Sunlight penetrated the darkness behind my eyelids. I no longer sprawled sideways on the bed on top the comforter but underneath it, snugly tucked in. Clay sat up in the space next to me, pillows stacked behind him as he read a book. His posture didn’t fool me. He really sat there to watch over me while I slept. I knew with an unexplainable certainty that he would never leave me again.
“Good morning,” I said, pulling the covers up to my chin. Thanks to Rachel-the-heat-miser, the room felt cool, but I enjoyed lower rent.
Clay closed his book as soon as I woke and turned to examine me.
“I want to talk to you but keep falling asleep. If I do it again, wake me up.” I smiled at him when he pulled me close to snuggle against him. It was much warmer that way.
“During the Introduction when I said my head hurt, I saw a man step away from the line. I know how your kind view Introductions. It didn’t seem right so I peeked at his spark. It hurt like hell, but I saw he had the same color light as Elder Joshua and the wolf that’d attacked us. I thought maybe it could be the same guy, that he needed to leave because you’d recognize his scent. Then I saw three more, further away. Something’s going on, but I can’t figure out what.
“I know you didn’t stay with the pack full-time, but did you ever notice any of them acting different?”
He shook his head, actually giving me a direct answer. It should have made me happy. Instead, I sighed. I still didn’t have a clue.
He gently stroked my hair as I thought it through. “If only I could trust Sam. If I could ask him questions about Elder Joshua without him repeating them, I might be able to figure this thing out.”
My head started to hurt again. Maybe if I stopped thinking about it so much, the answer would just come to me.