Page 105 of Poet & Protector

Sabine trotted over to the pool and shifted into human form. “Is this place ever not beautiful?”

In the autumn the clearing was painted in shades of rust and gold surrounded by the dark green veil of pines. The two streams waxed and waned depending on the amount of rainfall. Right now they were narrow ribbons, traveling over the slope in a whisper before they quietly slipped into the pool.

She sat on the log. Knowing her question had been rhetorical, I smiled in reply and sat beside her. We didn’t speak again, sitting silently with the hushed flow of the streams and the occasional rustle of a breeze shivering through pine needles.

It wasn’t long before Mason, a wolf, stepped through the thicket of undergrowth. He stopped when he saw that Sabine was with me.

She stood up. “Hey.”

He shifted forms, his reply uncertain. “Hi.”

“I’m not staying,” she told him. “But we have something in common I wish we didn’t. I want you to know that if you ever want to talk to me, about anything, anytime, you can. I’ve asked Nev to send you my phone number.”

I glanced at her. She hadn’t, but I would send it now and I was grateful for the suggestion.

Mason nodded slowly and cleared his throat. “Thank you, Sabine. That means a lot.”

She answered with a brief nod then looked at me.

“Thank you,” I said.

After offering a small, sad smile, she shifted forms and dashed into the forest.

Mason hadn’t moved from the edge of the clearing.

I stood up and walked slowly toward him, trying to gauge his state of mind. Whatever he was feeling, he had it bound up tightly. It was usually easy for me to read him, but right now he wasn’t giving anything away.

I wasn’t sure how to act, afraid I’d unintentionally pressure him into saying or doing something he wasn’t ready for. I was desperate to touch him, but I worried that might be too much too soon, depending on what had happened in the commons.

When I was a foot away, I stopped and waited. It frightened me that I couldn’t interpret the emotions swirling in his eyes. My brow furrowed slightly. The scent of Logan’s clove cigarettes clung to Mason, which wasn’t surprising, but the odor was stronger than I would have expected. I tried not to think about what that might mean.

Mason’s gaze dropped to the ground. “Do you want to know what happened?”

“Only if you want to tell me.”

He pulled in a long breath, released it. “He mostly talked.”

Mostly.

I stopped myself from snarling and asking what lurked beyond that word, ‘mostly.’

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, he said, “The weird thing is, I get the feeling he’s waiting for me to tell him I want this. He knows I can’t stop him, but it’s like he thinks if he drags it out, I’ll be the one to come to him. Why would he think that?”

Mason looked up at me, and I finally saw something in his gaze I recognized: confusion.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Maybe to protect the pack. Or me. Maybe because he’s Logan and he can’t imagine you not wanting what he does. Honestly, it’s probably the last one. He needs you to show him you’re what he believes you should be.”

Mason nodded slowly, but frowned. “But I won’t. I won’t ever do that. I’ll never be what he wants me to be to him.”

“We know that,” I said. “Logan doesn’t.”

“I don’t understand why—” He suddenly cut himself off.

A minute passed and when he spoke again his voice was unsteady. “Nev, he said he didn’t want my fear. He wants the opposite. What’s the opposite?”

I ground my teeth as I considered the question. What did Logan imagine Mason could give him that wouldn’t be the result of fear? What would someone with as much power as our new master crave from Mason without being able to simply take it from him?

When the answer hit me, I didn’t want to believe it. But I knew it was the truth.