Chapter 11: Winter

I was just about to knock when Fagua swung the door wide open. Her breasts hung slightly over her bikini. She must have put on a little weight in the time she’d been here. Husk was obsessed with her figure, then again, he was obsessed about everything about her.

“She’s too skinny, rude, selfish, and intolerable. There’s no way she's our mate.”

Which meant that she must be our mate, and he knew it. This situation was new for all of us, not just him. Sky was coping with shifting, I was holding everyone together, especially with Husk’s temper. Now, it was time for us to bond as a unit to complete our family and that meant Fagua was part of the equation.

“Ready?” She perked up.

“Sure. I didn’t think you wanted to get in the hot tub yet.”

She laughed. “I’ve been stuck in this room for four days. I can’t think of anything better than being out in the fresh air.”

Her positive attitude awed and surprised me.

She closed the door and followed me. Several times she bumped into me and mumbled an apology. When we finally reached the door to go outside, I held it open for her. She grinned, appearing to be relieved to be finally going out.

“I’ll show you how to get out, so you can go by yourself anytime you wish. In case we’re not around and you want to leave.”

“Leave?” She hesitated. “Does this mean I can leave the suite?”

“Yes. But you must come back. You understand right? We don’t want you to feel as if you have to stay in. We want you to have freedom, not like when you were in SmallHeath.”

She opened her mouth like she was about to ask me how I knew, but I wanted us to get to the tub. We could talk then. No doubt she would have a lot of questions, and I was more than willing to answer them, relaxed and not standing in a doorway.

She ran to the tub like a cub being let out of the first time. Her legs sprang into action, as she approached the steps, and tossed the slippers she had on to the ground without hesitation. Fresh towels were laid out in case she wanted a dip.

She sank into the hot tub built for at least ten people even though we never had anyone up here, but us. “This is the life!”

In the past, we invited a visitor or two for the night to curb our sexual hunger, but never here to explore and enjoy the suite. She was the first one. I slowly peeled off my robe, and put it to the side, as she excitedly dipped her head in and laughed as the bubbles exploded around her body.

“Fagua, how did you know we were wolves? I assume you are not one?”

She shook her head, “I have the power of something. Pa would say of smell. Ma would say I have gifts. I don’t know, I just knew. Sometimes. Well, not often…”

She stared at me, as if she wondered whether to talk to me or not about it. I nodded and her dark eyes beamed again. The same way when we first came to the hot tub.

“Sometimes, I see things.” She swirled her hand over the surface of the bubbling water. “I never know if they’re true. Like a dream, but I’m not sleeping, I’m wide awake. It’s kind of weird, and in our town no one talks about it. Everyone pretends it doesn’t exist, including my parents, and at the best of times including me.”

“But you wanted to leave before, didn’t you?”

She shook her head. “There was a feeling of entrapment I’ve always had about the town. I just used to think there was some spell over us. Several times I tried to leave on my own and always ended up going back before I crossed the border. It wasn’t until Keith came that the spell was broken. I thought it was fate, you know, like we were meant to be together.

And forget about many visitors. We were surrounded by woods. It’s easy for our wolves to shift and be in their other form. It’s a little weird knowing there are wolves in the cities like you, Husk and Sky. Sometimes I feel as if it’s the best and the worst kept secret. There’s even a rumor about other types of shifters. I couldn’t imagine that. Could you?”

I smiled, easing into the water across from her. “Well, I did come across a bear shifter once.”

She laughed. “You’re kidding?”

I chuckled, leaning back against the side. “Nope, but I’m pretty sure there are lions, bears, tigers. Heard a rumor of bee shifters too.”

“Bees?”

I nodded. “Weird right.”

“Definitely.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say, because her breasts bounced in front of me from the hot tub jets. I had a hard time concentrating on just being in the tub and getting to know her better. The desire to take her was so strong I forced myself to resist, by staying where I was at the other side of the tub. I had to exercise control from the moment I’d seen her. I would have thought it would be easier by now. If anything, it was getting harder.

Yet, it was promising she was out here with me and not yelling or trying to escape. How long before she trusted us fully? Before she realized she was our mate?

“I need to get out. I’m getting tired. I think I need something to eat,” she said as she brought me back to our reality, because I was lost in my thoughts.

“Sure, I’ll whip you up something.”

She laughed. “You cook?”

“Doesn’t everyone in one form or another? Even Sky, who used to burn toast, can make a decent meal in the kitchen.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.” She climbed out of the hot tub, pushing back her dark hair. “I just figured since you’re rich and have all this, you wouldn’t do simple tasks like cooking or cleaning.”

“We didn’t grow up rich. All of this you see has taken years of hard work and dedication.”

She blushed.

“And a bit of luck.” I climbed out of the hot tub and handed her a towel. “I was thinking later we could catch a new movie on the projector. How would you like to see the latest superhero movie?”

“Wait,” she took the towel from me, wrapping it around her gorgeous body. “Not the one that’s releasing soon?”

“The same.” I dried off with the towel.

“Wow! They keep advertising it on TV. I never get to the movie theatre, and we don’t even have one in town. I can’t believe I’m going to see it. I haven’t even seen the first one. But don’t we have to wait till nightfall?” She waved a hand to the projector screen over the pool.

“Not at all. We have a theatre room with a projector indoors. We can watch it there. We could watch it again later and hit the swimming pool or watch something else.”

“A girl could get used to this type of living,” she said, adjusting her towel. “What about Husk and Sky? Will they be joining us?”

“They’ll be back tomorrow, but that’s no reason to enjoy the time we do have together.”

“Where are they?”

I shrugged. “Business. We don’t just stay here locked in the hotel forever. We do go out and have to meet suppliers and potential clients and guests.”

“Makes sense, anyway, it’s good. It means we can get to spend more time together.” She smiled at me.

I really hoped she meant it. We would needed to take her out tomorrow and let her roam freely, then we’d see if she was really true to her word or if this was all an act to get us to lower our guard.

Maybe four days of self-isolation without putting any pressure on her had done the trick. Maybe for once in his life, Husk was better at handling and working with people than I was. I shook my head at the absurdity of the idea.