“Hey,” Elle said with a knowing smile.
“Hi,” I told her, making sure to also smile at the leaders. They watched me with heavy scrutiny, and I held back the urge to shake under their penetrating stares.
“I’m going to take a quick shower,” I told no one in particular and then headed to the bathroom. Once I shut the door, I leaned against it and let out the breath I’d been holding. My chest felt heavy and my hands were unsteady. Shaking out my arms, I tried to get myself together. What I really needed to do was get over the guilt. Could I help it that Adam and I were drawn towards each other? If what the book said was true, then it was out of my hands. I’ve always been a firm believer in the saying “What is supposed to happen will always find its way”. So why couldn’t I grasp that concept right now?
I undressed, turned on the shower, and slipped inside. The hot water beat against my skin, and I imagined it washing away all of my remorse over last night. It was a shame that rather than replaying the ecstasy Adam had given me, I was ruining our time together by feeling like this.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the beat of the water, allowing the steam to clear my head. A flicker of light danced behind my eyelids and startled me. My eyes popped open, and I peeked behind the shower curtain. No one else was in the bathroom and none of the lights had blown. Ignoring the oddity, I closed my eyes again and leaned against the tile wall. Flickers flashed again, this time more violent than before. Squeezing my eyes tighter, I bent over and leaned on my knees from the vertigo it caused.
A picture, although muddled, replaced the flickers. It looked like grass and trees, but it was moving up and down as if I was running. The sound of heavy breath sounded in my eardrums, and I jerked in response. The picture moved to the side as if I looked to my left. My breathing picked up as if I was out of breath or scared. Shadows from the tree limbs lent an eerie feeling to the forest, my eyes shooting in every direction as I sought out something. Bit by bit the scenery disappeared into blackness.
My eyes snapped open, and I immediately retched. Since I hadn’t eaten since last night not a whole came up, but that didn’t stop my body from trying to expel any amount of food it could. A knock sounded and then the door opened.
“Anna? Are you alright?” Elle yanked back the shower curtain and found me on my hands and knees. “Oh my God! What happened?” Her voice sounded funny, as if she were speaking while holding a hand over her mouth. She slipped a towel around my back and tucked her hands under my arms to help me stand. As soon as I stepped out of the shower, Adam came barreling through the door. I had to blink back the stars that danced within my vision to focus on his face. It seemed there was a lot of commotion, and I couldn’t make sense of any of it.
“What happened?” Adam all but yelled.
“I don’t know,” Elle replied. “I heard her vomiting and came in to find her crouched on the shower floor.”
“Anna?” Adam’s hands encased my face and lifted my head so he could look into my eyes. He looked blurry so I blinked a few times. Still, I couldn’t seem to pinpoint exactly where his face was.
“Anna, what happened? Are you alright?” Adam’s voice came through just as muddled as Elle’s had. I knew what they were saying, but it was disorienting with all of their movements. I didn’t respond, at the moment I was working very hard not to retch again. The jostling movements of my body as Adam tried to figure out what was wrong with me caused the nausea to come back in strong waves.
I was being carried. Even if I couldn’t make out the outline of Adam’s face and blond hair, I’d know it was him. His scent was home. It calmed my nerves and helped settle my stomach a little bit.
He laid me on a bed, my room by the smell of it, and I felt the bed indent as he sat down beside me. “Anna, you have to say something. You’re freaking me out.” Adam brushed my wet hair away from my face and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I rubbed my eyes and when I opened them again everything was a little clearer.
“I’m okay,” I told him.
“Did you fall in the shower?” Adam asked with concern.
I snorted. It was a logical question, and I wished he was right because what actually happened was so bizarre I didn’t know how to deal with it, or what to tell him. I watched him for a few moments, debating on my answer. I felt better by the second, and we still had to discuss how we were going to find Eve. Adam shouldn’t be beside my bed worried about me when there were more important things to deal with.
“Yeah,” I told him. “The floor was really slippery, and I just went down.”
Adam stared at me for a while. “Why were you getting sick?”
I bit my lip and shrugged. “Maybe I’m coming down with something.”
I sat up and hugged my knees to my chest, unable to look Adam in the eye. It didn’t feel right lying to him, but it was for the best for the time being.
“Don’t you think you should conceal that?” I asked, nodding towards his hand to change the subject.
