He couldn’t get enough of his mate’s presence. Inhaling her sweet scent, soaking up her voice and her laughter. Watching her stir soup, tug Maggie’s blanket into place, touch her aunt’s hand as she walked past. Turned out both he and Kelsey were more patient with Maggie’s recovery than Maggie was. And he loved observing Kelsey at work, logged into her social accounts. She was still posting only throwback content for now, yet she kept up with her followers, responding to comments, laughing or rolling her eyes at an interaction here or there.
They watched more of her show, which he had begun to think of as theirs. After all they never failed to grade whether or not the two of them could have won that episode’s leg of the race, whether the puzzle or task would’ve gotten the best of them. They plotted a weekend of camping and canyoning for some time in early winter, when Maggie was better. They took turns in the alcove kitchen defrosting care-package meals, and Trevor continued not to eat them, instead grabbing takeout for himself on the way over.
It was so good. His chest hadn’t been so relaxed, his spirit so at ease, in many years.
On Friday he arrived while she was in the shower, and Maggie managed to corner him from her recliner.
“You’re just as crazy about her as you ever were.”
Trevor’s face warmed. “Yeah.”
“I knew it. And I’m glad.”
He didn’t know what to do with it though, this rising tide inside him of protectiveness, affection, desire. He couldn’t offer it to his mate, not the full force of it, not yet. He had to give her time. He had to earn her trust back. No idea if he was making any headway with that, so he had to simply keep showing up until she was ready to indicate one way or the other.
She’d been here ten days. What if she needed a year?
Saturday night, driving home around ten, he startled at the ringing of his phone from the truck’s console. He swiped to answer it without looking. Maybe he’d left something at Maggie’s.
“Kels?”
A low rumbling chuckle.
“Ezra,” Trevor said.
“Hey, bro.”
“What’s up?”
“You have time for a chat? In person, I mean. I’ll head over to your place, or you can come here.”
“I just left Maggie’s,” Trevor said. “I’ll come to you.”
Ezra would communicate better on his own turf. It was a weird thing with him. He listened best, talked best, when his hands were busy. This minute he was probably playing with what he called a “free build.” Trevor had once told him he took his toys too seriously, and he’d barely avoided a half-strength slug to his arm. Wolves had to pull punches unless they wanted to crack each other’s bones, but even following the etiquette of half-strength, a wolf’s fist would leave a dark bruise.
“Cool,” Ezra said. “Listen, I don’t want you to feel ambushed. It’s about Kelsey.”
“Shocker.” Trevor grinned.
A rumbling chuckle. “Yeah, I guess there’s no bigger news in the family right now.”
“Sydney there this time too?”
“Hey, you popped in unannounced before. That wasn’t us ganging up on you.”
“Yeah, I know, bro. It’s okay.” He drew a deep breath. It really was okay. And it was time he shared a few things with the pack. He’d start with Ezra.
In no time Trevor had let himself into his brother’s house and descended the stairs to the lower level. Sure enough, Ezra sat at his building table, both long and wide enough for expansion when he decided the original size of a project was too small to do what he wanted. Around him, in sorted containers, were the building blocks of his beloved pastime.
“Stop calling them blocks.”
“Well, they’re colorful plastic and you stick them together, so…”
“Bricks, Trevor, they’re interlocking bricks.”
Trevor’s face stretched into a smile as he approached the table. No way Ezra didn’t know he was here. He’d known since before Trevor’s truck turned down his driveway. But the wolf was in the zone.
The zone of interlocking bricks.
