trees ahead. Then with a sniff, his mood shifted. His gaze searched the bramble around us, and he increased his pace.
A few more feet and we found a small patch of picked over blackberries.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much,” I said with a smile. We worked together to find a few with enough juice left in them to eat. I licked my stained fingers when I couldn’t find any more.
“Here,” Thomas said, holding out a handful of berries.
“It’s all right. You eat them.”
He picked one out of his palm, popped it in his mouth, then extended his hand again. “Your turn.”
My stomach wanted more so I gave in. When we finished, we returned to walking the property line.
“So what exactly are we doing out here?” I asked.