Isabelle stood. “I need a shower. Can anyone point me in the right direction?”
“To the left, down the hall,” I said from behind her. I could smell the soap.
She nodded and glanced at the boy. He shook his head slightly then turned to look at Grey and me.
“Got any food around here?” he asked. Isabelle continued to look at him.
“Go,” Bethi said to her. “Shower. Everything will be fine for five minutes, I think.”
Isabelle went down the hall and Charlene moved to the fridge to look for food.
“Does anyone have clean clothes she can borrow?” I asked, ignoring the boy who still watched me.
“She’s close to my height,” Winifred said, standing. “And Michelle’s. We should be able to find something.” She and Michelle went to the living room to look through the bags there.
The boy studied me for another moment then looked around the room.
“Let me see if I have this straight. You’re all werewolves, except for you four women, now five, who have these whacked out special abilities you don’t want, and bad guy werewolves, called Urbat, are trying to find you and kill you so you can’t maintain some mythical balance that might put an end to the aforementioned whacked abilities.”
“Pretty much,” Bethi said. “Except the Urbat would prefer not to kill us. They’d rather Claim and rape us.”
Hearing it said so bluntly, I itched to go after Isabelle and explain things to her. I already knew the harsh reality of Bethi’s words, and behind the wall, pain stirred deeply.
“And, you’re all paired up with a werewolf?” the boy asked.
Charlene stopped assembling sandwiches to glance at Thomas then Bethi. Winifred and Michelle paused their search to look at Bethi, too.
“More or less,” the girl said, being blunt yet again. “It’s safer for us. No offense, but a human doesn’t stand a chance against an Urbat. Werewolves do. And, I’m tired of dying.”
He was quiet for a moment, but we could all smell the change in his scent. Suspicion. Resentment. Anger.
“Fair enough. So who gets Isabelle?”
Not a word, Winifred sent me.
I’m smarter than that.
“This isn’t a lottery,” Winifred said.
“Here’s your sandwich,” Charlene said, setting a plate in front of the boy. “And some ice for your shoulder. Grey said you were hurt.”
“Thanks.” He took a bite of the sandwich and held the ice pack to his shoulder.
“Now, I have some jeans that might work and some other clean clothes,” Winifred said. “We’ll stop and get her something better as we travel. Carlos, will you take these to her? Charlene, I’ll take a sandwich and check on Gabby.”
I walked down the hall with the clothes and listened at the door. The water was running, and I could hear her moving in the shower. Easing the door open, I set the clothes on the toilet. Just as quietly as I entered, I left. In the hall, I leaned against the opposite hall and waited. I told myself I just wanted to make sure the clothes fit; but, really, I wanted to see her.
A minute later, the water turned off and the shower curtain moved. She sighed. Clothes rustled. Then the door opened.
She squeaked and paused at the sight of me. Her scent changed subtly, sweetening before returned back to normal.
“Creep much?” she said, arching a brow at me. Her hair hung down her back, wetting the t-shirt she wore. The only thing she wore. She’s skipped the pants.
“Jeans didn’t fit?”
“Obviously not.”
“I’ll see if I can find something else,” I said, straightening from the wall. “Stay here.”
I’d always thought modesty an odd concept. Nudity was our natural state. However, now that I’d seen her bare legs, I didn’t want anyone else to see them. My mouth watered at the memory of their muscled lengths.
“Jeans didn’t fit,” I said, entering the kitchen.
“She doesn’t wear jeans. She likes anything stretchy that can move with her,” the boy said before he finished the last bite of his sandwich.
Winifred went to search through the luggage again, and I tilted my head as I heard Isabelle’s muffled voice from above. She hadn’t stayed put.
“When I came to, she had my head in her lap. She was stroking my hair like my mom used to do before I broke her. It was dark in the van. I could feel we were moving, driving further away from help. I felt Gabby’s fear and her barely contained panic. Not far away, I felt the pitiless lust and eager aggression of the men who drove.”
My fingers twitched as I continued to wait for Winifred.
No need to be upset. Clay and Gabby are a Claimed pair, Grey sent me.
She’s not wearing pants.
Grey grinned at me.
I half listened to Isabelle apologize to Clay while Winifred dug around for something else for Isabelle to wear.
