Page 22 of Shadow Wolf
Our home was set on a hill surrounded by beautiful woods which overlooked the ocean. It was a beautiful place to live. Magical really. But the people who lived here weren’t good company.
The woods that surrounded the house were my favorite place to go as a child. That was where I found my love for animals. Where I would run when my parents were fighting or when they were mad at me over grades or not wanting to learn piano anymore.
I reached over and took Frankie’s hand and squeezed it. His eyes flashed to mine. For a moment I was worried he would want to leave, but the corner of his lip pulled up into a sexy smirk and he winked. Kissing the top of my hand, he didn’t break eye contact with me at all. I sighed, relieved that he wasn’t upset at me for not mentioning the wealth of my parents.
I hadn’t asked much about his family’s situation. I knew he had a younger brother and his mom. But any time I asked about them, he would change the subject. So, I didn’t press him. I knew in time he would tell me more about his family. I just hoped him meeting mine didn’t scare him off when we got back to school.
“We’ll wash up before dinner,” Mom spoke up for the first time in over two hours. “Frankie will have the guest room closest to the kitchen,” she added.
Which meant, “Frankie is to have the smallest guest room, the one furthest from my room.”
But Frankie seemed to not care how my mom spoke to him. He thanked her for letting him stay in their amazing house. And thanked my father for the ride, even telling him how much he enjoyed his car. It was the first time my dad dropped the scowl on his face at the mention of his car. He spoke back to Frankie like he was a human and not some “tattooed punk kid” like he had at the airport.
“Didyou want to see my room?” I asked after showing Frankie the guest room. It was where my nanny once lived. Yes, I was that child. I had a live-in nanny for most of my childhood. She changed every six months or so. I guess that way I wouldn’t get too attached.
“Yes, of course I do. Is it pink and full of teddy bears?” He wrapped himself around me from behind. His scruffy beard tickled my throat as he placed a kiss there. When I was with Frankie, everything just seemed so right. I just felt so at ease with him now, like I could fully be myself and he wouldn't ever judge me. He was playful, but had a serious side to him as well. I loved the way he would get protective of me. I felt safe when I was wrapped up in his arms.
“Lead the way, sweetheart.”
My cheeks heated again at the word sweetheart. That was twice he had called me that and I didn’t think my reaction would ever change to that. He made my insides go to mush. I loved it.
My bedroom wasn’t pink… it was purple. Or, as my mother called it, “lavender.” Wasn’t my choice. I wanted a jungle themed room when they said I could decorate it at age eight. Mom said that was a boy’s room, that I was a girl, and lavender with a white poster bed was more fitting for me. I hated it. But it didn’t stop me from my animal collection, which was the first thing Frankie noticed as he entered my room.
“Wow, you have a lot of animal figures.” He picked up a horse and skunk. I sat down on the end of my bed and watched him, smiling that he was in my room.
“Yeah, I started collecting them in middle school.” I’d saved up my allowance to buy them. Mom wasn’t a fan as it didn’t go with her girly theme. But I loved them. Every week I would go to Walmart in Watson and buy a new one. He picked up a few more before he turned to me with the black panther.
“I like this one.”
I held my hand out, he placed it in my palm, and I looked down at it.
“Looks a bit like Bagheera… Oh shit. Who’s taking care of him?”
I didn’t even think about Bagheera when I’d asked Frankie on this trip. Hell, I had been so distracted, I hadn’t even seen him since that night we first met.
“My brother is, he is safe and well taken care of.”
My brows furrowed. His brother? Frankie sat beside me, the bed dipping towards him, and I felt myself now pressing against his warm, hard body. He took the panther from my hands.
“So how come back in your dorm room you have five wolves? Yet here you have a collection of all the animal kingdom.”
I shrugged.
“Honestly, I don’t remember packing them. I have no idea how I ended up with so many of them either. I only collected one of each animal. Maybe I forgot I had a wolf, so I bought another.” Then another and another… I never doubled up on any other, but for some reason I had five wolves. To be fair, they were different colors and poses. The one I remembered buying; it was a red wolf. The two dark ones and two gray ones I didn’t.
A memory of me on my bed, just like now, hit me suddenly.
Mekhi Edwards standingin my room, the sunlight streaming in. His skin almost glowing in the light. A huge grin on his face as he placed the dark wolf beside the one I had bought a year before.
“So you have one of me.” He chuckled deeply, his long dark hair falling over his face as he turned to my window. A howl of a wolf came from the woods behind my house. I stood up and walked over to him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and placed a kiss in my hair.
“I think someone is jealous,” he whispered.
“Who?” I asked him. But he shook his head and pointed out to the woods. I looked out and there was a large gray wolf standing there, looking up at me with glowing eyes.
“Clare?” Frankie shook me. “Clare, shit. Are you okay? Talk to me, sweetheart.”
My skin was flushed as I felt the sweat on my brow. My breathing was ragged, and my heart was racing. What the hell was that? I attempted to slow my breathing, to stop whatever this panic attack thing was. Frankie rubbed my back; concern laced his voice when he asked if there was anything he could do.
