Page 42 of Legacy Wolf: Semester One (Legacy Wolf #1)

RAWLING

One thing I hadn’t considered when transferring to Sombertooth and living in Phoenix House, was that it would shut for spring break. Summers, sure. I expected that, but for some reason, spring break evaded me.

I had to be out by three pm the Friday before break began, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

So instead, I booked a cheesy hotel near the gaming store and planned to wallow in self-pity and attend some open board game hours.

Was it the spring break of dreams? Absolutely not, but I’d have a bed, local restaurants that delivered, and a bit of social interaction.

It would be good. Far better than going back to where I’d lived with Rawlins.

It was still there for me, and people were taking care of it thanks to the way the trust was set up, but I wasn’t ready. There were too many memories, and I hadn’t allowed myself to get through the grieving process yet. Not really.

I supposed I could have rummaged through the boxes in the basement searching for clues about my godfather’s shifter life. But that could wait until summer.

Jack

Midterms nearly killed me. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.

I knew the material and had worked hard all semester, even when I didn’t want to.

But the week of the exams was rough emotionally, as I was worried about passing, and physically as well with all the late nights.

I was wrung out and ready to go home for the week.

Rawling looked just as bad, only in a different way.

He looked sad—the kind of sad that needed more than a hug.

He hadn’t said as much, but I had a feeling it had something to do with his godfather not being there for him when he went home.

I couldn’t imagine bearing the weight of all the loss he had faced over his lifetime.

Most days you couldn’t tell he had anything less than the best life ever.

And then others? I could see the sadness just chilling in his eyes.

That was why I’d taken the money from him for my cleats.

I didn’t want to, and I’d for sure have figured something out if I hadn’t.

But the more he talked about the money, the more that sorrow set into his facial features.

I wasn’t sure if Rawling realized what was happening.

He probably thought he was just getting frustrated with his stubborn roommate.

But that money came into his possession through death, and that was far from easy, not for anyone, but especially for someone so young.

I walked into our room, ready to crash for the night, the last midterm I had exceptionally brutal.

“Six essay questions.” I threw my backpack on the ground like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

“The bastard gave us six full essay questions, and could we do them on the computer like normal students? No. he made us use those stupid blue books like kids in the nineties had to. They were so old the paper was starting to turn that off-yellow color.”

I was babbling to no one in particular, but Rawling was there, listening like a good friend.

“Sorry. I’m just frustrated.” I plopped down on my bed. “I should be twirling around for joy at having managed to get it all done in the allotted time. There were still over a dozen students working when I left, and there were less than ten minutes left.”

That taught me about taking a course because it sounded fun without looking into it at all.

“I’m happy to listen to you vent,” he assured me.

“I know, you’re a good friend.” The best one I’d ever had.

There were numerous occasions when I laid in bed and wished that things could’ve been different between us.

That he could’ve been my mate. How nice would that have been, to have a mate that was bestie material and understood what it was like to not quite fit in.

But that wasn’t how the goddess worked. He liked cock as much as I did, and when I looked at Rawling, as objectively stunning as he was, not a single ounce of arousal hit.

We were doomed to be friends forever. There were far worse things than that.

“When are you leaving?” I asked. We hadn’t talked about our plans yet, even though everyone in Phoenix House had pretty much forgotten there were other things one could speak of other than your spring break destination. You couldn’t take a step out of the doorway without hearing it from someone.

“Don’t know.” He went back to whatever he was watching on his laptop.

“Where are you going?” There was something about the way he answered that had me thinking it wasn’t as simple as going home to an empty house. Not that that was simple. Far from it.

“I booked a place not far from here.” He didn’t even look up to meet my eyes.

I went over and sat on the edge of his bed. “Listen. Can you do me a solid?”

He looked up at me. That was something.

“Can you come home with me? With Dad still out of work, I don’t want to talk about money.

With you there as a buffer, they won’t. I know he feels bad.

I get it, but there’s nothing he can do about it, and encouraging him to wallow in that guilt—I’d rather not.

” There was nothing I said that wasn’t true, but I’d have handled it on my own.

My family wasn’t toxic or anything. We were just going through a rough time.

“Yeah. Okay.” It wasn’t an enthusiastic yes, but I took it.

When my father came to get me, he didn’t seem too surprised I’d found a tag-along. My parents had always told me that I could have anyone over that I wanted at any time. They hadn’t liked how things changed for me socially when my bear decided to play hide-and-seek.

“It’s great to meet you, Rawling. I’ve heard nothing but nice things about you…” he leaned in close. “Except that first day. You were quite the surprise for my little cub.”

“She was quite the surprise for me too.” As was all of Sombertooth, but my dad didn’t need to know that part.

From that first meeting with my dad, Rawling was one of the family.

My dad made sure of it. My parents loved him, my siblings thought he was the coolest guy ever, and even the neighborhood cat kept coming over to see him.

And best of all—not once did I see that look in his eyes.

I was under no delusions that my family magically fixed the hurt that the amount of loss he’d felt had left.

But for the short time he was going to be with us, he was more than welcome to borrow my family.

“Your parents love each other so much. If I didn’t know that they had been together forever, I’d have thought them newlyweds.

” He was on the floor in a sleeping bag beside my bed.

I’d offered him the bed repeatedly, but he insisted that he liked it.

He was lying, but I wasn’t going to make him feel bad about anything this trip, including the worry over displacing me from my bed.

“They’re true mates.”

“I don’t know what that means.” He lowered his voice and scootched over.

I patted my bed. “Just for a bit.”

He got up and laid beside me.

“So, true mates, they are the forever kind of once-in-a-lifetime of all fairy tales, only real.” I rolled over and onto my side.

“You wondered how I could be, it’s just…

you know…” I wasn’t going to talk about my sex life at home.

It felt like a respect thing, especially when it was purely recreational and non-committed.

It was one hundred percent a me thing. My folks weren’t like that.

But still… “With Atticus. Well, that’s why.

He’s not my forever, and I never had any reason to suspect he might be. Why emotionally invest in that?”

He watched my face as if dissecting every word, and I let the silence grow between us.

“That must be nice. Too bad humans don’t have anything like that. But if they did, I think my parents had that.” He climbed off the bed. “I can’t wait to meet yours.” He went back to his makeshift bed, his words echoing on repeat over and over again in my head.

I wish humans did too, Rawling. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you.