“Have her try these,” Winifred said, handing me some thin black things.
I went to the bottom of the stairs and waited. When she saw what I held, she smiled.
“Perfect. Thanks,” she said, reaching for them. She walked back to the bathroom, and I went to the kitchen.
“There are sandwiches for you on the counter,” Charlene said, setting a plate with a sandwich beside the boy.
I consumed the sandwiches she’d made for me in four bites each.
Down the hall, I heard the bathroom door open and turned to watch for Isabelle. When she appeared, she went straight to the empty chair and the sandwich. She didn’t eat slow like the other females, but inhaled her food with large, enthusiastic bites.
“How long are we staying here?” she asked after she swallowed.
“It’s not safe to move until Gabby’s awake,” Bethi said. “But, for all we know, the Urbat could be closing in around us now.”
Uneasiness drifted from Isabelle’s human. Winifred noticed, too.
“We should be fine,” Winifred said. However, her words lacked conviction.
“If you need her awake, wake her up,” Isabelle said. “A good slap will do the trick. However, she’ll still be loopy.”
Clay’s growl reached my ears, and I understood his reaction. It was the same I’d experienced when the boy had elbowed Isabelle the first time. However, I was learning we couldn’t always protect our Mates from every injury or discomfort.
“Clay can hear you and doesn’t appreciate your advice,” Sam said. “Neither do I.”
Isaballe paused mid-chew and glanced at Sam. Since we’d arrived, Isabelle’s most common response to any conversation was disbelief or impatience. Not this time. Her scent clouded with hurt as she stood and grabbed her sandwich.
“I’ll be outside,” she said, moving to the door.
The boy followed her out.
“I’ve been told we need her,” I said. “Alienating her won’t make her feel needed.”
“Clay will not allow her to hit Gabby.”
“Being slapped awake is a hella lot better than being raped awake” Bethi said with an eye roll. “And that’s what will happen if they find us.”
I left them to debate the issue and went outside. Isabelle and the boy were heading to the barn.
“Keep eating, Z,” the boy said. “They don’t know you. They don’t understand.”
“Understand what?” She sounded angry and sad.
“How much it’s killing you that you knocked the girl out like that.”
“Whatever.” She took a bite and chewed.
I followed quietly, listening and beginning to understand.
“They don’t all hate you, you know. Bethi seems to like you. And I think that big guy does, too.”
She looked at him then brought the sandwich back to her mouth.
“What?” he said. “As soon as you disappeared down the hall, he started asking the girls if they had something clean you could wear. Although, maybe it wasn’t consideration for you as much as consideration for us. You smelled like puke.”
She snorted.
“You’re ridiculous.”
They walked into the barn and went to sit on the ledge of the floor by the opposite doors. I stayed back by the double doors and continued to listen without an ounce of guilt.
They sat quietly for a minute, both studying the gold and orange sunset.
“I know I’m not like your dad,” she said finally. “I just hate seeing you hurt.”
“And that’s why you’re not like him. He couldn’t care less if I was hurt.”
“So, you going to tell me when you learned to close yourself off like that?” she asked.
I tilted my head, wondering what she was talking about.
He grinned at her. “Since the last time you came to the bar.”
“Does it bother you?”
“It’s not like I’m holding my breath. I’m just keeping tight control of what I’m letting myself feel.”
That explained a lot. It sounded like he was trying to do what I already did. And, like me, he was doing it to protect someone. I didn’t like him. I doubted I ever would. But I couldn’t hate him. Not when he was doing so much to help and protect her.
“Hmm,” Isabelle said, frowning. “I was going to say that I liked it, but it sounds a little cold.”
“I guess it could sound that way. But how can anything be cold when it’s done to protect someone you love?”
My hands fisted at my sides. She studied him for a minute and then leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. My heart twisted painfully, and I changed my mind. I did hate him.
“When this is all done, maybe you won’t need to turn yourself off. I hope Bethi’s right and whatever’s wrong with me will go away,” she said.
Her sudden agreement made more sense. She was with us in hopes of removing her ability.
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” The boy wrapped an arm around her back and kissed the top of her head.
Tremors shook my arms as I struggled for control.