Page 27 of The Sacred Wolf

My gaze swung back to the Children. They were staring at me with unabashed fervor, silly grins stretching from ear to ear like they were auditioning for the Joker in the next production of Batman.

For Leto’s sake… I’ll take it into consideration.

Chapter Thirteen

As Sebastian and I strolled along 5th Avenue, I plied him for information about our destination, but he remained mysterious, only saying with an uncharacteristically shy smile he was “pretty certain” I was going to like it, and that he “was glad I’d been willing to spend a little time alone” with him. For some odd reason, I didn’t remember the part where he’d asked me, but I must have said yes, because here we were. The last time he’d taken me on a secret date night it had been such an over-the-top Pretty Woman style affair that even though I’d appreciated the thought he’d put into it, I’d felt out of my element.

I felt much more like me in the Meg Ryan floral sundress and crisp white sneakers I had on now, perfect for walking in the early summer evening in NYC. And I wasn’t the only one who had taken the fantasy vibe down to Earth. Sebastian was wearing a pair of crisp dark wash jeans that hugged his tempting human hindquarters in ways I tried to ignore. Thankfully, I didn’t get too many glimpses beneath the soft dove gray linen button-down he was sporting that set off his dark hair and tanned forearms. Over his shoulder he’d slung a dark leather satchel containing who knew what, but the entire look emphasized the very non-Alpha human that I’d come to appreciate.

It was hard not to swing between pouting that he wouldn’t tell me where we were going and bouncing on my toes all the way to our destination in anticipation. Both put me firmly in the puppish category, so I kept my pace even with his and tried to play it cool. But when the New York Public Library with its iconic lions came into view, I clapped my hands together and laughed.

“There is no Dana, only Zuul,” I intoned, eliciting a light chuckle from Sebastian as well.

By now, he was well aware of my encyclopedic knowledge of 80s movies like Ghostbusters, along with my rather pitiful knowledge of all things since the millennium had rolled over, thought I didn’t really remember the nature of all these conversations we’d been having. When Sebastian turned into the park behind the library, I ceased my attempts to avoid bouncing and began borderline bunny-hopping around him in circles.

I’d always wanted to visit Bryant Park, as it was smack-dab in the middle of midtown and surrounded by the iconic buildings I loved to pick out from my apartment in the Bronx. When we emerged from behind the library, I saw the movie screen, the hundreds of New Yorkers scattered on blankets across the grass like fall leaves, and I stopped dead.

Unfortunately, I came to a halt directly in front of Sebastian, and he had to do some serious two-stepping to keep from mowing me down.

“Sorry, oh my…” I exclaimed as I spun around him, and we danced smack into each other’s arms to keep from biting it.

I was pressed against his chest, his powerful arms holding me up while I untangled my feet, and I looked up to find those golden brown eyes peering down at me with anticipation and what looked a bit like trepidation.

“Is this…?” I stopped, too thrilled to put it into words. My friends had mentioned this tradition, the viewing of movies all over the city in the summer, many of which were shown in public parks. When I’d imagined my life as a pup-maker in the Bronx, any dream of being one of these lucky people soaking up cinematic Americana under the stars, had evaporated. This was entirely too good to be true.

“Tonight’s showing is Grease,” he said. “Do you like it? I know it’s not as fancy as last time.”

“I love it,” I breathed, leaning into him, not caring about my commitment to giving myself space. I put my arms around him and squeezed, my cheek only reaching his shoulder. He was so much taller than I was. “Thank you, Sebastian,” I added, pulling back and grazing his firm jaw with a feathery kiss.

He’d hugged me gently at first, but when that kiss landed, fire ignited in his eyes, his arms tightening around my waist. As the space between us evaporated, my heart pounded, and I caught my breath as I fought the urge to lean in for a deeper kiss—

But he tilted his head down and pressed his forehead to mine instead. My hair was loose and long, the ends of it tickling over his arms as he drew a hand upward, combing it through my hair and tucking it behind my ear.

“I only want to make you happy, Elyse,” he said. “I know I haven’t always gotten it right, but I am trying.”

The sting of tears came to my eyes, and I fought them back. “You had me at Grease, Crabcakes.”

He chuckled, taking the joke exactly as I’d intended: a confirmation that he’d done very well, and that instead of feeling like a claimed mate, he’d made me feel beloved. Even better, he’d made me feel seen. After a lifetime of being treated as the spare, of being told that everything that made me tick was wrong, I couldn’t express what it meant to me to have someone do the opposite.

I’d never wanted to kiss him so badly, and this time it had nothing to do with who he was on the outside.

Eyes still stinging with the warning of tears, I wound my hands around his neck and pulled him to me. When our lips met, the kiss started softly, my desire to tell him with my touch what I couldn’t with words. His lips were generous and warm on mine, and I pressed into them, into him, my breath coming harder. His hands slid to my hips, and he pulled me in. My stomach dropped, and my knees disappeared, leaving only his arms to keep me on my feet as my lips parted, seeking a deeper taste of him—

“Elyse, it’s time to get up!”

I popped up in my bed as my vision came into focus. The door to my room had banged open, a flustered Ruby whirling in, red ponytail swinging as she bustled to the windows and began throwing open the curtains.

“Wha—” I sat, blinking at the light streaming in and the tornado that was Ruby darting around as she dove into my closet, grabbing things and tossing them at me.

“You have to get dressed,” she said, motioning for me to hurry. “We need you to come upstairs and take care of those… well, whoever those strange people are that you brought back last night. Max is beyond… beyond.”

The silky tendrils of the dream wafted away, though a part of me wanted to beg them to stay, to order Ruby out of my room so I might still have time to drift to that night… to that kiss...

Snap out of it.

I grabbed the soft knit boatneck sweater and fitted black Audrey Hepburn peg pants Ruby had tossed my way with a sigh. Looked like it was a grown-up clothes state of emergency. “How bad can it be? I thought I’d earned a bit of a sleep-in after yesterday.”

She stopped, her face twisting in chagrin. “I’m sorry, truly, I am.” She turned politely as I changed. “And I will make it up to you with a five-star breakfast later, but for now, Max is close to blowing his top. To quote him directly, ‘Please go get Elyse so that she can make our guests stop doing whatever they’re doing.’” This was said with the addition of air quotes for emphasis.

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