Survivor: A Shifter of Consequence Tale (Shifters of Consequence Book 1) Page 10

  They are ours.

  My eyes widened, but neither Moss or Christie seemed to hear anything.

  Weird.

  My nose picked up a scent. Outdoors and trees and campfire. It made the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and goose bumps rose all over my skin.

  Escher, Cash, and Brandon walked in. And though my back was turned to the door while Moss held my hand, I knew it was them.

  “Ready to see the others? I feel like I need to video their reactions. I’m sure they are going to be dumbstruck like I was. I can text it to you,” Moss said in my ear, and I nodded. “Okay. I’m going to turn your chair.”

  As he did, with one hand, his other held his phone up, recording as promised. I looked from one to the other. It was clearly me who was dumbfounded.

  They all had their own variation of formal. Escher wore a black shirt with a black suit, of course. Brandon had a blue shirt on, button-down with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of navy pants, while Cash wore something close to Moss, a gray suit with a white shirt underneath and a thin black tie.

  I loved how different they were.

  “You guys look great,” I enthused. Cash and Escher squirmed under the attention, but Brandon soaked it up.

  Cash walked up to me and extended his hand. “Want to dance?”

  It was out of character for him to be so bold, especially around the others.

  “Of course.” I thought I might roll onto the dance floor, but, instead, he bent down to talk to me.

  “I’ll hold you up. You can do this.”

  Oh, gods, he wanted me to dance on my feet, in front of everyone.

  “Consider it part of the project. Project Strong Wendi.”

  Shit. I’d forgotten my pills again in all the dance commotion. I would be lucky to remain upright without them.

  But he was right, I guessed as I looked over my shoulder at the dance floor. It was dark out there, and Cash would never let me fall. “Okay.”

  Slowly, we made our way to the center of the dance floor where we probably looked like a normal couple, but I was leaning on his strength on every step.

  “I had no words when I saw you, Wendi. It was like the sight of you emptied my brain. You are absolutely stunning, and I’m so lucky to be here with you.”

  “I’m the lucky one. One day, you won’t have to hold me,” I whispered as he tugged me closer so our chests were touching.

  “I’m always going to want to hold you, Wendi. You won’t need me to, but you will want me to.”

  Such promises for a dance.

  I took a turn with each if my guys then repeated the process until the night slowed and I had run out of energy to stand up straight much less dance.

  The last dance belonged to Escher, and it was a slow one, thankfully. I wrapped my arms around his neck and both of his hands splayed along my spine, holding me up.

  “This is the best first date and dance,” I sighed.

  He reeled back like I’d slapped him. “First date?” His tone dipped down to the bass one he used sometimes. A lock of black hair fell in his face, and I reached up to try and push it into place.

  “Yep. This is my first date.”

  “Female, I’m not sure this should count as your first date.” It didn’t miss my attention that his sharp gaze found my lips as he spoke. “I’m going to take you on your first date. I promise.”

  I laughed as a smile rose on his face. He was pretty happy about the plan. “Promise to make it super cheesy?”

  “Of course. We can stare at each other awkwardly and pretend we don’t want to hold hands.”

  As he spoke, I ran my fingers along the hair at the nape of his neck. Escher had the best hair, and it was softer right at the nape. “Wait, if you’re not going to hold my hand, does that mean no good-night kiss either?”

  “Nope. No kiss. No holding hands. No funny business either. I’m not that kind of guy.” It was the first time I’d seen him not so serious.

  “Come on, a girl has needs. If you’re not willing to put out, I’ll find someone else.”

  He held me tighter, a growl emanating from his chest and out his mouth. “Tell me what those needs are, female, and I will fill them.”

  I was out of breath, and every inch of me tingled. “I…I can’t.”

  “Then I’ll start. I am on the brink of insanity, wanting to taste you, to kiss those perfectly pouty lips. I want you in my arms from the time you wake up to the time you close your eyes. I dream about you, did you know that?”

  I shook my head.

  “I do. Every night since you first touched me. I’m taking it back.”

  “Taking what back?”

  He chuckled, moving us both. “I’m taking back the promise of an awkward date. It will be romantic and everything you need it to be. I’m going to touch you every chance I get. I won’t pretend I don’t want to hold your hand because I do. And I’m going to kiss you that night until you dream about me, too.”

  “I thought the only girl for you was your mate.” I wanted to slap myself, but he just held me tighter.

  “And what do you think you are to me?”

  “Hey, guys, I think it’s time to go. They stopped playing music like ten minutes ago.” Brandon winked at me.

  “Oh, okay. Where’s Moss?” I asked, already eyeing my chair since my calves were aching.

  “Cash is taking you home. He brought his truck.”

  I nodded but wasn’t ready to let go of Escher yet. I felt like we’d crossed a good line, and I didn’t want him to retreat from me.

  “I’m going to text you when I get home so we can plan our date,” I said boldly, touching the front of his shirt, running my finger down some of the buttons.

  “Good. I want to hear from you before you go to sleep. And I’m on patrol tonight, so sleep well.”

  “I will.”

