Page 45 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

I shivered at the memory of Jared’s hand in mine and the warring feelings of relief and anticipation that it’d brought. And Clay—when he brushed past me in the hall at the cabin the other day. And when he’d carried me into the trees just this afternoon as the urge to shift shook me.

Even through the haze of pain and panic, I’d felt him. Like an anchor keeping me steady enough to get through the shift.

Jared: Allie?

I cleared my throat and set the broom into its nook behind the door.

Allie: Everything’s good. Don’t worry. I can handle him.

Before I could tuck the phone back into my pocket, it buzzed again, and Clay’s name flashed beneath the fractured glass, surprising me.

Clay: I’m outside.

Sure enough, when I glanced up and peered out the window, I saw Jared’s white jeep idling across the street.

The bulky shadow of Clay in the driver’s seat— his cell phone illuminating the silhouette of his face in the dark.

The sharp angle of his thick jaw. The line of his cheekbone.

The soft curve of his full lips. His dark lashes and thick eyebrows against tan skin.

He turned, blue eyes meeting mine through the glass.

I stilled, a furious blush coiling up my neck and into my cheeks. I gave a little wave that Clay didn’t return and quickly turned away, cursing myself under my breath as I finished locking the till into the safe and began shutting off all the lights.

Get your shit together, Allie Grace.

I slid into the passenger side after double checking everything was finished and splashing some icy water over my flushed face. The inside was warm and after the cold slap of walking from the shop to the Jeep, I shuddered.

It was getting really cold out there. I’d need to wear two sweaters or get a warmer jacket soon. “You can turn up the heat if you want,” Clay grunted as he pulled away from the curb and into the mostly empty street.

“No,” I rushed to say, clicking my seatbelt into place. “It’s perfect.”

Clay filled up the driver’s seat and then some with his tall, wide frame. He rested his forearm on the center console to give himself a wider berth and when I bent over to find the buckle, my hair brushed his arm. He jerked it away as though the harmless hairs were something far more sinister.

He put his arm back when I moved away, but the damage was done. My inner wolf was sitting up now, paying attention. The cab was filled with the scents of engine grease and spice. Packed with the weight of his presence.

Leaning casually against the window, away from him, I cleared my throat. “You didn’t have to come and get me, you know. I could’ve walked.”

We passed the small grocery store on the main drag and turned off onto the side road that would lead us to the edge of town. So much for grocery shopping.

I’d have to find the time to go tomorrow.

Jacqueline didn’t need me at the shop—which was odd for a Wednesday—but at least it would give me a chance to catch up on some homework that was piling up and to stock up on some essentials.

If I got my period right now, I was fucked.

Good thing it wasn’t due for another few days.

Clay snorted. “Yes. I did. I already told you—”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, remembering with a sigh.

“Jared’s orders.”

“Not just that.”

I rested my chin against my closed fist and tilted my head to watch him as he drove.

My lips parted to ask him what he meant, but then I closed them again, afraid I didn’t want to know.

He was probably referring to my little panic attack earlier.

Or the fact that I nearly had a panic attack when I went for a run this morning before school.

He was following me. He would have seen.

The drive seemed almost painfully slow. When we finally turned the last bend and I could see the narrow entrance to the unmarked trailhead where Jared usually parked, I sagged with relief.

Clay’s nearness was wreaking havoc on my nerves, and it took everything I had not to jump out of the Jeep before he even put it in park.

I slammed the door behind me, not realizing my own strength. The loud bang made me wince and the Jeep shudder.

“The fuck,” I heard Clay whisper from the other side.

“Shit. Sorry, I didn’t mean to slam it so hard.”

Clay appeared around the back, the still glowing tail lights casting their red light over his face. His nostrils flared for a second then he shrugged. “Not my Jeep,” he said with a one shoulder shrug. “But I will be the one fixing it if you break it.”

I shrank back as he stepped forward toward the trail.

Clay bristled. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Back away from me like you think I’m going to—”

He cut himself off and it took me a second to put together what he was stopping himself from saying.

His cold blue eyes watched me, only the moonlight illuminating him now, but I could see better than I ever had been able to in the dark before.

I could see the strain at the edges of his eyes and the tightness in his jaw.

I could see the web of veins in each of his forearms as he flexed them beneath the rolled sleeves of his black long sleeve t-shirt.

“Oh. No,” I shook my head. “It’s not that. I mean, you’re scary, don’t get me wrong. You got this whole I could eat you in one bite thing going on, but I don’t think you would…um…”

“Then what?” he demanded, clenching and unclenching his fists. His gaze unwavering. “Do I fucking smell?”

