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Another mate thing. I sighed, not knowing what to make of all this.
I didn’t know much about them but I couldn’t deny the pull. Gods, was it them or Fate tugging me toward this place all this time? I came here because of Minx, but perhaps she was the catalyst for my mating.
Or maybe I just needed a snack.
“Which hand did she cut?” he asked, lifting both of them and of course, seeing nothing.
“Um, this one,” I moved the right one. “I heal pretty fast.”
Well, there it was. Three seconds after promising myself I would keep my secret, as I had my whole life, I’d just blurted it out to Tall, Built, and Sexy.
“That’s putting it lightly.” He assessed my hand. “Huh? Not even a scar. Have you always healed fast?”
“I have. Since my first shift.”
He cocked his head. I hoped I was putting my trust in the right person. I’d made the mistake of trusting Seraphine only minutes ago, and look where that got me. “Shifters are all different. We all excel in different things.”
I nodded. My hands were still in his and I had no plans to remove them. His touch warm and comforting took everything away. I could curl up in him like a warm blanket and not emerge until this winter of mine was over.
“Are you… Can you keep this to yourself? The healing? I don’t usually share it with people. I was always taught to keep it to myself.”
“A gift? You were taught to keep a gift to yourself?” He looked down at my hands and my heart fluttered thinking he might kiss one or both of them. Or my lips. Any of the above would’ve done.
“I don’t think everyone else would see it as a gift, Wolfe.”
He grunted. “I like the sound of my name on your lips, Ava. And yes, I will always keep your secrets. You have nothing to fear from me.”
“I believe you,” I admitted. The longer we stood there, the more I wanted to push him against the nearest wall and get on my tiptoes and kiss him. And that would be a feat considering he was a wall on his own. It would take three of me to move him an inch.
“Good. It’s important to me that you trust me.”
I did. “How come you talk so much around me but not others?” I had to ask.
“Because I trust you. I don’t trust easily.”
I nodded and heard the door a few flights up open. The students had been let out of class. There were only so many students the elevators could handle.
“It’s time to go to our next class,” I said, not wanting to leave.
“I’ll see you at dinner?” he asked.
“Of course. When would I ever miss a meal?” I laughed.
“Never if I have anything to do with it. See you then, Ava.”
He reluctantly let go of my hands, and we parted ways. An absence immediately took shape inside me. I could heal from just about anything. Or, so the healer said.
But from Wolfe? I might not ever heal if he wasn’t in my life.
Chapter Eight
Horns honking and tires squealing woke me from where I slept in the back seat just in time for impact. We were T-boned, toward the front of the car, and an explosion of blood sprayed me from where my parents sat. And I didn’t know from which one or both. Screams echoed around the ruined car, and after the EMTs cut me out of the back seat, they injected me with something that made the screams stop. So they were mine.
But this time the screams kept going.
“Ava.” A gentle hand gave my shoulder a shake. “Ava, wake up. You’re dreaming.” The words pierced the nightmare that came to me most nights at some point, although luckily I didn’t wake the neighborhood with my pain. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes.” I sighed. “I’m sorry. Ever since the accident where my parents died, I have bad dreams. They’re so vivid, like it’s happening all over again.” I tried not to blink, not to go back to sleep where the dream might be waiting. “Actually they aren’t as often now, but I hate them so much. Everyone said, at first, they were therapeutic. And I tried to go with that, but it was impossible to make it a part of my belief system that being retraumatized every night was the very best thing in the world.”
