“It might be okay for tomorrow. Definitely not your best bet for a beginner, but if it clears off, then by the afternoon you might be fine.”
“Would you go out in this weather?”
“Of course. I don’t mind snow.”
“You don’t?”
“Not at all. I’d planned to camp this weekend.”
“What made you change your mind and come here?”
It had to be worse out there than he was saying if he’d come to stay in a lodge with a bunch of humans instead of camping.
His jaw locked and his eyes grew darker.
Or maybe there was more to the story he didn’t want to share.
“It’s kind of hard to go camping in my skin in this weather. I do get cold.”
“So why not shift then and sleep in your fur?”
It seemed like a sensible question. I’d run with him. I knew damn well there wasn’t anything wrong with his wolf. So why not?
“That’s a bit complicated right now,” he finally said.
I had no idea what he was talking about.
“You were fine earlier,” I pressed on.
He sighed and his face scrunched up in frustration. I had this ridiculous urge to reach out and smooth it. Instead, I clasped my fingers together behind my back to keep from giving in to the impulse.
“There isn’t anything wrong with me,” he snapped, sounding a little hurt.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate there was. I just meant that we ran together earlier this evening and you seemed fine.”
His shoulders relaxed some and he looked almost embarrassed when he spoke again.
“He’s on edge, that’s all. It makes me jumpy when he is like this, and I knew that if I shifted out there for the night that he wouldn’t sleep. He would just try to get back to you. So here I am instead.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say to that.
An awkward pause settled between us. I stared down at the floor while he seemed to favor the ceiling.
We were mates, yet we didn’t know anything about each other. People talk about how wonderful it is to find your true mate, but no one mentioned this part to me. What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say?
Hey, should we just seal this deal now and get it over with?
So . . . looks like we’re stuck together.
I’m yours. You’re mine. Let’s do this thing.
I blushed furiously. No way in hell could I actually say something like that to him.
Something shiny hit the floor at my feet and spun. I bent down to pick it up.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he said.
I looked up at him with wide eyes. “Nope.”
