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And I had to be content with that.
Chapter Ten
Minx, followed by her mates, left the table without eating much more than that single mouthful her mate encouraged her to. I felt awful at being responsible for my sister losing her appetite. She promised to think over what I had to say, which was a major improvement from our last conversation. My decision to come here and find her had repercussions, but I understood. I’d experienced them as well when I learned my part of our story.
My sister’s lack of interest in food under stress was not something we shared. My personal tendency to double down on meals when things got intense was only offset by a shifter metabolism, or I’d have needed a new wardrobe every two weeks. Since the accident, my life had been one shock after another, and I had cushioned many of them with donuts.
It might have been kinder to let at least one of us continue on in her life as she knew it. Perhaps I was being selfish coming here when I had nobody else to reach out to. It didn’t take much imagination to recognize how I’d have reacted in a similar situation. If someone had shown up in my happy world and kicked one of the supports out from under me.
After Minx and the others left, and we’d finished our breakfast, Lex and Wolfe had to get to an early class, but Nolan poured an extra cup of coffee and sipped it. We sat in companionable silence for a few minutes while we finished our drinks, then I stood, slung my backpack over one shoulder and grabbed my tray. “I guess I’d better get going. I have some reading to do.”
“Ava?” Nolan hadn’t moved from his seat.
I stopped. “Yes? Did I forget something?” I looked around the table and the floor. My phone was still in my pocket when I patted it.
“No. Do you have a whole lot of reading due today?”
“A chapter.” I shrugged. “And I’ve been over it once. Why? Did you have a better idea?”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s better, but might be more fun. Would you like to take a walk with me? Maybe shift?”
“Sure, is there somewhere on campus we can do that?” We were right in the middle of the city, something I had been very surprised by when I arrived. Shifters, at least the ones I knew, preferred a more rural area where they could shift at will and not have to deal with humans who might not understand what we were doing. The awareness of us was by no means universal, and it really did create some uncomfortable scenes. “Because I wondered about that.” And my wolf more than wondered.
“I know a wilderness park not too far away that should be pretty empty midweek like this.” He rose and cleared his own dishes. “If you’d like to go?”
“Haven’t I heard rumors about the rooftop?” A couple of girls in my class had mentioned it in passing, and I didn’t know a whole lot about it other than it was an outdoor multiuse area. “Can’t we shift there?”
“Oh sure, but at this time of day, there will most likely be a class of some sort up there, and I thought it would be more fun to be just the two of us than listen to a health lecture or something.”
“Agreed.” I flashed him a toothy smile as we set our trays on the moving belt that carried them to the depths of the kitchen. “I know I’ve only been here a short time, but I am used to being able to go out and run in the forest anytime I like.”
“Sounds like paradise.” He took my arm and guided me down a hallway to the right. “It’s a lot faster this way.”
“It was nice, until my parents died.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.” He opened a door that led out into a narrow street behind the building. “Your mom and stepdad?”
“I guess he was.” It felt so hard to admit that. But what else could I call him?
My father, the one who raised me, had been my world. His training had been incredibly precious to me, shaping me into who I was today. I’d often thought, while looking in the mirror, that I could see a resemblance to him around my eyes and nose. When I was young, I loved that because my admiration for him was endless. He wasn’t an easy father, and he expected a lot from me, but I never doubted his love and pride in my achievements. In many ways, I’d been closer to him than to my mom and would have been less shocked to learn she was not my bio mom.
“He’d been there your whole life.” He reached for my hand and held it, smoothing his thumb over my palm in a soothing way. “You must have loved him very much.”
“I did, but I was every bit as much of a butt to him as any other teenager.” A tear slipped from my eye, and I swiped it away with the back of my free hand. “Anyway, where is this park?”
It was just a few blocks away, fortunately, because our time truly was limited, but for being in the middle of the city, it was pretty awesome. Standing surrounded by trees calmed my wolf in a way I hadn’t realized she needed, although I should have.
We ran together for a while, maybe an hour, and it was the most fun I’d ever had. My wolf was ablaze with joy.
Chapter Eleven
Nolan had been playful and exuberant during our run. He play bit at my haunches and ran into me on purpose, sending us both rolling down a hill with one enthusiastic bump.
The time spent with him was one of the few lights in my life since coming here, that, and the moments I got with the other two.
My legs burned from the run but, almost as soon as I noticed the stinging sensation, it vanished. Good thing about healing quickly—even muscle aches were a split-second inconvenience.
Once we made it out of the clearing, I noticed Wolfe and Lex standing against two trees, engrossed in conversation. Something Lex said made Wolfe chuckle low and deep. The sound reverberated in my chest and threw me into a lust-filled haze. Lex turned and cocked his head as Nolan and I approached. They were friends and had been since starting school here, I believed, so I was sure they’d seen Nolan shift, but as he took in my form, my wolf turned, preening in front of her…according to her, her fated mates.
