"Three hours of this." Grace rolled her eyes. "I had to listen to them for three hours...."
Looking at the water bottle in her hand left Samara’s internal doubts swirling. This was it. The moment that would permanently alter her life. Unlike before, when she escaped Riverstone and she had a plan to return her body to normal. Now that she knew there was no chance of being a regular human, she understood she didn’t have a choice. If what the guys were telling her was true, her wolf shadows would return once she flushed the silver out of her system.
Better to rip off the bandage. "Bottoms up." She toasted the room and, before she could chicken out, gulped the entire bottle until it crackled under the pressure of her hand. When she finished, she tossed it into the garbage bucket. "We're going to need a larger bucket and some lemons. Room temperature water is gross."
"I'll call room service." Kellen kissed her cheek before reaching for the phone.
Even with breakfast, it didn't take long for her first bathroom break. When she returned, she found the guys had rearranged the seats so they could all watch television.
She squinted at the movie on the screen while she slipped back into Kellen's embrace. "What are you watching?"
"Some Like It Hot." Grace stood up when someone knocked on the door. A moment later she returned with a bowl filled with lemons, a bucket of ice, a paring knife, and a tall glass. While Grace handled the tray, housekeeping entered the bedrooms for a refresh.
"Thanks." Drinking lemon-flavored water from the glass would make this whole process easier. "So, there's nothing else you guys want to watch? Football? NASCAR?"
Leo shrugged but kept his eyes on the screen. "We can watch whatever you want."
"But you chose..." that's when Marilyn appeared on the screen and it all made sense.
"What happened? Did Stephen lose at rock, paper, scissors?"
Stephen sounded offended. "No. Pillow Talk is next."
"Let me guess. Doris Day." Samara cracked open another bottle of water, while Kellen kindly squeezed a lemon slice into the glass.
"And Rock Hudson." Now they all looked at Grace. "What? I may be an old widow, but I'm not dead."
The first movie came to an end just as she returned from the bathroom for the tenth time. "This is getting old really fast."
"How are you feeling?"
"Bloated. I'm going to need a diuretic after this."
"I'll—"
"No, you don't have to call room service and ask for some." Her stomach gurgled just as she realized she'd answered Kellen before he finished his sentence. Was that a sign of some sort? "At least not yet."
She waited while Stephen flipped through the cable channels to find Doris. Samara poured more water into the glass. She'd had to drag another garbage bucket out of the bathroom to accommodate all of the rinds she had to throw out.
By the end of the second movie, Samara was starting to feel dizzy, but didn't say anything. All she needed was more food, especially protein. Twenty minutes later, they all had variations of burgers and fries. It didn't help. The dizziness continued. By this point, she'd stopped apologizing every time she left for the bathroom. This time, when she'd finished, she found Grace lying down on the bed.
For reasons she didn't understand, Samara lay down next to her. "I never in my life imagined such burly wolf shifters would spend an afternoon watching golden age beauties."
"It's not entirely about the beauties." Grace yawned. "The brotherhood out there has fought their own blood-soaked battles. Stephen and Leo talked a little bit about where they've been and what they've done."
"Normandy?" Samara guessed.
Grace nodded. “Among other places.”
"Then what's the attraction to classics?" Samara was missing something here.
"The happy endings. Everyone gets what they want with little to no trauma. I don't know what Leo and Stephen's lives were like in their own packs, but however they were raised it had to be a damn sight better than what Kirian—Kellen— had, even with the protection spell."
"Because you couldn't protect him from Josiah?"
"Because I did protect him from Josiah."
"How does that make any sense? Kellen said he was raised to become Josiah's personal bodyguard and then his assassin. He had no choice because he was an omega wolf."
