Chapter 26

Megan

Sunlight slanted through the blinds at the front of the cabin. I think it had been somewhere near three a.m. when the last shift happened. I didn't remember getting into bed, but I must have slept overly hard because I could distinguish the soreness of not having moved in bed for too many hours with the soreness of shifting. It wasn't the most pleasant combination, but I'd felt worse over the past three days.

Gingerly stretching my back brought a wave of lactic acid-induced pain biting into my muscles and a noise somewhere between a grunt and a groan somersaulted up my throat.

The noise was enough to bring Sam to life on the other side of the cabin.

"You alive over there?" His voice was still thick with sleep.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm not usually alive in the morning until I have caffeine." My stomach sank. "Please tell me there is coffee and a coffee pot somewhere in this cabin."

His laugh was gravelly but somehow pleasant to my ears. Wolf perked up, and I rolled my eyes.

"We have pack meetings out back. There's always coffee here for that. But unless you want an entire percolator's worth, we should probably get a regular coffee pot for the cabin."

I moved my head up far enough to glance at his across the room. He smiled and pushed himself up so he was sitting against his headboard. No one should look that good in bed head. My tongue felt thick, and I could tell my breath was bad. I swallowed. It didn't help. My head flopped back down to the pillow. Everything felt poufy and slow like I was encased in a giant marshmallow. And I was tired. So tired.

A genuine groan slipped out as I scrubbed my hands over my face, trying to snap out of it.

"What time is it?" I asked as my stomach rumbled.

"Wow. It's four o'clock."

"Four in the afternoon? Are you serious?" He grinned at me as I poked my head up again.

"You had an emotional, stressful few days. I think you and your wolf have finally started coming to an understanding, and that's helping you to relax, sleep more, and sleep more deeply."

"I hope so. I need her settled so I can figure out how we're going to do school on Wednesday. Test in Kellerman's class. I can't afford to miss it."

"You'll be fine. If worse comes to worst, I can calm her between each class."

Panic must have shone on my face because his face slid into its unreadable mask. "I don't think it will come to that. You'll be fine. Especially during the day. I'll be surprised if you have more than one or two uncalled-for shifts tonight."

That was at least reassuring. While I'd made temporary peace with the wolf, I still didn't like being a wolf. I missed my uncomplicated regular skin where the worst thing I had to worry about was the odd pimple. My eyes closed again, and I massaged my temples. Also, kissing Sam was an uncomfortable topic.

"I can't decide if I'm more tired or if I'm more hungry," I offered as a subject change.

"I'm starving. I vote we order pizza for tonight."

My stomach rumbled in affirmation as Wolf sent images of sausage, bacon, ham, and chicken topping a slice of pizza.

"Does your wolf send you images of what it wants to eat?" I asked, trying to keep the shudder out of my words. I liked meat, but it was weird to have the wolf sending me thoughts about it. I was still adjusting to having someone else in my head with me.

"Sometimes. Let me guess. Meat, meat, and more meat?" He chuckled at my grimace.

I forced myself to sit up and regretted it as it sent my pulse pounding through my head. I was overdue for my morning cup of coffee, and the lack of caffeine was kicking in.

"I need coffee," I croaked.

Sam lightly got to his feet and walked over to my bedside.

"Come on, let's get up, eat, and then you can sleep more if you want to." He held his hand out. I took it, hoping fervently that his nose couldn't pick up my morning—afternoon—breath.

Sam ordered pizza while I brushed my teeth and washed my face. My skin still felt too tight for my body. I didn't exactly feel bloated, but still like I was trying to wallow my way out of the giant marshmallow.

My phone was sitting on the table where I'd left it last night, and I snagged it to find fourteen texts and five missed phone calls. From Rachel. And one call from Grandpa.

I smiled and punched in my pass code to skim the texts from Rachel. They were all variations on the same theme.

How was I?

Was I okay?

Did I need anything?

Should she come over?

Had Sam tried anything last night?

I fired a quick text back to her. —Sorry. Just woke up. Slept like the dead. So far so good.—

She pinged back within the minute. —Good! Keep me posted!—

I sent her a smiley face.

"Here's the coffee," Sam called, holding up a giant percolator and economy-sized tub of French roast. My mouth watered. It was possible I'd drink an entire percolator's worth.

"How strong do you like your brew?"

"I tend to like it pretty strong. Are you a regular coffee drinker?"

