Page 73 of Starting a New Life

Fear ran through their bodies, shivers making them tighten their hold on each other, their auras in turmoil, a wild mix of colours swishing angrily.

Fuck.

Why were they here now? I wasn’t equipped to handle their fear when I had my own to deal with. Gray was out there, hunting Bear and the other enforcers who were after me. He wouldn’t just chase them out like before. If he got the chance, he’d attack. I’d seen the way he’d seethed when I’d told him about them.

“It’s not your pack,” I told them, trying to calm them while also calming myself. “Someone breached the barrier, but they’re not here for you. They’re here for me. Don’t worry about it; Gray has it under control.”

I hoped.

“Do you want to see a magic trick?”

Great, I sounded like one of those stupid magicians, but it worked. Two pairs of eyes focused on me, with Connie nodding rapidly.

“Okay. Watch this.”

I took a deep breath, drawing from the well inside me as I called upon the air surrounding us, commanding it under my feet, condensing it until it was as firm as the hardwood floors, and then guiding it up, lifting myself off the ground until I was levitating about a foot off the floor.

“Whoa!” Nick said, eyes wide. “Can you do that with me?”

I snorted, gently lowering myself to the ground again. “Sure.”

“Me too,” Connie chimed in, casting a last look at the forest before his attention was snatched back to me and my magic trick.

“I was first,” Nick said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“It’s okay. I can do both of you at the same time.”

It wasn’t that hard. Manipulating air was one of the easier tricks I had up my sleeve. Sure, the book my father had given me all those years ago had said to use the air as a shield to fight off physical attacks, but using it to levitate was so much more fun and useful—apparently, it even helped to distract traumatized teenagers.

It took about two hours before Gray and the others returned. Downstairs, food was waiting for them, the hearty aroma wafting up, making my stomach rumble.

Connie and Nick were still in my room, their bickering filling the air as they played a board game they’d grabbed from downstairs a couple of minutes ago. They’d originally been on a quest to find food and something to drink, and I’d thought they’d just stay with the rest of the pack.

Instead, they’d returned. Without food, but with games, books, and drawing supplies. I hadn’t said anything when they’d set up one of the games on my desk. What could I have said? That this wasn’t their room but mine? They were teenagers. Being mean to kids was just… wrong.

So, in lieu of me throwing them out, Connie had resumed his spot on my windowsill while Nick had finally figured out how to use a chair.

I’d grabbed a book, but I wasn’t reading. My mind wasn’t having it. The barrier had stopped screaming; the threat was gone. I’d felt the intruders leaving, had felt them crossing the barrier. I’d also felt Gray standing right in the barrier, had felt him and his wolf, and their combined anger. My whole body had felt the pull, the demand to get out there.

Now that he was back, I needed to make sure Gray was okay, needed to lay eyes on him.

You’d know if he was injured.

Yes, probably, but I hadn’t seen it for myself.

I’d seen him return, had felt his aura, felt his turmoil, his frustration, but then he’d been out of my field of vision, and now here I was. Waiting for him to get up here, fighting the urge to go downstairs.

He needed to make sure his pack was okay first and possibly needed to debrief or do… whatever. And I didn’t want to be in the way. Didn’t want everyone to stare at me, but also… God, this was a mess. I closed the book and placed it on the bedside table next to me.

Maybe I could sneak downstairs just for a minute. Just to get a good look at him and—

No, I didn’t need to.

Gray was already on his way up, and quickly at that.

My breath hitched, my magic wanting to reach out, the bond in my chest pulling at me, urging me to meet him halfway. I didn’t. I’d only just managed to get up when there was a knock on the door, and a second later, the door opened, and Gray was there, his dark eyes fixed on me, lips moving, but he didn’t get a chance to speak because I crashed into him, wrapping my arms around him as best as I could. My magic roamed over him, checking for signs of injury even though I knew, on a logical level, that there were none.

Warmth surrounded me, the scent of forest and snow still clinging to Gray as he returned the hug, pressing me against his chest, one arm flung across my back, the other one cradling my head.