Revolting

Chapter Twenty Five - Go Heath

When the sweet smell of sage drifted into the room and slapped me upside the head, I panicked. I knew that enticing smell could only mean one thing. My eyes went to the door, and there he was. A blond god of a man, looking so perfect like he just stepped off the cover of a magazine. He had the bluest eyes, like the sky on a warm summer day. I felt myself drowning in them, even as anxiety ran up my spine and wrapped itself around my neck choking me.

I had not given much thought to mates. Every day it was just about surviving, staying alive, keeping Hannah safe. There wasn't time to think about anything as frivolous as love. And since I had never felt an attraction to anyone, man or woman, I thought somehow, I was exempt. Maybe becoming rogue had broken that part of me. Apparently not.

My heart wanted to run to him. I wasn't that surprised that my mate was a man. Maybe somewhere deep inside I'd always known. The need to be near him was so strong it was causing me physical pain to remain in the chair. It was the expression in his eyes that stopped me. I saw his confusion, his hesitation. He didn't want this. He didn't want ME.

And Hannah... oh poor kid. Her first ever crush... is looking right past her, to her own brother. I knew it probably stung, but I was a little surprised when she leapt up and ran out of the room. Was she over reacting a little? But at least her sudden movement caused me to unfreeze from my seat, and gave me a purpose. Take care of Hannah. I stood and tried to carry myself proudly as I escaped from the pack house, and ran away from that delectable scent.

I knew he followed us. All my being was alert to his every move. As I tried to calm Hannah, I saw his wolf in the shadows. The wolf was as handsome as the man, tall, lean with a golden-tawny coat. He watched me from the shadows, and I found my eyes glued to his unable to break away from the contact.

Hannah sensed that my attention was diverted, and twisted in my arms, following my gaze to the wolf in the shadows. Inside me I felt my own wolf stir, for the first time since I'd been shot by the poison arrow, he was being pulled by his mate, and longed to join him in form. Hannah wiped her running nose on the collar of her t-shirt and gave me a shove. "Go," she whispered to me. "Go with him."

"Hannah-" I started to protest, but I didn't really know what to say. I just knew she was upset and I didn't want to leave her alone.

She straightened and smoothed back her hair, squaring her shoulders. Which, at four foot, eleven inches did absolutely nothing to make her look stronger. "I'll be fine, Heath. You need this." She took a step back from me, and cocked her head toward the wolf in the shadows. "He's a nice man, Heath. Give him a chance."

Did I dare? I felt my hands tremble as I reached for the hem of my shirt. His eyes never left me as I stripped it off. I felt self-conscious, knowing my body had wasted drastically during my illness. I dropped the t-shirt on the ground and bent to untie my boots. I toed off my boots and then straightened to reach for the waist band of the sweat pants.

It felt weird, having his eyes on me as I stripped down. I mean, nakedness is normal for werewolves, obviously. We don't shift back and forth in our clothes, unless we want to tear them to shreds. But having William's wolf watching me intently was different, because he was different. I swallowed and shoved the pants down, kicking them free. Before I had time to overthink everything, I crouched down and let my body morph into its animal form.

It wasn't the most easy or graceful shift. My wolf was still weak, and my human form wasn't much better. It was a slow and painful process, almost like the first time I ever shifted. Vertigo overtook me as bones popped and snapped and realigned, and I was panting from the effort when I finally emerged as my auburn-colored lupine self.

William came out of the shadows, slowly, cautiously, as though he thought I might bite, or bolt. I'm not sure which. His scent was so strong and so overwhelming I felt my whole body tremble with the need to immerse myself in it. He came close and sniffed at me, circling me slowly, as though he were making a thorough assessment. Finally, he nudged his nose into my head, just below my ear, and lapped me with his tongue. I stared at him in disbelief. He gave a playful yip, and a meaningful look off into the trees, inviting me to run with him. And then he took off at an easy lope.

Go, my wolf whispered eagerly, repeating Hannah's words. Go with him.

I looked back at Hannah, standing forlornly in the little clearing of the trees. She had wiped her tears away and now had her hands propped on her hips in that sassy, no-nonsense way she had. She made a shooing motion with her hand, and gave me an encouraging smile. I wanted to tell her to shift, and to run with us, but as if she had sensed my thoughts, she shook her head no, and started to walk away from me, walking back toward the pack house and her new friends there. I turned my nose back to my mate. He had disappeared from my sight, but his scent trail was before me, leading me toward him. My mind was pulling me in too many directions, so I just shut it down, and let my wolf take over. Sliding myself into the back of our consciousness, I let Heath the man rest, while the wolf howled happily, pinned his ears back, and took off at a full run after his mate.