  They all walked me to Cashel’s truck then scattered, each one taking his own vehicle home. As the rumble of Brandon’s motorcycle grew distant, I remembered our ride. Everything about my new life was a ride, of one kind or another.

  “Well, here we are.” Cash parked in front of my house, and I’d never been happier to be home. My feet ached, and so did the rest of me. “You did fantastic tonight, Wendi.”

  I laughed at him. “All I did was be there. You guys held me up.”

  His brow furrowed. “Wendi, none of us held you up very much at all. That back there was 90 percent you.”

  I thought about the night. “Are you sure? Everyone was holding me so tight.”

  He ducked his head and nodded. “Not because we had to. It was because we wanted to. You were never close enough, in my opinion. Wendi, you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.” He twisted in his seat to face me.

  “I’m getting there. Thanks to you and the others.”

  “That’s what…a support system does. I can feel your exhaustion. Mind if I carry you inside?”

  My shoulders slumped with relief. “I would love it. Even sitting in that chair seems like a lot of work right now.”

  “You got it.” He rounded the front of the truck, and my core pulled tight as I watched him. His blond hair was styled tonight, and, as he passed through the lights of his truck, his green eyes glimmered.

  He opened the door, and while he carried me inside, all the way to my bedroom, I leaned against his chest, letting the rhythm of his heartbeat lull me.

  “You calm him,” he said as he set me on my feet.

  “Who?” I looked at our reflection in the mirror.

  “My wolf.” His eyes flashed to golden and then back to green again.

  I pointed to his eyes. “Is that him saying hello?”

  “It is. He wants out so badly. He…wants to spend time with you. He tries to talk to your wolf, if you can believe that.”

  Cash had never been dishonest with me, and, though it stretched my grasp of reality, I believed him.

  “One day, will my wolf come out?” I asked, not really wanting him
to answer.

  “We think she will. You concentrate on getting stronger. She will come when you least expect her. Wolves have their own timetable. I should go now.”

  “Hey,” I blurted as he turned to leave. “Can you unzip me first? I could try, but I’d probably land on my face trying.” I was a pro at zipping myself up. Down, not so much.

  His eyes flickered with something I couldn’t decipher, but he put his warm fingers on my neck and swiped my hair over my shoulder. I heard him swallow as he unzipped the dress, so slowly my lungs stopped working for a second. I heard every click of the zipper against the teeth as he got down to the bottom, right above the crease of my bottom. I pressed my hand against my chest so the dress didn’t fall away.

  “You are exquisite, female. You just… I have to touch you.” Even though he told me instead of asking, his eyes met mine in the reflection for some kind of permission. And I gave it to him.

  In fact, I thought I might not breathe again if he didn’t.

  With his hands on my hips, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to my spine and repeated it until he got halfway down, only to stop.

  A shudder passed through me like a bolt of lightning. This man ignited everything in me, and we hadn’t kissed since the first time. “I’m going to turn around,” I said, my voice raspy with need.

  “Okay.” He stepped back as I did. Still holding my dress to me, I saw he was barely keeping it together.

  “Cash, why don’t you kiss me?”

  His eyes darted down to my lips. “I thought you’d never ask.” His lips met mine in the softest way, so gentle and tender I whimpered for more, but he pulled away. “I need to leave before… I need to leave.”

  “Okay,” I whispered as he left my room, but he stopped at the door, grasping the frame tightly.

  “Good night, Wendi.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  After the dance, it was hard to come back down to earth and face the day-to-day of being a student and doing all it meant. Not the glamorous stuff like dancing with four very hot guys who made it clear they not only all wanted me but they weren’t acting jealous at all. Sure, that happened in books, but in real life?

  Christie seemed to take it for granted I could fall in love with any or all of them, and it would be fine, but the only relationship I really knew much about was my parents’. One mom. One dad. What would it mean in a family where there were multiples? I tried to remember if any of the stories I’d enjoyed while I had unlimited time to daydream and read took the relationships, reverse harem in particular they called them, past the romantic stage and on into marriage and babies, but I couldn’t think of any. I made a mental note to spend a little research time at the library, looking for something like that. And maybe autobiographies of those who chose the paths less traveled.

  Fortunately, midterms were looming and that meant lots of studying. I’d managed to keep up so far, but as I’d learned early on, the online education program I had participated in wasn’t the best among them. Gaps in things like math and science were cropping up with enough frequency I’d needed a lot of help. Without Moss, I would have been in deep trouble. But even with his assistance, I studied hours every night, determined to not just pass my courses but to do well in them. And I meant nothing below a B.

  On the day of the first test, I woke up still at my desk, head on the wood and a puddle of drool sticking my cheek to the surface. After managing to get free, I grabbed for my phone and cursed in a colorful string of words my aunt would have fainted upon hearing. Although I’d had some improvement in my abilities to move around through hard work recently, I was still a slowpoke in the morning and with exam time just over an hour away, a shower was completely out of the question, so I struggled into a clean shirt, washed my face, brushed my teeth, straightened my ponytail, and was out the door in record time—then returned for my laptop bag.

