Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Hoots and wolf–whistles went up and down the length of the dining room. Natasha blushed like a schoolgirl, swatting at Arthur’s chest. “Go on, you,” she told him with an unconvincing attempt at sternness. “The water heater is still leaking p>
He flashed her a grin that nearly made Tessa blush, and disappeared down the hall.
Natasha smoothed her hair, looking at a loss for just a second before she noticed Tessa sitting at the counter. “Gracie! You need breakfast.” She pushed into the kitchen and reemerged a minute later with a heaping plate of eggs and fried caribou steak.
As Tessa ate, people drifted over, one by one. They greeted her with little touches to the shoulder, squeezes on the arm. She’d gotten accustomed to those friendly touches from certain people, but it was strange to receive them from so many others. There was a vaguely ceremonial feel to the flow of people, touching her, greeting her, then leaving The Spruce. By the time she finished her breakfast, the dining room was mostly empty. Harry, Wade, Jess, Harlan, and Eric were the only remainders. She glanced at all the empty chairs.
On the far side of the dining room, the rear door opened. Natasha’s son Max stepped in.
Max spotted Tessa and crossed the room immediately. He caught her by the arms, just as his father had done, and gazed down at her with grave intensity. “I didn’t get the chance to thank you last night p>
“There’s nothing to thank me for. Really. Anybody p>
“Not anybody,” Max objected. “You. You risked your life to save my mom. Thank you, Tessa.” He squeezed her arms and released her.
Chapter 53
She suddenly noticed Declan had entered behind him, dressed for
the cold just as Max was.
“Oh. Declan. Hi,” she said faintly, suddenly overwhelmed by the memories of last night’s too–real dream.
“Morning, Tessa. You alright p>
She nodded. “You were out searching this morning p>
“We were out all night,” Max told her. “Declan and I just got in. Could use a meal and some sleep p>
He’d been out all night. Any hope she’d harbored that last night hadn’t been a dream was instantly quashed.
“Sleep sounds good right now,” Declan agreed, looking past Tessa.
She swallowed, shoving away the disappointment. “Did you find anything?” she asked them both.
Max and Declan exchanged another glance, this one grim. “Just prints that led nowhere,” Max said, disgusted. “No scent trail p>
“No scent trail?” Tessa echoed suspiciously.
“Nothing for the dogs to pick up,” Declan explained.
“Oh. Right. Of course.” She was truly going insane. She actually wanted Declan to be a werewolf if it would mean that they’d kissed–that he’d spent the night guarding her. She was pathetic and delusional. “Well… get some rest p>
Tessa spent the rest of the day sitting in the dining room and catching up on grading. Arthur hovered near Natasha all day. If she was in the kitchen, he needed to fix something on one of the faucets in there. If she was in the dining room, he needed to tighten the
Chapter 53
screws on the chairs and tables. She’d walked down the hall towards
the short–stay rooms, and Arthur had dropped his wrench and cracked his head on the table before bounding after her.
Other people came and went, getting meals from Natasha, and dropping off bits of news–all of it inconclusive. They hadn’t found anything, nobody saw anything, the tracks just vanished, and there was no scent trail. Every time somebody new came to report, Tessa couldn’t help but replay the events of the previous night. Hectic memories flashed in her mind, spliced together in a confusing, incomplete reel. Natasha being taken. A knife in Tessa’s hand. So many wolves appearing from nowhere. Moonlight gleaming over the shadow attacker, revealing Alex.
She flinched and shoved it all from her mind. That way lay madness.
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