Sam was so gentle with me, so careful. He took everything slowly, waiting for my approval, either through my eyes or from my reaction. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought my first time could’ve been so perfect.
He kissed me, his tongue tangling with mine. I lay back, and he came with me off to my side as he continued to kiss me, deeper and more passionate
I woke up late the next morning, in my own bed--alone. I was wearing the same thing I’d had on when I’d gone to bed the night before, and for a moment, I thought maybe it had all been a lovely dream. Maybe I hadn’t gotten up in the middle of the night and gone outside with Sam.But my body told me otherwise. It wasn’t pain, exactly. More like a deep
I stared at Raven for a long time, not quite sure I’d heard her correctly. Well, that’s not quite true. I knew I’d heard her. What I didn’t know was whether or not I’d understood her. “The Parker pack was here, in our forest, last night, because of you?” I asked her, once I regained the ability to speak.Raven nodded. “Yeah.
“What the hell happened?” I screeched as I rushed into Grandma’s room to Sam’s side. Blood was beginning to gush out of his shoulder, his white T-shirt stained red in a matter of seconds.“I’m not exactly sure,” he said, his voice wavering. “But if you could stop it, that would be great.”
Hearing my grandma’s voice in my head was startling, especially since she seemed to be telling me to learn to use the deadly weapon that had almost killed Sam. If that arrow had hit him in the head, or even in the other shoulder, nearer his heart, there was a good chance he wouldn’t have had time to call out for me to help. What if it had been Grayson looking through Grandma’s closet? Or Mom. I shuddered at the thought. Even one of the shifters that was shorter than Sam, like Raven, might’ve caught the arrow in the head. It was a miracle he was still alive.
The forest spoke to me differently that day than she ever had before. I think it was because I’d finally started to listen in a way that let me know that the one voice of the forest was made up of several other voices, those that had come before me, as Sam had mentioned, those that had been a part of the forest before I even knew about the existence of magic, of shifters, of any of this.
Raven was cooking dinner in the kitchen when I walked in. I immediately felt guilty. She’d made breakfast for all of us, and now she was cooking, too. “Don’t worry,” she said, closing the oven. As if she was reading my mind, she explained, “I’m just heating up some of the leftover casseroles.”“Oh, good,” I said, glad s
I continued to stare at my pack members for a few minutes, waiting for someone to say something about my proposal that we add more wolves to the pack. When no one did, I finally said, “I guess you guys think it’s a bad idea?”There were a few glances exchanged among them, as if they were trying to decide who should speak up. I wasn’t surprised when
Sitting on the swing with Ben was calming. I hadn’t realized how tense I’d become discussing the future with the pack until we sat down together, and Ben began to slowly push the swing back and forth, back and forth, creating a steady rhythm that might’ve lolled me to sleep if I’d closed my eyes.“How was work?” I asked Ben, deciding I n