The Darkness We Hide

After working through his anxiety of bringing another person into his troubles, Gareth entered the grocery store and perused the shelves trying to decide what to make for his mate.

"Mate," his beast purred, sending waves of happiness through his body.

Settling on the idea of making turmeric-honey chicken, he picked out the ingredients, laughing to himself at how under-stocked Michelle's kitchen was.

She seemed to be living on takeout supplemented with cereal, rice, pasta, and whatever that mystery block of ice held in her freezer.

Bags of food in hand, Gareth returned to Michelle’s apartment finding her setting her table for lunch.

“You are a wonderful, wonderful man,” Michelle said, trying to take the bags from his hands. “I’m starving.”

“Good to hear,” Gareth replied, holding out her chair.

Michelle took her box and sat down, waiting for Gareth to join her.

“Bon appetit,” he said, opening his own box.

They ate in companionable silence, enjoying each other’s company.

“That was wonderful,” Michelle breathed, feeling refreshed.

“I’m glad you liked it,” Gareth replied, throwing away their empty containers. “What should we do now?”

Climbing onto the sofa Michelle patted the seat next to her.

“Wanna find a cheesy movie and veg out until I have to go to work?” she asked, scooting closer to Gareth when he joined her.

“Sound like a plan,” he replied with a sigh, feeling at peace with Michelle near him. Depending on Nancy finding he would know what to do next. For now he would keep Michelle close, and Richard as far from her as he could.

The rest of the afternoon they spent laughing as Clark Griswald tried to take his family on vacation.

Looking at her watch Michelle sighed.

“I need to get ready for work,” she said, turning off the tv.

“Can I walk you down?” Gareth asked, wanting it to be her choice, not his.

“Sure,” she replied heading to her bedroom.

“Damn,” he heard her say from the other room.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, moving to the door.

He found her holding up a battered pair of shoes.

“These were my favorite shoes,” she said disdainfully. “Dammit.”

“Let me take a look,” he said, holding out his hand.

Michelle tossed them to him as she rummaged in her closet for another pair.

Gareth looked over the shoes, seeing the unmistakable bite pattern of a lycan. While Michelle was preoccupied looking through a mountain of shoes, he surreptitiously smelled them.

Under the scents of stale beer and fried food, he caught the unmistakable smell of Richard. Of course, he wasn’t surprised, but why would he take such a risk?

“Ah ha,” Michelle cried triumphantly, emerging from her closet with a pair of shoes that looked exactly like the ones Richard had chewed.

“Aren’t those the same ones?” Gareth asked, confused.

“Not even close,” she replied, pulling them on. “These are a lot less comfortable after six hours on my feet.”

“Okay,” he agreed, still not seeing the difference, but willing to chalk it up to the female mystique.

“Alright,” Michelle sighed, slapping her legs as she stood. “Time to go to work.”

Stepping onto the street he smelled deeply, searching for any signs of Richard.

Finding nothing, he offered Michelle his arm which made her laugh. Walking in companionable silence, Michelle relished in the warmth that radiated from Gareth’s body.

She’d become so used to it that she didn’t notice it until they were outside in the chilly Seattle evening.

“How are you always so warm?” she asked, leaning close to him.

“I’ve always run a little hot,” Gareth replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

“It’s nice,” she sighed, wishing she could keep him by her side all night.

“When’s your next night off?” he asked looking down at her with adoration.

“Tomorrow,” she replied, smiling. “I can call you when I wake up. Maybe we could go out or something.”

“Sounds good,” Gareth said, giving her one last kiss before letting her go. “Stay safe.”