Ramsay hummed, looking off in thought. “I dunno. But maybe we should just trust him.”
I stopped. “Ramsay, doesn’t it bother you?”
“Not really.” He shrugged. “Am I upset to see you so hurt? Yeah. But I’m not mad at Eric for not telling us every single thing in his life, especially if it really is pack business, y’know?”
I frowned, feeling some of my anger reel back. Was I overreacting?
Maybe he shouldn’t feel obligated to tell Colton and Ramsay, since their parents are pack leaders,I thought.But I’m his mate. He should still tell me. Especially since all I want to do is help him.
Without noticing it, I realized my hand had travelled to my belly again--which made me feel even worse. This baby belonged to Eric, too. Was this really the time for him to be emotionally walled off?
I sighed, not really feeling any better but at least I was too worn out to keep thinking about it. I’d deal with Eric later. Right now I had other things to deal with--namely, saving the four packs from imminent doom.
* * *
The sun washigh above our heads by the time we arrived on the island. The nice weather and canoe trip had mellowed out my mood a bit, and I didn’t feel as edgy when I stepped foot on the sand.
“Noro!” I called.
I didn’t see him around the unlit bonfire, or anywhere in the clearing, but without the ability to fly I knew he couldn’t have gone anywhere.
“There he is,” Colton said, pointing to the opposite shore.
As we approached, I noticed in amusement that Noro’s rear end was sticking in the air while his front half crouched in the sand. He stood dead still with one clawed hand hovering above the water, his talons poised to strike. We watched in silence, not wanting to disturb him from what was obviously a very important task.
He struck. Water splashed, and a moment later he sat back up with a large fish squirming in his talons. He proceeded to rip its head off and swallow the whole thing in one gulp.
“Ew,” Ramsay said.
“Wow, good catch!” Colton called more excitedly.
Noro turned around and met us on the shore. “Hello there. Thanks for letting me have my lunch.” He sat down and preened the feathers on his face like a cat. “What brings you all here? Ah, hold on.” He paused his grooming. “I only see three of you. Where’s the fourth?”
I sighed. Of course I couldn’t go five minutes without thinking about my spat with Eric.
“He’s not here. He’s at home dealing with his own problems,” I explained.
“I see.” He flicked his tail, then decided not to press the issue. “So, what can I do for you?”
“Well, I… I want to learn how to use magic,” I said. “Since we don’t know when any attacks are gonna happen, I thought it’d be best to start early. Better safe than sorry.”
Noro nodded. “Yes, I agree.”
“So, where do we begin?”
Noro stood and stretched his wings. I noticed the substantial hole in one of them with a pang of guilt. Even though what happened with Neil wasn’t my fault, I still felt responsible for being the cause of his meltdown.
“Tell me what you feel inside you, Matheson,” Noro said.
I looked down at my hands. “Um. I don’t really know. I just feeldifferent.”
“That’s a start,” he said somewhat dryly. “Can you elaborate?”
I furrowed my brow in concentration, although I didn’t know exactly what I was concentrating on.
“It’s almost like I sense these flickers inside me, in my torso,” I said, touching the area. “It happened first when we realized the meaning about the farewell-to-spring flower. About the four petals, and the four mates.”
Part of me felt uncomfortable mentioning it while Eric and I were having a fight, but it would’ve been weirder not to bring it up.
