Chapter 13

Sam

Megan's head dropped and her eyes closed. Her breathing evened, and she was gone. Totally gone. I briefly remembered after my first shifts, I slept nearly twenty straight hours. Megan was handling this so well in spite of everything. I sighed and staggered a hand through my hair.

George Carmichael, a man I'd always admired, though I didn't know him well, patted his granddaughter's knee and then turned his eyes to me. I gulped. His was the stare of a concerned parent, not condescending, not accusing. My dad was still having a coronary, and here Mr. Carmichael sat, having witnessed Megan's shift, calm and collected.

"Well then, Sam. What are your intentions toward my granddaughter?"

His question took me so aback that I jerked.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Mr. Carmichael's left eyebrow rose up his forehead.

Rev intervened, and my heart's galloping pace slowed a fraction.

"George, believe me, Sam's intentions are wholly honorable. I was there, and I saw his resolve. He refused an Alpha's order on Megan's behalf."

Both white eyebrows traveled up to Mr. Carmichael's hairline.

"Is that so? Well then, young man, I'd like to shake your hand."

I got up and extended my hand. Mr. Carmichael's hand was like tissue paper wrapped leather. Hard, gnarled, wrinkled, tough but fragile.

"I, I want what's best for Megan, sir." I wanted her to stay a wolf, to stay with me. But above that, I wanted what was in her best interest. She obviously wanted to remain human. And based on Rev's research, that could still be an option. I wanted her to have the choice. Too many choices in my life had been taken from me because I was the Alpha's son and because certain things were expected of me. I didn't want to be the one that took Meg's choices away from her. I wanted her to love me, but I wanted her to love me on her own terms, not be stuck with me because she had no other choice. Not be stuck with me because my foolish desire to kiss her had ended in catastrophe.

"Very well. Gentlemen," Mr. Carmichael intoned, "we have some discussing to do, and I imagine your father will want to be a part of it," he finished, gazing at me.

Wolf shuddered. Neither of us wanted to face my father again so soon. I'd messed up enough for one night—for a lifetime—and had no desire to revisit the wrath of my father.

"You know, I think for now, we could do all of this via a phone call with Dominic. That might be easiest at the moment. Any objections?"

Bless you, Rev.

****

After a few snatched hours of sleep on the couch opposite Meg—I happily gave up my bed so Rev could have a spot to lay down that wasn't a bunk bed while Mr. Carmichael took the queen—I stretched sleepily. My eyelids fluttered open, and I found Meg's hazel eyes watching me carefully. Her body had finally given up last night, too tired for more shifts. I'd stayed awake, mostly talking with Rev and Mr. Carmichael, but also to ensure Meg wouldn't need me for another shift, for several more hours after Meg dropped off last night. My own body protested being awake, but there was a lot of ground to be covered today.

Her eyes were beautiful but unreadable, and we simply held each other's gaze for a few minutes. I could hear even breaths and knew the others were both still deeply asleep.

"How do you feel this morning?" I finally asked softly.

She cocked her head to the side—amazingly like a wolf would do when studying a new curiosity.

"I'm stiff, but my body feels fairly good otherwise. A lot better than I expected," she whispered back. "I can see the individual hairs on your jaw," she quietly marveled. "And Grandpa's heartbeat is much more regular than the doctor thought at his last check up." The right side of her mouth tipped up the tiniest bit.

I nodded. "It sounds like some of the changes are already making themselves known."

"Will I start shifting again like I did last night?" Only a hint of fear lingered in her voice.

"You will probably shift randomly a few times today, but the shifting will speed up more once the moon is up tonight."

She grimaced. "How long does the uncontrollable shifting last?"

"Usually only the first two or three days. A few days more during the nighttime hours. But it won't hurt for that long."

"Will I be able to…go out in public?" A new fear lit her eyes. "Will I be able to go back to school? I can't stay out indefinitely! My GPA needs to stay where it is!"

"Calm down." I tried to sound soothing with a voice still scratchy from sleep. "We have fall break this week. We're off Monday and Tuesday. You'll be fine during the day by Wednesday. No problem. You can go back to school, and nobody will be the wiser."

"Except Rachel."

My turn to grimace. "Yes. Except Rachel."

"I need to call her soon. What if I start to shift in class?" Her eyes were wide, her mouth a grim line. There was rustling behind me. Rev would be awake soon.

"Well." I wasn't sure how to ease into this one. "I can help your wolf settle for short periods of time."

She suspiciously raised an eyebrow. "How?"

I cleared my throat. "The same way I did back at my house last night."

"Which is actually a good starting point for a few things we need to discuss today," Rev interjected from my bed behind the couch.

