“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“Donovan already left, so I was up-ish. Just not physically up.” She sat on my bed. “You’re not doing so hot, huh?”
When I first got here, she’d walked right into my room and made me feel better about everything. It was pretty damned awesome of her to do that for a total stranger. But this time she had her work cut out for her. It felt like I couldn’t catch a break. All I wanted was a little peace. I wanted to enjoy Dastien and my friends. It’d taken me so long to get to where I was—a really good, happy place—that I really resented what was happening.
Meredith nudged her shoulder against mine. “Brunch? I’m feeling like it’s omelet time.”
“I seriously don’t think food is going to fix this.”
She scoffed at me. “A good meal can fix just about anything.”
Werewolves and their food addiction…
My stomach growled. The traitor.
“I’m going to throw on some clothes.” She jumped up from my bed. “I won’t even shower. Give me five.”
“Cool.” I reached my hand out. “Can I have my ball back?”
She narrowed her gaze at me. “Are you going to bounce it against the wall again?”
“No?”
“No. I don’t trust you with it.” She threw the ball in the air and then caught it. “Your bouncy ball privileges have been revoked.”
I pouted. “But I had a really bad birthday.”
She pointed a finger at me. “Don’t give me that face. It’s not going to work.” She closed the bathroom door. “Read one of your steamy romance novels. I’ll be ready in a sec.”
By sec, Meredith definitely meant at least fifteen minutes. It’d been a while since I’d actually had time to sit down and read a book. I scanned my shelves, picked up a random one, and flipped through. The scent of forest and wolf filled my senses. I put my nose to the spine and inhaled.
The books still smelled like Dastien. When I’d first moved in, he’d brought all my stuff. He even made sure to put all my books in order alphabetically by author and separated by genre.
I grabbed a Christine Feehan book, one of her Sea Haven novels. That series was seriously awesome. I got swept away by the sisters that all had special powers. Kind of like the coven.
That got me thinking. If I’d met the coven first, would I have wanted to be part of it? Would I have drunk their Kool-Aid?
I hoped I would’ve been able to see through it, but it was possible that I could’ve been blinded by their powers.
It was dumb to sit around thinking about what-ifs. That hadn’t happened. I was here with the pack, and I liked my life. I doubted the coven could’ve helped me gain control of my powers so fast. I would’ve been stuck on their land, living in their middle-of-nowhere compound—that sounded terrible.
I liked running with the pack. I liked being with Dastien.
No. I loved being with him.
I sighed and tried to focus on the words as I read the first chapter.
I was fully sucked into the story when Meredith popped back into my room. “Ready?”
“Yes. I’m starving, Miss I-said-I’d-be-a-sec-and-meant-half-an-hour.”
“Shut it. Not everyone can be as naturally gorgeous as you.” She laughed at her own joke.
Werewolves were all kinds of hot. Probably because they all were ripped and had naturally healthy skin and hair. They looked like the best versions of themselves at all times. When I first showed up, I’d thought I’d walked onto Mount Olympus. Each Were was a testament to perfection. It was sick. And I was from LA. I was used to people working hard at looking good. But the Weres made it effortless. Tall. Fit. Graceful. My five feet and change couldn’t ever really compete with that, but I didn’t care. I didn’t mind being different. I was used to that.
We chatted about the ins and outs for the watching order of Firefly as we walked to the cafeteria, agreeing that the chronological order, not airing order, was best. The cafeteria was next door to the dorms. I smelled the food before I saw it. Cooks worked at different stations while workers on the line kept heaping more into the trays of prepared food. It was enough to drive my senses crazy. I ignored whoever was in the room and went straight for the buffet. Turned out, I was hungrier than I’d thought.
We made our way around the stations, loading up our trays until they were piled high. When I turned, I found a mostly full cafeteria.
That was weird. Sundays were usually the most laissez-faire time on campus. People slept in and came and went throughout the day. They were my favorite days for that reason. No packed cafeteria.