“An hour, maybe two, as long as I don’t get worse. If any of my symptoms pick up, we should go straight there.”
“That makes sense. Would you like me to take you home?”
Home.It was tempting. There I could kick off my shoes, pull off my wig, and soak in a tub with lavender aromatherapy.
God, my wig! How messed up had it gotten in the fight? It wasn’t one of my human hair units, but it was expensive, and I really didn’t need it to be ruined on top of everything else.
My anger ticked up, which was the exact opposite of what we wanted, but something must have triggered in my brain, because I quickly realized I was about to endanger my health over a bunch of synthetic fibers glued to my head.
A little perspective was in order.
That tiny bit of levity, or maybe it was irony, stopped the crescendo dead in its tracks, and I actually let out a slight chuckle.
“What is it?” Ben asked, and I swore I heard relief beneath his worry.
“Just thinking silly things.” I was happy I sounded much more like I was supposed to. But then my mind flicked back to his question once again. As much as I would love to be comfortable in my own space, I wasn’t really in the right state. “Actually, I don’t want my dad or Simon to see me like this. They’d probably ask a lot of questions, and I’m really not ready for that.”
I watched Ben’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. “I can see how you would want to avoid that.”
Yeah, no kidding.
I knew it was absolutely insane that I wasn’t trying to run away from Ben while screaming at the top of my lungs that he was a monster, but I was in no hurry to leave his presence. Themore I returned to myself, the deeper the curiosity and wonder became. What exactly had happened? And what exactly was he? Had that man been telling the truth about Ben killing his brother?
So many questions came to mind, none of which a sane person would ask. Yet I had to know.
And, if I was being honest with myself, some part of me was thrilled that Ben had not only run across an entire city, a suburb, and quite a bit of highway to get to me, but that he turned away from ending the fight to help me. Maybe I was completely off my rocker, but there was something about the man who had taken me and attacked Ben that made me want to save his life.
Now that I knew what my kidnapper was, I was all too aware that he could have killed me at any moment. Especially when I ran. He could have torn me limb from limb, but he hadn’t. Which, to me, meant something.
So yeah, despite stabbing him in the eye with the only weapon I’d ever heard of working on a werewolf, I had tried to save his life. And I’d succeeded.
“Can we go to your place?” I asked.
He stared at me like I was the one who had suddenly turned into a wild animal.
“Are you sure?” he croaked.
“Yes. Besides, I think you owe me an explanation.Alongexplanation.”
“I suppose that’s fair.”
Eyes still wide, he turned to face the road and pulled away from the curb. I had no idea how far his house was from the restaurant, but it couldn’t be too far from my house since they had to live in the same school district.
We sat in silence once again—no music, no conversation, just my incrementally slowing heartbeat and our ragged breathing.
Well, we had just had one hell of a first date.
And our night wasn’t even over.
Just as I had thought, it didn’t take us long to get to his house, but I was surprised at how large his home and land were. I’d imagined a home somewhat like mine: modest front yard, backyard, two floors, and three or four bedrooms. But Ben lived in a relatively new subdivision where the houses were all spaced out with massive yards, pools, and at least three floors as well as outdoor decks.
My impression about his financial situation had indeed been correct. There was a joke in there about wolves on Wall Street and being wealthy, but I didn’t have the mental fortitude to make it.
“Here we are,” he said as he pulled to a stop in front of the garage.
Despite everything that had happened, he still got out first, then went around the front of the car to open my door. He offered me his hand, and I stared at him for a moment. Not that long ago, it had been a massive wolf paw, complete with claws that could easily slit my throat.
I would have to be stupid to take it. Simply moronic with absolutely no survival skills. He was a predator, but he had sort of saved me. How long could I guarantee that I would be safe in his presence? The smart thing to do was not to go into his den, but to run to the closest building, calling for help as loudly as I could.