"Sometimes. Glad we agree. Coffee is only good if the spoon stands up in it." He winked at me, and I felt my mouth curve up. It was easier to forget my anger and frustration at this situation with the easy banter between us. Maybe the whole month wouldn't be absolute torture?

A quick glance at the sink let me know Sam had done up all the dirty dishes from my baking escapade. It sent a sudden curl of warmth through my stomach.

"Sorry. Guess I kinda pooped out last night. I don't generally leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight."

"That's okay. Do you even remember getting into bed last night?"

"I really don't," I confessed.

A devilish glint lit his eyes. "You don't remember professing your undying love for me? I'm wounded!"

I snagged the pillow off my bed and threw it at him. He caught it lightly and tossed it back to the bed.

"Not funny, Sam," I retorted even as I felt my cheeks flush and my mouth tip up.

He chuckled, picked the percolator up, and aimed the sink nozzle into it.

I raised my arms above my head, still trying to work out kinks; Wolf appreciated the stretch, too, though she would have preferred to be doing it in fur. Sam's phone buzzed.

Grabbing it, he glanced at the screen, and his face fell. "Dad," he muttered as he swiped his finger over the screen to take the call.

"Hi, Dad."

With my new senses, I could hear Mr. Wolfe's voice on the other end but still wasn't attuned enough to catch the words, but judging by the way dread was writing itself all over Sam's face, I started to get nervous.

The call wasn't long, but Sam just stood, eyeing his phone for a few seconds after it ended.

"What's wrong?" I whispered. I didn't know why I was whispering, but it felt appropriate.

Sam cleared his throat. "Um, that was Dad. Remember the Gathering I mentioned yesterday?"

Snakes writhed in my belly as I nodded.

"Dad told me we're having it tonight. At sundown. So about an hour and a half from now."

Shivers worked their way over my skin. Tonight? In an hour and a half? "What exactly am I supposed to do?"

He raked a hand through his already-tousled hair. "Dad will make the announcement that I bit you." He swallowed. "In the wolf world, everyone will know that means we're together. After, we'll stand out by the fire pit and everybody who is able to come will walk past us, scent you, and let you scent them. Then we'll probably go for a pack run."

I felt my eyebrows drawing together. Scent me? "What does that even mean?"

"It's the way we identify our own pack. When you scent someone, it's like taking a fingerprint of their unique smell. Your wolf will commit it to memory. It will probably only take one whiff for you to get everyone down. Wolves are like that with smells. It's also kind of like a pack initiation. By trading scents, it's like a wolf handshake."

"Do I have to be a wolf for this?"

"No, you'll do it as a human." His eyes were a little troubled, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the announcement that he bit me, or something else.

"How do you scent someone?" He swallowed again. My stomach dropped.

He came in close. Really close. In my bubble close. Like he was going to kiss me close. I stepped back.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to show you how you scent someone."

I arched my eyebrows. "You scent someone by leaning in to kiss them?" I tried to keep the accusation out of my voice, but I'm not sure it worked.

Sam let out a frustrated huff.

"No. I wasn't trying to kiss you. Scenting is just a little personal."

It was my turn to swallow as I held still. It felt more like an act of trust with Sam standing so close, swearing he wasn't trying to kiss me. He searched my eyes for a second before slowly lowering his head to my collar bone.

Every muscle in my body went rigid as Wolf flopped onto her back, pushing me to completely surrender to whatever it was Sam wanted to do. I crushed that thought even as my heart rate picked up.

His nose skimmed my collar bone, up the side of my neck and behind my ear. Goose flesh raised all over me as I felt him inhale, then slowly exhale as he pulled back. He didn't step back though, but remained close, scrutinizing my face.

My brain was frozen, mouth hanging open. Letting Sam scent me had been somehow deeper than letting him kiss me. My mouth opened and shut, searching for words, though none came out.

"Sunshine and roses. Just like when you were human," he said then grimaced. "Sorry. That probably sounded creepy."

I chose to ignore that and focused on the technical. Scenting. My knees quavered.

"I'm supposed to let how many random strangers do this to me?"

"And you'll scent them, too."

My hand clapped onto my forehead. This was too much. It felt like too much of me. Part of my brain realized all I was doing was taking a quick sniff of someone. But with the wolf side of me in full gear, it was more. A lot more. It was for sure more personal than a handshake.

"Meg?"

"I need coffee," I blurted.