I smile. “I promise.”
For a second I feel a little more relaxed, I even sigh and lean back.
“You know, you’ve been giving good advice since we met here like two years ago.”
She shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Yeah, well, I’m pretty smart so ...”
“Oh yeah.” I nod along. “And like crazy modest.”
“Uh-huh.”
Again, we fall quiet, both grinning at our little back-and-forth, but slowly letting those grins fade.
“I am really glad we met though,” Aisha says, more seriously now. “Even if this whole camp gives me the tingles.”
I bump our shoulders together. “Me too.”
After that we don’t say much else, just stare into the fire. More soldiers have joined in the song those two drunk guys were butchering, and as the camp quietens the singing rises. Soldiers stand side by side, singing, letting their voices unite them. Their music rises with the swirling smoke of the fire, twisting into the sky, and maybe, just maybe, reaching all the way to the moon.
“You’re here,” I say, surprised to find Jasper in our room when I arrive there a little later. He’s poking his head around the doorframe of the en suite bathroom, basically ready for bed in his boxers and T-shirt, toothbrush sticking out from the side of his mouth adorably.
Outside, the fire is still burning, but more and more wolves are heading to their bunks, looking for a little rest and maybe somewhere quiet to pray before tomorrow. And tired as all hell, I thought I’d turn in as well.
“Disappointed?” he asks jokingly, a little toothpaste foaming in the corner of his lips.
“No,” I say, sitting on the bed. “The opposite. I wanted to see you.”
Looking over his shoulder in the mirror, he locks eyes with me while he finishes brushing. Once done, he spits and rinses, then moves to his side of the bed, sitting up against the headboard.
“Everything okay?” he asks, reaching out a hand across the comforter.
I take it, fiddling with his knuckles. “Yeah, it’s just a weird vibe tonight.”
“I know,” he says.
I prop my knee up on the mattress and turn to face him a little more.
“And ... I wasn’t going to say anything but has Tobias said anything to you about—about—”
“Having a last-minute marking ceremony?”
I deflate, breathing a sigh of relief. “Yes! Is he on you too?”
Jasper smiles, his cheeks flushing a little. “He’s like a dog with a bone, or ... I guess, he is a dog, sort of. Anyway, he’s totally obsessed. You can just ignore him.”
When I don’t say anything right away, Jasper squints and gives me a questioning look.
“Unless, you don’t want to ignore him?”
It’s suddenly way too hot and the mattress is too soft underneath me. I jump up, pacing my side of the room like a mad witch.
“No, it’s not that. I don’t ... I still don’t think I’m ready but ...”
“You’re making me dizzy.” He dives across the mattress so he’s lying on his stomach but manages to latch on to my hand with his. “Come here.” Easily, he tugs me to the bed. I maneuver my way to lying down beside him and he pulls me in super tight. “What’s got you freaked?” he asks.
“I’m not freaked. I guess I’m just scared, a bit, and wondering, what if something bad happens—”
“Nothing bad is going to happen.”