  I did make it to the exam on time, English, and since it was three essays, and I had fairly good grammar, I thought I’d fair okay. Feeling grungy but glad to be finished, I rolled off to the coffee vendor and prepared to spend the next two hours going over my science notes. That exam had two components. The written went smoothly and, after one incident with a little spillage of a necessary chemical, so did the lab.

  But I was getting tired, and I still had one to go. Having three midterms in a day was “unheard of” according to Christie, but it certainly was a reality. And this one didn’t have a handy break in between to study.

  It wouldn’t have mattered, really. Geometry—an early morning class that, for no reason I could figure out, had a late afternoon midterm—was the hardest for me, and I either knew it or I didn’t.

  I didn’t.

  Unlike the other classes, I wasn’t confident in how I’d done, and this professor did not grade anything on the spot. So I didn’t find out for three days my grade was not high enough to pass, much less give me my coveted B. I’d studied my heart out, but having those three tests in a row, not to mention lack of sleep caused by test preparation, had not been my friend. I sat in my bedroom, early one morning, at my little desk, staring at the grades on my laptop screen and burst into sobs.

  “Wendi?” A head peeked in my window, a head belonging to Moss, my math tutor. Why did he have to be on duty tonight? “What’s wrong?”

  I sniffled and tried to put on a smile. I’d do anything to avoid his finding out what a flake I was. How he’d wasted hours and hours trying to teach isosceles triangle theorem to a girl who probably should stick to counting to ten on her fingers with maybe an advanced class in counting on her toes. “Oh nothing much. Sorry to have bothered you.”

  Sniff.

  “I’m not buying it.” One jean-clad leg came in the window first, followed by the rest of Moss. “What are you looking at on your computer?”

  Before I could shut down the browser, he’d turned it to face him. His growl came all the way from his toes. “You couldn’t have failed. You knew everything he said would be on test. I quizzed you myself, several times.” Jerking his head back, he faced me. “Or did he pull a stunt and make it about other material?”

  I wiped my nose on my sleeve. Grossing even myself out. “N-no, it was what he said. I don’t know what happened. I did know it all, but after I took the other two tests earlier in the day and I got to that one, some things didn’t look familiar. Though I knew they were. My brain was fizzing and popping and just not working right.

  “I guess I’m not smart enough for college.”

  Moss grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. “Don’t ever say that about yourself. Did you pass the other tests?”

  “Yes.” I not only felt good about them, I’d seen the results already.

  “And this is the class you find hardest. You were exhausted from studying and from taking two other exams going in. And it’s your first time taking classes at the university level. This can happen to anyone. Don’t feel bad.”

  But since the tears had started, I had no way to make them stop. They rolled down my cheeks and soaked my pajama top. With a wail, I buried my face in his chest and cried my heart out. With great wisdom, he didn’t try to talk to me while my shoulders shook, just patted my back and stroked my hair and waited.

  Finally, after I’d completely humiliated myself with my hysterics, I sat up and shook my head sadly. “I don’t know what I’ll do for a living if I have to drop out. I want to be a teacher, did I ever tell you that? Little kids.” Dashing the last of my tears from my cheeks, I let anger replace all the other emotions. “Those kids don’t need to know geometry!”

  “Well, in a basic way they do. Won’t you be teaching them about shapes? Triangles, squares, circles?”

  “Yeah, but mostly to identify them, and maybe if they are big or small…what color they are.”

  “And you have learned a lot more about those shapes, haven’t you?” Without missing a beat, Moss proceeded to quiz me on all the same material we’d gone over before and I’d just failed an exam on
. I got every one right.

  But that made me feel worse. “I knew the answers, but I’d been too tired or brain fried, and blew it. All the study, all the work, all your effort to help me, wasted.” I wanted to hit something.

  “Not necessarily. Let me make a call. I’m going to step outside.”

  I couldn’t see how his calling anyone could help since he wasn’t going to tell the prof, “Hey, dude, my girl here should have gotten an A. I’ll vouch for her, okay? Okay.”

  No, I’d managed the coveted B on each of the other classes, even an A in English. But I’d failed math and would have to accept it. I was staring at the floor when Moss burst back inside, waving his phone. “Get dressed. The prof will let you take a make-up test, but only if you get there in under a half hour.”

  “But I’m not ready. I need to study!”

  “We just reviewed it all, didn’t we? Hurry! He never gives make-ups but I explained the situation, and I think he wanted me to stop begging.”

  “You begged for me?” My heart was thudding. “You’re the best!” I stood and moved into the bathroom, but as I closed the door his voice followed me.

  “The other guys will meet us after, and we’ll all go out for brunch and celebrate.”

  “But what if I don’t pass?”

  But I did.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I paused outside the library on the way to my shift as the beeping on my watch kicked up. With it turned off, I reached into my bag and pulled out the pill bottle. I shook it more than once as I noticed the lack of weight and noise from the usual grouping of pills inside.

  Shit.

  Popping open the translucent orange bottle, I realized my failure. The last pill chastised me from the bottom of the bottle. I had seriously messed up.

  I dragged my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through the emails until I found the one from the healer. He and I never communicated except for me to receive my pills through the mail, and, truth be told, I never remembered actually meeting him in person.

  Still, they said I needed the pills, and I certainly didn’t want to have a seizure or anything without them.