Chapter 88: Inseparable

Nash

The last mission had been an absolute goat f.uck. A simple extraction had gone badly, and my men had gotten pinned down in a war-torn African country. I had expected to be in and out in two weeks, but it had dragged out for almost six, and I had lost a good man in the process. And the whole time, all I could think about was Daphne. When things got really bad, and it looked like we might not make it out at all, my only thought was, “What if I never see her again?”

I wasn’t even free once I landed on American soil. Due to the sensitive nature of my mission, government agencies had to be debriefed, and I had one entirely f.ucked up meeting with the Secretary of State. I hate politics, and I hate politicians even more.

Finally, I walked in the door of my small suburban house. It looked like it always did. Clean, bare, unlived in. I opened the fridge and groaned at the empty shelves. There wasn’t even a beer hiding in the back to quench my thirst. I shut it again and pulled off one of the take-out menus that was stuck to the side with a magnet.

Underneath the Chinese take out was a printed off calendar sheet from the university, with a date circled in yellow highlighter. The Master’s Graduation Commencement Ceremony. Most universities held those in December, but at Rutberg they held them in the spring.

The need to see Daphne one more time was weighing on me, had been weighing on me since she walked away with her brothers.

Just before I left for Africa, I’d gotten word from Josiah that the bear-shifters had come in and captured Kodi, and had removed her from the area. He didn’t know what they were going to do with her, now that they had her in custody, but at least the university would be safe. Daphne would be safe. I knew that Daphne would return to Bleakley house to finish her final term, and her life would go on happily. Without me.

But goddamn, I couldn’t seem to move on without her. I’d just pop in on her graduation, make sure she was doing okay. She didn’t even have to know I was there. I kept the take-out menu in hand as I went to my closet. I had some dress pants hanging in there somewhere, and a nice shirt to go with. I needed to blend in, and this time, khaki and camo weren’t going to cut it.

*********

The auditorium at the university was packed. Attendance was supposed to be invitation only, but it was easy enough to slide around the undergrad volunteers who were in charge of admission. I found a place in the back near the doors where I could hide in the shadows, just beneath the production booth.

I spotted her family when they arrived. I know they were also trying to blend in, but it was a bit difficult when identical men stood almost a full head above everyone else in the crowd. Eyes followed them everywhere, and more than one woman started fanning themselves with their program as they passed. They apparently didn’t see the small figure that both men were guarding between them, but any fool could see that one-hundred percent of the twins’ attention was on her. Their hands never left her back, their heads were bent toward her, and they used their bodies to make sure that no one even accidentally brushed shoulders with her.

That was how alphas behave toward their lunas.

I barely got a glimpse of the luna. Behind them followed another man in a suit, and for some reason, the sight of him made me feel restless and uneasy. He had his back to me, so all I could see was a head of dark hair and his broad shoulders. They continued down the aisle and took a seat near the front of the auditorium in a specially reserved section.

Fifteen minutes later, they finally dimmed the house lights and started the ceremony, which was, for the most part, an excruciating mix of boring and pretentious. That is, until the graduates filed onto stage and took their positions behind the podium to await their acknowledgment. My eyes were glued to Daphne.

She’d never looked more beautiful, even if she was wearing a black gown with billowy sleeves that looked like a tent blowing in the wind. Her auburn hair had been tamed in a fancy braid, and she wore the standard-issue graduation cap and a special stole. I had no idea what the stole indicated, maybe academic excellence or something. The graduates were called up one by one, in alphabetical order, so I knew she would be one of the last to be called.

I didn’t care. I just feasted on the vision of her. I imagined I could actually feel her excitement and…something else. I knew I was imagining it, it wasn’t reasonable that I would feel her emotions, especially like this…we had been apart for weeks, and we were now separated by a massive space full of people. But I still felt like her heart was beating with mine.

I needed to get closer.

The house lights were down, and here and there I saw people had their phones up, recording the ceremony. After each graduate received their diploma, neatly housed in a leather folder, there were cheers and applause, which only delayed the program and dragged it out longer. But, those men and women had worked hard, they all deserved their moment of celebration. And I used the cacophony between graduates to slip closer to the stage, moving down the edge of the auditorium, so I wouldn’t block the videographers as I moved.

The whole time, I never took my eyes off her.

I saw the moment she stiffened in her seat, and suddenly her eyes swept around the auditorium, and I fancied I felt her heart beat accelerate, her adrenaline rise. It was almost as if she had sensed I was there, and she was looking for me. But of course, that was impossible. She might have been upset when she came back to Bleakley house to find me missing, but she’d had weeks to get over me. If there was even anything to get over. I still didn’t entirely understand what had happened between us.

But there was no way she could know I was there. She wouldn’t have expected me to be present. And the stage lights would blind her to my presence. She couldn’t see me, even if she knew exactly where to look. Why then, did her eyes track to the left side of the auditorium, almost exactly where I was hunched over, creeping slowly down the aisle.

Her eyes flickered back to the area where her family was seated, and I followed her gaze. From this angle, I could see them, their faces illuminated by the lights. I could see that tall, unknown man staring with rapt attention at Daphne. Something about his profile was familiar, and…

That strange feeling in my gut doubled and intensified. I had this feeling that I was being pulled toward him, like a rubber band was attached to my gut. I stared at him, he stared at Daphne, and then, unexpectedly, he turned his head and looked straight at me. Surely, he couldn’t see me, I was still in the shadows, the stage lights couldn’t reach me. But he seemed to react, his hands grasped the arm rests of his seat, his breath hitched, his body leaned in my direction.

I also felt like my chest was being squeezed, like I couldn’t breathe.

And then Dahpne’s name was called. The man’s gaze returned to the stage, and so did mine. Daphne walked forward, and I could see she was struggling to keep her face neutral as the dean spoke a few words about her. But when he finally passed the leather folder to her, she couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her face. She glowed like an angel under the lights.

I felt her joy, it radiated from inside me and warmed me. When she posed for a moment, holding the degree open and the crowd applauded, I couldn’t help but stand straight and clap loudly, and as the crowd cheered, I added in my own, “Yeah Daphne!”

My voice was drowned out by those around me, but she heard me, of course she heard me. She was a werewolf, after all. Her head jerked in my direction, and her happy grin faded. The man seated with her family also flinched and turned toward me.

Something was going on. I could feel it, but I had no idea what it was. Daphne turned and returned to her seat on the stage, as there were still four more graduates waiting their turn. I crouched down and moved swiftly back up the aisle toward the exit, even though everything in me wanted to run in the other direction, to run up on stage, to put my arms around her and seal my lips against hers. It was so overwhelming, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think. The storm of unexplained feeling was so intense that I felt physically sick. By the time I reached the lobby, I had to run for the nearest trash can to vomit.

“Hey man, are you alright?” One of the ushers took a step toward me, his fleshy face full of both concern and disgust as I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth.

I looked back at the double doors that had closed behind me. My fingers clenched around the rim of the garbage can, crinkling the plastic. I felt that at any moment that door was going to open, and something terrible was going to emerge.

“Argh!” I made a gutteral noise as I pushed myself up, rocking the trash can, and sprinted for the exit. I didn’t look back, not even when I fumbled for the door handle of my Jeep.