clock into focus—2:00 a.m. Every muscle in my body was at full alert and someone had planted a cotton field in my mouth.
As carefully and quietly as possible, I sat up and swung my legs to the side of the bed. The sweatpants bagged over my feet. My head still throbbed; the pounding over my right eyebrow kept me from opening my eyes all the way.
Normally, if I woke up feeling sick, I’d just go back to sleep and hope it was all gone by morning. But I was dying of thirst.
I stood and tripped over the sweatpants that flopped to the floor, then over something on the floor. Luckily the wall broke my fall. The loud thud made me wince. Grumbling under my breath, I waited for the stars to quit blinking behind my eyelids. When I could see again, I found a wolf staring back at me, its eyes glowing faintly in the low light.
Instant trepidation froze my already cold feet to the floor. I turned slowly, stepping back until my spine touched the wall. Earlier I hadn’t been afraid of the wolves, but waking in a strange dark room with one staring at me changed that.
A gust of wind rattled the house, letting loose one of those low, eerie moans.
The wolf’s gaze never wavered, but it tilted its head and a strip of moonlight streaked black gray and white fur. The black nose twitched as the snout wrinkled and I think I sucked all of the air out of the room as I waited for the growl.
I closed my eyes.
The wolf sneezed.
Like that, my fear was gone again. My shoulders slumped. “What are you doing in here?” I whispered. “If someone had told me a week ago that I’d be sleeping in an unfamiliar house with three strange men and two wolves, I would have told them to lay off the crack pipe.”
“We’re not so strange.”
My girlie squeak would have embarrassed me more if the wolf hadn’t stood up and nearly knocked me into the wall again. A lamp clicked on. Hallur sat in a chair in the corner of the room, his big white cast propped up on the footboard of the bed.
“Vanir wanted to stay with you but I didn’t think that was the best idea.”
“Why?” I croaked, my throat desert-dry. I bent over to roll the sweats and nearly squeaked again when I realized the shirt gaped at the neck. I straightened. Doubted he’d look but I wasn’t going to offer up a free peep show, anyway.
Hallur looked a lot nicer without a scowl pulling his black brows together. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with the kind of instant chemistry you and my little brother are showing—and while you’re all beat up and bruised to boot. There are three others here. Easy enough to take shifts to keep an eye on you. Sarah really didn’t want you sleeping yet with your head so messed up, but you took the decision out of her hands. Plus, we didn’t want you to wake alone in a strange room.”
“Three? There’s another brother?”
He shook his head. “Sarah stayed overnight. She didn’t feel right leaving you here alone.” He shifted, but didn’t drop his foot from the end of the bed. “Is there something I can get you?”
They were all so nice. So very, very nice. My guilt over the entire nasty situation crawled up to pound in my chest. “I’ll get it myself. I just need water.”
He pointed to the door I’d assumed went to the closet. “Bathroom is through there—after the closet. You have your own sink. It’s a Jack and Jill plan with Vanir on the other side. You feel okay to walk? You hit the wall pretty hard.”
“I tripped over the wolf.”
“Yeah, funny thing that.” He shifted in his seat—one of those seventies-style, gold recliner chairs—and propped his pillow on the other side, tucked the throw blanket more securely over his shoulder. “Never seen those animals take to anyone like they do Vanir.”
“Well, it’s new to me. Animals usually like my mo—sisters, more.” I could have said my mom. That wouldn’t give anything away. And keeping to the truth as much as possible would help me keep up with the
As carefully and quietly as possible, I sat up and swung my legs to the side of the bed. The sweatpants bagged over my feet. My head still throbbed; the pounding over my right eyebrow kept me from opening my eyes all the way.
Normally, if I woke up feeling sick, I’d just go back to sleep and hope it was all gone by morning. But I was dying of thirst.
I stood and tripped over the sweatpants that flopped to the floor, then over something on the floor. Luckily the wall broke my fall. The loud thud made me wince. Grumbling under my breath, I waited for the stars to quit blinking behind my eyelids. When I could see again, I found a wolf staring back at me, its eyes glowing faintly in the low light.
Instant trepidation froze my already cold feet to the floor. I turned slowly, stepping back until my spine touched the wall. Earlier I hadn’t been afraid of the wolves, but waking in a strange dark room with one staring at me changed that.
A gust of wind rattled the house, letting loose one of those low, eerie moans.
The wolf’s gaze never wavered, but it tilted its head and a strip of moonlight streaked black gray and white fur. The black nose twitched as the snout wrinkled and I think I sucked all of the air out of the room as I waited for the growl.
I closed my eyes.
The wolf sneezed.
Like that, my fear was gone again. My shoulders slumped. “What are you doing in here?” I whispered. “If someone had told me a week ago that I’d be sleeping in an unfamiliar house with three strange men and two wolves, I would have told them to lay off the crack pipe.”
“We’re not so strange.”
My girlie squeak would have embarrassed me more if the wolf hadn’t stood up and nearly knocked me into the wall again. A lamp clicked on. Hallur sat in a chair in the corner of the room, his big white cast propped up on the footboard of the bed.
“Vanir wanted to stay with you but I didn’t think that was the best idea.”
“Why?” I croaked, my throat desert-dry. I bent over to roll the sweats and nearly squeaked again when I realized the shirt gaped at the neck. I straightened. Doubted he’d look but I wasn’t going to offer up a free peep show, anyway.
Hallur looked a lot nicer without a scowl pulling his black brows together. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with the kind of instant chemistry you and my little brother are showing—and while you’re all beat up and bruised to boot. There are three others here. Easy enough to take shifts to keep an eye on you. Sarah really didn’t want you sleeping yet with your head so messed up, but you took the decision out of her hands. Plus, we didn’t want you to wake alone in a strange room.”
“Three? There’s another brother?”
He shook his head. “Sarah stayed overnight. She didn’t feel right leaving you here alone.” He shifted, but didn’t drop his foot from the end of the bed. “Is there something I can get you?”
They were all so nice. So very, very nice. My guilt over the entire nasty situation crawled up to pound in my chest. “I’ll get it myself. I just need water.”
He pointed to the door I’d assumed went to the closet. “Bathroom is through there—after the closet. You have your own sink. It’s a Jack and Jill plan with Vanir on the other side. You feel okay to walk? You hit the wall pretty hard.”
“I tripped over the wolf.”
“Yeah, funny thing that.” He shifted in his seat—one of those seventies-style, gold recliner chairs—and propped his pillow on the other side, tucked the throw blanket more securely over his shoulder. “Never seen those animals take to anyone like they do Vanir.”
“Well, it’s new to me. Animals usually like my mo—sisters, more.” I could have said my mom. That wouldn’t give anything away. And keeping to the truth as much as possible would help me keep up with the
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