I readjusted my backpack and took a breath. “No.

It’s the um—the mate bond thing.”

His jaw went slack, and he stepped backward. Clay narrowed his eyes at me, and I could have been wrong, but I thought I saw something like hurt flicker there before it was gone, leaving me to wonder if I’d seen it there at all.

“It’s just that when you get close to me,” I trailed off, unsure exactly how to describe it. Surely, he could feel it too. From what I understood, a mate bond wasn’t a one-way street.

“Got it,” he grunted, his mouth twisting as he moved in a wider arc around me and into the trail. “I’ll keep my distance.”

“I just meant—”

“It’s fine,” he snapped and then stopped, but didn’t turn.

His back lifted with a deep breath and he turned his head so I could see the profile of his face in the dark, backlit in shades of silver from the moon.

“I didn’t ask for this, you know.” He growled; eyes blank as he stared at the ground. “I didn’t want it.”

“I know.”

He nodded once and then continued into the trees. “Come on. It’s late.”

I hurried to catch up, keeping about six feet of space between us. My hair fell into my face and I flipped it out of the way, my foot catching on something. The toe of my newly glued back together shoe jammed into the hollow beneath a tree root and I went sprawling face first toward the ground.

My backpack thudded to the dirt and I put my hands out to catch myself, but Clay was faster. He caught me by the wrists and steadied me, his burly chest inches from my face. My body screamed at the warmth emanating from him. Where his hand circled my wrists, they tingled.

He let go of me and knelt, reaching down to snap the curved tree root from the earth, freeing my foot. “Can you please watch where you’re going.”

I was still trying to school my face out of its I’m about to scream position when he rolled his eyes and stepped away.

He gestured an arm forward and waited off to the side of the trail.

“After you,” he said with an unnecessary flourish.

I stepped past him, realizing the frustration I felt as I did wasn’t my own, but his.

My eye was twitching because he was frustrated.

I hoped he felt the hollow pit of my embarrassment in retaliation.

Clay fell into step behind me, keeping a safe enough distance away that the twitching stopped.

This emotion sharing thing was getting to be a bit crazy.

If I hung around Clay for too long, would I become a sour-faced grump, too?

Clay clucked his tongue and a prickle of unease made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

“You can’t read my mind when we’re human, right?” He let the question linger in the air long enough to make my stomach knot and my chest freeze over in a layer of cold sweat. “No.”

“And can you hear all my thoughts when we’re wolves?”

“No.”

“Well aren’t you a wealth of information.”

He sighed. “I can only hear what you project, but sometimes things slide through accidentally. Usually if you’re thinking something really strongly, or if you’re afraid.”

We fell silent for a while and I thought Clay was done talking to me for the night, but he spoke again when we were only a few minutes away from the cabin. “I was thinking,” he said, and the note of trepidation in his voice made me nervous. My steps faltered before I resumed the same speed again.

“You were?” I prodded, letting sarcasm drip into my tone.

“Ha. Ha.”

“What?”

“Would you want to meet the pack?”

I remembered the pack members who’d come to try to pressure me into a decision. The same ones who took Jared away on Ryland’s orders. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see them again—never mind meet more shifters like them.

Sensing my hesitation, Clay added, “You don’t have to, but they’ll just keep coming. Some of them are just curious. And some are stubborn pricks. I already chased off Harrison yesterday afternoon when I found him sniffing around.”

I had no idea who the hell Harrison was, but I nodded, my mouth going dry.

“If you go to them. Meet them and tell them you intend to make your decision soon, then there’s a better chance they’ll leave us alone.”

Couldn’t they just mind their fucking business?

I gulped.

“You don’t have to decide now,” he continued as the cabin came into view. “Just think on it.”

“Okay,” I said as I moved toward the porch. Clay didn’t follow. “Are you not coming inside?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Going to crash in the shop tonight. I have work to do.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. My body ached for my bed, but the thought of sleeping in the cabin alone frayed my nerves. “Is it okay if I lock the door?”

Clay raised one brow at me, and I instantly felt stupid for even asking.

If anyone wanted to get to me, they could just bust through a window or probably kick the door right off the hinges.

Locking the door wouldn’t help, but it would give the measure of control I needed to be able to close my eyes.

“Sure. I’ve got a key if I need to come in.”

I nodded and wrapped my arms around myself, a sudden chill on the breeze digging into my bones.

“Allie,” Clay called.

I looked up at him from beneath the cover of my lashes.

“You’re safe here,” he said. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

When I didn’t answer, unsure what to say to that, Clay nodded tersely and vanished from view. I heard the garage door to the shop roll open, and I didn’t hear it close again.