Megan pursed her lips, clearly not happy or satisfied with my answer—possibly Rev's intrusion. We hadn't talked about the near-kiss-that-ended-with-a-bite or the one I laid on her last night to stop her shift.

"Sam, would you call Steve Rivers and tell him I said to bring over coffee and some breakfast? They should be back from their campout by now."

I nodded, snagged my phone from the end table, and dialed their landline. Steve's daughter, Raven, picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Raven, it's Sam."

"Oh! Good morning. You want to talk to Cade?" Raven was a year behind me and a sweet girl. Her brother, Cade, and I had been best friends since we were babies. Their dad worked a lot with Rev and my dad on pack business when he wasn't running his own construction company. He was a decent, hard-working guy and someone I'd always liked and respected.

"Good morning. Yes, but I need to talk to your dad first. Is he around?"

"Just a sec."

"This is Steve."

"Hi, Steve. Sam here. We've, um, had an interesting turn of events up here at the cabin. Rev asked me to call and check if you could bring some coffee and breakfast over here."

"Sure thing. For how many?" Apparently, this wasn't the first time he'd done this sort of errand for Rev.

"Four. Actually, make it six, to be on the safe side. My parents will be coming up." I suppressed a shudder at the thought. At least the night may have cooled some of Dad's ire.

"I'll be over in half an hour, forty-five minutes tops."

"Thanks, Steve."

"Absolutely. You need Cade?"

"You know what, I'll just text him. Thanks."

"See you soon."

Rev was bustling around the table getting something laid out. Mr. Carmichael flopped an arm over his head in his sleep. Meg was still watching me, quiet, thoughtful, maybe.

"Do you want a shower?" I offered.

"Is your dad coming?"

I bit the side of my lip and glanced up at her. "I hope not," I said quietly.

"Sam, thank you. Really, thank you. For sticking up for me last night. In front of your dad." Her shoulders twitched as a shiver worked its way down her spine. I would always come between her and any possible threat. It's what I was created to do as her mate.

"You're welcome," I said instead. Her eyes darted to the colored rug on the floor, breaking the moment.

"If I'll be shifting more today, should I put this robe back on after my shower?"

"We'll get you some of your own clothes today. For now, you can use the robe, or you're welcome to anything I brought back from the house. Although I'm not sure what's in there. There's probably a spare pair of pajamas or a few T-shirts or sweats lurking in some of the drawers in here." I shrugged apologetically. "I…" I swallowed. "I can quiet your wolf for a little while if you would rather put off shifting until tonight. If you're more comfortable in regular clothes, though, it might make your shifts a little more intense later."

"Let me worry about a shower first."

In the end, she opted for a gray T-shirt with I'm a Dog Person scripted on the front and some black sweatpants we found in a drawer. Both probably belonged to my cousin Tammy, who probably forgot they were here. I found a red zip-up hoodie in another drawer and added it to the pile of clothes for her. I hoped this meant I'd get the chance to taste her lips again today, if only to calm her wolf.

Once the shower was running and steam was wafting out the bottom of the crack in the door, I took the opportunity to fire off a quick text to Cade.

—Hey. Wanted it to come from me. I bit Megan Carmichael last night. As a human. Totally accidental. Fill you in later. Keep it quiet.—

My phone buzzed about thirty seconds later.

—Dude. You okay? Your dad totally ticked?—

I snorted. Was my dad ticked? I'd never seen him so angry.

—Beyond ticked.— I hesitated and then added one more line. —Megan is my mate.—

—Congrats! Seal the deal yet?—

—Complicated. Details later. Got to go.—

Mr. Carmichael finally stirred as I clicked my screen off.

"Oh, these old bones don't move like they used to." He groaned as he lumbered to the table where Rev was finishing stacking his papers into neat little piles.

A knock sounded at the door, and Steve was there with coffees and a big handled brown paper bag with the logo of a local coffee shop stamped on the front. I sniffed sausage and eggs, and my mouth watered.

"Thanks, Steve," I said appreciatively.

"You got it. Anytime." That was one of the perks of pack life. We always had each other's backs. He popped his head in the door and waved at Rev.

"You need anything else, Rev?"

"Not at the moment. Thank you, Steve."

The younger man nodded and turned to me. "You need anything else, Sam? Anything else I can do to help out here?"

"I appreciate it, but no. We'll call if we do. Tell Cade and Raven I said hello."

He smiled and nodded his head before leaving. I didn't stand on much ceremony as Beta, but the pack, all but my dad anyway, treated me with respect. My word carried a lot of weight, and as Beta, I was second in command. Even to those pack members older than me. Sometimes it made me feel awkward, like someone with more experience should be the Beta, not me. But werewolf packs followed bloodlines, not democratically elected members.