Page 36 of Redeemed Wolf

My body warmed when I thought about the way he was taking care of me. He watched, waiting to take his first bite until I’d dipped my spoon into the soup. Once I’d tasted that first spoonful, I couldn’t stop myself from moaning. “Oh gods, what did you put in this? It’s amazing!” I quickly went back for more, slowing only as my empty stomach twisted slightly at the sudden intake of food.

“It’s my mom’s recipe,” he said. Silas’s eyes lit up at my praise, and while he tried his best to hide how chuffed he was, it was obvious enough that I vowed to compliment him more often. I liked making him feel good.

“You shouldn’t have gone to all the trouble, though I admit, I’m glad you did. But you could’ve just fed me soup from a can,” I said, slurping up the warm broth. “Now that I’ve been spoiled with the homemade stuff, I’ll never be able to eat the canned stuff again.”

“You deserve the best,” he said. “Everything in a can is filled with preservatives. Just wait until I make you dinner using vegetables from the garden and meat I’ve caught myself.”

He could do all that? I was in total awe. And now I had a mental image of him bent over with his hands in the soil as he gardened, naked of course. Would he hunt naked too?

“Why are you helping me?” I asked, feeling oddly delicate.

He stared at me across the table, an intensity to his eyes that made it so I couldn’t look away. “Because I care about you,” he said raggedly. It seemed so simple yet insubstantial to explain the storm of wild emotions I felt swirling inside of me.

There was something going on between us, but nothing in the textbooks I’d studied could explain it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it extended beyond the natural world…

My stomach seemed to have shrunk in the past day, and I could barely manage to eat half the bowl. “Sorry,” I muttered,setting my spoon aside. “It’s delicious, I just can’t stomach much.”

“Give it time. Your body’s been through a lot.” He pushed back from the table before I could ask what he meant by that. Silas carried both our bowls to the kitchen, leaving me sitting at the table awkwardly.

“I’m just going to change out of my uniform,” he said, and I watched as he made his way back to the bedroom. He left the door open, and I wondered if it was in invitation for me to join him. He came out a few minutes later wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants. For a second, I was distracted by all the skin and taut muscles, but then my eyes trailed lower.

“Hey, those match the shirt I’m wearing,” I said, grinning wide before I could even think of trying to mask my reaction. Wasn’t I supposed to try to play it cool around my crush?

“Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.” He was smiling too, fully aware of what he’d done.

“Can I…” I paused, wondering if it was rude to ask about his scars, but he obvious wasn’t self-conscious about them, the way he’d put them on display. So instead of second-guessing myself, I just asked. “Your scars. What caused them?”

There was no sign that he minded the question, though he seemed to pause, deciding how to answer. “It was a wolf.” His voice was flat, guarded, and goosebumps rose along my arms.

“A wolf?” I whispered.

“Yes. I turned my back on him and paid the price, but I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.” That statement raised a whole slew of questions.

He was about to say something else, but then he froze, cocking his head as though listening to something. Then I heard a set of keys jingling out in the hallway, and the lock on the door turned. A second later, Silas’s roommate stepped in.

“Hey, Pacey, right?” I said in greeting. Under the table, I tugged on the hem of the shirt, making sure all the important bits were covered. I’d kind of forgotten that Silas didn’t live alone. He tended to take up all the space in my brain when he was around.

“Yeah. Hi.” Pacey spared me a brief glance, but his focus shifted quickly to Silas. His gaze was pretty intense to be just his roommate, and I found myself feeling a little jealous about whatever was going on between these two. Even as Silas came to stand beside my chair, Pacey seemed to move in coordination with him, as though his world gravitated around Silas.

I frowned, glaring at Pacey. I might not have known a single thing about him, but I suddenly didn’t like him very much. I had the strangest urge to rub myself all over Silas, to make him smell like me.

“Did you talk to Grandma?” Silas asked, setting a possessive hand on my shoulder, tilting his body to put himself between me and his roommate.

“Yeah, and she sent this,” he replied, holding out a paper bag.

As Silas grabbed the bag and opened it, a peppery, earthy scent snuck out. “Herbs?” he asked.

“Yeah, chop and steep them to make a tea. Said it should help with the detox, and that it would be safe for him if he’s…” Pacey trailed off, his eyes flicking once to me. “You know,” he added, arching an eyebrow, trying to convey some wordless message.

Silas stared at him for a moment before turning to look down at me, his eyes roving lower on my torso. I couldn’t decipher what he was thinking, but he took a long, deep breath through his nose before his eyes seemed to flash with something. “Right. Okay. Wow.”

“Wow what?” I asked. “What does he mean,safe for him? Is he talking about me?” I didn’t like feeling like I was missing something important.

“Um, nothing. These are just some herbs from our grandmother. She’s a bit of a healer, sort of. Mostly a midwife. She’ll know better than most how to make you feel better.”

There was a lot to unpack in that sentence. Foremost, that these two men shared a grandmother. Were they cousins? They didn’t look much alike, and it did little to assuage the foreign surge of jealousy.

“I’ll just… make you that tea,” Silas said, pivoting quickly toward the kitchen.

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