“I don’t know.”
I turn back toward the doors, then stop when my senses spike again. Behind me, someone’s edging closer. Intent, curious, but not hostile. I have no idea how I can feel that. I turn slowly and face Benji, who’s now only a few steps away.
“You made him tell the truth,” Benji says in awe. “Can you do that to anyone?”
“Guess we’ll find out,” I shrug because who fucking knows right now and then frown at the ice on his fingers that he holds in front of himself. “Listen, try to not… touch… anyone with your hands, okay? You don’t know what that might do to them.”
I can feel the fear and uncertainty that I see cross his face. I lift a hand to squeeze his shoulder in comfort but when I see the ice growing over his hands, drop it back to my side. “Try, try and focus on that,” I nod at his hands. “See if you can get some control over it.”
His expression settles into determination and then he nods at me and goes to a corner and sits down, staring at his hands. I shake my head and plow a hand through my hair, then go and find my own corner to sit in and think, wondering how any of us are going to control this shit.
The rest of the day drags as tension coils tighter in the room. Nobody knows if they’re going to wake up floating or on fire or who fucking knows. I watch them all, my teammates, my friends, unraveling at the seams.
That night, I sleep in my clothes near the exit, my eyes constantly popping open, ears straining. Every creak of the floor, every rustle of a sleeping mat puts me on edge. When I finally fall into a restless sleep, I dream of Luna. Her light, her smile.
I dream of the first time she and the guys came here to watch me play. Out in the field, I couldn’t keep the grin from my face at having people who cared about me in the stands for the first time. My father, my only blood family, hasn’t come once. Not that I’d really want him to. Knowing they were in the stands cheering me on had me playing harder than I ever had before and the game ended with a win for our team and two runs for me. I was on such a high after the game as I waded through the fans and all the cleat chasers looking for my attention as I triedto get to my friends. Luna looked at me with so much pride that my chest filled with a deep ache for her.
“That’s quite the fan club you’ve gathered, Ballboy.” She teased, causing me to groan.
“Help a guy out, love. Be my fake girlfriend so they’ll leave me alone?” I begged teasingly right back.
She threw her head back and the first real, genuine laugh I’d heard from her since the funerals had me catching my breath at how beautiful it sounded. How beautiful she was.
When her eyes met mine again, she tossed me a flirty wink and snapped out, “On it! Catch me.”
Luna dashed the few steps between us and launched herself into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist when I caught her with one arm and hoisted her up. She tucked her face into my neck and I could feel the silent giggles she was suppressing against my chest. Having her in my arms was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had and there was no stopping me from burying my face in her gorgeous hair and just breathing her in. My whole body came alive at the feel and smell of her.
Then the dream fractures like the moon and she’s falling through shadows, calling my name. I wake sweating and out of breath and sit up. I can’t do another day without her.
Today, I leave.
Chapter 49 - Gage
After an hour of walking, the wolf shifts back into his human form to walk beside me with an impatient huff. I ignore him and keep walking. Sighing, he scans the forest ahead.
“You see that?” he murmurs, pointing at what looks like random dirt.
“Sure,” I lie sarcastically. “Totally clear.”
He smirks. “Scent trail. A deer passed here maybe an hour ago. The wind’s shifted too. It’s coming from the east now and that means your human nose is even more useless than I thought.”
“Yup, that’s me, useless.”
We keep walking. The silence stretches comfortably, broken only by the crunch of my boots and the occasional muttered insult and laugh from Brannick when a branch slaps me in the face.
Eventually, I break the quiet. “This has been the most fucked up couple of days. I was on my way up north for work when the plane I was in crashed. Everyone else died. Now I’m out here inthe woods with a large naked dude, who can change into a wolf, and who thinks I’m something called a Stoneheart.”
Brannick grunts. “Because you are. You’re tied to the earth, whether your world remembers it or not. Your bones remember your gift.”
We walk for another half hour before he shifts back into his wolf form with a shimmer of golden light and races ahead. I breathe out a deep sigh and try not to think about Luna and what’s happening at home. With Reid and Jules in Vancouver and Torrin in Winnipeg, she’s all alone there and it scares me.
The wolf must have circled around under the cover of the trees and holy fuck he is quiet. He steps up beside me from behind my left shoulder and I nearly crap myself when I flinch and turn my head to glare at him.
That golden shimmer happens and I tear my gaze away from the naked man who appears even as he snarls, “Your pace is agonizing.”
“Too bad. I only have two legs.” I snap back at him.
He grumbles but matches my pace. Not five minutes later, a jackrabbit darts across the trail and Brannick lets out a shocked squeal and leaps back, nearly flattening me as he tries to hide behind me.
