He shook my shoulders until I looked at him. If I’d thought his eyes were glowing before, I was wrong. “You are mine. There’s no backing out of it for any reason. I liked you when you were human. Seeking you out in the bookstore. Following you to that stupid party. I couldn’t stay away even then. And you’re still a wolf. I can feel her there, under your skin. You’re going to be fine and even if you weren’t, I’d want you just the way you are.” He stared into my eyes and for the first time, I broke away first. “Got it?”
I chewed on the inside of my mouth as I let his words sink in. “Yeah. I got it.”
“Good. Now let’s have a snack and talk about happy things. Like where we should put the house. How many bedrooms? That seems like a good negotiation. I was thinking seven was a good number.”
I shoved him. “Seven? How do you figure that?”
“One for us, two for guests, four for kids. Although, maybe we need ten. Ten would be better, right?”
“Ten? Who the hell is going to be visiting us? How many guests can we have at one time?”
He grinned and his eyes dimmed. Not all the way back to amber, but closer. “Not for more guests, cherie.”
I laughed. “You’re out of your mind.”
He pressed his lips softly against mine. “Only when it comes to you.”
When we got back to campus, I was feeling much better. A little R&R with Dastien was exactly what I’d needed. Everything would be better when the jars were history, but at least I was feeling more like myself. More confident.
We parked the car, and hopped down, but I didn’t get far before stopping. The rest of the gang stood by the edge of the parking lot. Again. With a few extras.
“Jeez. It’s like everyone is watching for when I get back. Why is there always a reception here?”
“There’re cameras along the fence. Someone was probably looking out for us, but I think we’ve got some visitors. Isn’t that your cousin?”
I nodded. “I guess I forgot to mention that I told them if they needed a safe place to stay, they could come here. With the coven that bad, they couldn’t stay at the compound. Do you think the pack will be pissed?”
He shrugged. “They’ll get used to it. Things are changing. Better they get used to it now.” He pulled me toward the waiting group. “Come on. They’re getting impatient.”
“I say they blame you instead of me. You started the whole change in the pack by biting me.”
Dastien tweaked my nose. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have been so irresistible.”
“Oh barf,” Adrian said. “We can hear you from here. How about getting a move on? Some of the pack are flipping out about this.”
Dastien and I picked up our pace.
Claudia, Raphael, Shane, Cosette, and Elsa stood beside my friends. I nodded to them, and then turned to Mr. Dawson. “They’ll need a place to stay. In the dorms?”
Mr. Dawson shook his head. “There’s room for visitors on the top floor of the admin building. Above the infirmary. The freshman are mostly stable, but I wouldn’t want to risk any accidents in the dorms.”
Huh. I’d always wondered what was up there, but I’d figured it was offices or something. “Okay. In the meantime, how’s the prep work coming?”
“Slowly,” Chris said.
“It’s getting there.” Adrian was being a little defensive.
“No you haven’t figured out how to make them—” Chris started, but Meredith cut him off.
“Do you trust them?” Meredith asked.
I glanced at the group from the coven huddled in a circle. They looked both scared and defiant.
Wait. Someone was missing. “Where’s Daniel?”
Claudia shrugged. “I couldn’t find him. We waited for as long as we dared, but Cosette saw Luciana pull up and we left. I can’t stand up to her. Not after the blood oath. And if she’s doing evil stuff, I just…I couldn’t wait.” She blinked rapidly as she pressed her lips firmly together.
“Got it. He’s a big boy, and his mother won’t hurt him,” I said, but I wasn’t so sure about that.
“She could hurt him worse than anyone because he’s her son,” Elsa said.
I blew out a breath and turned to Dastien.
He shook his head. “Non. You will not suggest that.”
His defiant look made me smile. Despite everything, he knew what I was going to ask before I could ask it. “Fine. But I think leaving him behind is a bad idea. We should go get—”