Adam raised his hand and looked at his palm, a smile lifting his lips. “Why would I want to hide proof that we’re meant to be together?”
My eyes snapped to his, and my heart melted a little bit. Figures that he’d say something like that and make all the time I’d spent worrying over it pointless.
“Hey,” Elle said, stepping into my room. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. We should probably get the meeting started.” I looked at Adam, and he nodded, pressing a kiss to my forehead before standing up and leaving. Elle closed my bedroom door and rushed over to my bed with a huge smile on her face.
“I don’t like, dudes, but how was our alpha in the sack?” She waggled her eyebrows and I laughed.“What makes you think we slept together?”
Elle gave me an “out-with-it-already” look and I laughed again.
“Alright, alright, he was…fantastic. The bones in my body melted. He completely consumed me last night.”
Elle bounced up and down. “’bout damned time! I swear if you guys didn’t screw soon, I was going to slip you guys some E—try refusing him on with a high like that.”
My eyebrows drew together. “E?”
“Ecstasy, you know the drug that gives a whole new meaning to horny.”
I shrugged. “I’ve never done drugs.”
“I had a rough childhood, drugs were my go-to escape route. That all changed when I became a werewolf.”
I’d never asked Elle how she’d been changed. I guess I assumed she knew about werewolves beforehand and was accepted for the change. It was common to have humans living amongst the bigger packs. From what I heard, they were considered staff until they proved themselves worthy enough to be chosen for the change. It was dangerous though, only half survived the bite of a werewolf. Not worth the risk in my opinion.
“Hey, what is that?” Elle reached for my hand and yanked my arm out.
“Tear my arm off why don’t you.”
“What happened?” Elle asked as she examined the scar on my palm.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“I’ll take it to my grave.”
I eyed the door and then brought my attention back to Elle. “The myth is true,” I whispered.
“I told you!” Elle exclaimed. “It didn’t say anything about marking the couple though. That’s both cool and bizarre.”
“Agreed.” I got up from my bed and walked over to my closet to get dressed. “I just don’t know what will happen now that Adam and I are bonded.” I chose a pair of denim capris and a yellow top with ruffles on the sleeves.
“What do you mean? Eve will be kicked to the curb, and you’ll be our new alpha female,” Elle replied.
“Nothing is ever that easy, Elle.”
*
Elle and I headed out to the living room. The meeting had already started, so we slipped through the crowd and tried to catch up. The leaders stood behind Adam as he spoke. As soon as I’d entered the room their eyes found me. I shifted my feet, unable to stand still, or make eye contact with any of them. Instead of focusing on them, I thought about what happened in the shower. I never had a dream while I was awake, but that’s exactly what it felt like, except I wasn’t a wolf. There was nothing I could piece together and make sense out of, and that was frustrating.
Elle elbowed me. I raised my head and she nodded towards Adam with a smile. I hadn’t been listening to what he said, but now my eyes shot wide and I had to work really hard to keep my jaw from dropping on the floor. He stood with his legs shoulder width apart, his head held high, full of pride, and his arm outstretched as he showed the pack his palm.
“Many of you may not know what this means,” Adam said. “There are a lot of legends surrounding our kind. Some are true and some are nonsense. Last night I learned that one of them is very much real: the myth of the wolves who find their true partner. I don’t pretend to know the magic behind it, but the Great Spirit has spoken, and she has paired me and Anna together.” Adam smiled, an emotion out of place for a meeting about one of our own missing.
“Anna,” Adam said as an invitation to join him up front. I hesitated, not wanting to take focus off of why we were all joined today. It was too late though, Adam spilled the beans prematurely. I shouldered my way through bodies and walked up front, standing off to the side.
“Is this true?” Wade asked in awe. I looked behind me and nodded.
“Show them your hand,” Adam said.
I gave him a dirty look, but held my hand out. The pack gasped and asked questions all at once. The leaders grabbed for our hands and inspected the marks. My annoyance and anger got the better of me. I ripped my hand away from Michael and stepped in front of Adam and the leaders.
“The myth is true, but I think we should have waited to reveal it,” I shot Adam a displeased look. “We are here to find Eve, not celebrate. Most of you know that Eve and I didn’t really like each other, and maybe this is why,” I held my hand out. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t devote every waking hour to finding her. One of our own is missing, and it’s our job to find her. If you guys have questions about the pairing of Adam and I, please wait until after this mess is cleared up.”