Chapter 41: Chapter Forty-One

Demetria

Claire's brows pulled down in the middle of her forehead, and she squinted to see the handwritten entry of the diary. Demetria stood in the kitchen getting lunch ready for Kerry whenever he made it back.

She flipped a burger on the small indoor grill and watched Claire from the kitchen bar. "Anything interesting?" she asked.

Claire put the diary down. "Sabrina is starting to get paranoid. She feels like someone is following her. She cast a protection spell but she doesn't think it's working."

Demetria gnawed on her bottom lip. She'd felt followed for a long time before Ike showed up, but Ike wouldn't follow Sabrina. He loved her. He didn't have a reason to follow her.

Demetria drained the grease off Kerry's burger and put it on a bun. "How many more entries?"

Claire sighed and shut the book. "A lot. This girl needed a life, and I need a break. Does Kerry have anything to drink?"

Demetria gestured toward the fridge. "Some bottles of water."

Claire walked over and grabbed one before leaning against the counter. "Where is Cynthia?"

Demetria stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "I don't know. She wasn't here when I woke up. She may be with the wolves."

"Are you still suspicious about her?' Claire whispered.

Demetria pushed Kerry's plate to the side and tossed the dishes into the sink. "It's a little suspicious that she's helping so much."

"We saved her life. We let her go when she was locked in the lycan's dungeon."

Demetria turned to face Claire. "I know, but why was she in there? I know the lycan king was crazy, but just because he was crazy, doesn't mean he didn't have a reason to put her down there. She was starving herself to avoid helping him, right? But she jumped at the opportunity to help us. And she was pretty healthy after a short amount of time of starving herself." Demetria shrugged. "It just seems suspicious, that's all."

Claire nodded. "You're right. It does seem weird. But she did bring you back. What reason would she need to bring back another witch who can fight her?"

"I don't know the answer to that," she admitted.

The front door opened and Kerry walked inside with Axel and Alpha Allaire.

"How was the run?" Claire asked, almost bouncing on her toes. She'd really come into her own since transitioning for the first time, and looked almost jealous that she wasn't invited for the run that morning.

Demetria loved seeing her fit in, and wished her mother could be there to see Claire blossom. She'd grown so much from being the shy high school girl to this huge hybrid warrior.

Axel stopped in front of her, wrapped an arm around her waist. "We found something."

Kerry made his way to Demetria, and palmed her face in a caressing way. It formed tingles along her skin. "What did you find?" she asked, cupping her hand around Kerry's.

"The professor who had Demetria's spell book. His scent was near the fence separating our land, and then it disappeared."

Demetria's blood ran cold. She nervously looked around the house. "They disappeared as he flew? Or he covered them?"

Alpha Allaire looked concerned. "What do you mean, flew? We assumed he learned how to cover his tracks."

Demetria suddenly felt cold, and wrapped her arms around herself. "If you were a human, looking through a book that you felt could give you anything and everything you never knew was possible, would you learn how to cover your tracks first, or fly?"

Axel snorted. "Easy. I'd learn how to be invisible."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Flying is better than being invisible, Axel."

"Says who? You?" he asked. "You could hide from anybody, see what they're doing alone, watch them in the shower—"

She popped the back of his head. "Who do you want to see in the shower, Axel?"

"Kids," Alpha Allaire snapped, "this is serious. This man could be anywhere around our land, on our roof. We need to send the wolves out to search for his tracks in different places, not just following the scent we had."

Axel grabbed Claire's hand and dragged her toward the front porch. "I'm on it, Dad."

Kerry put his palms on Demetria's shoulders and slid them up and down. "You're cold."

"I'm scared," she said. "He is going to come for the book. It's just another problem on top of everything else. The full moon is coming, Cynthia is…"

"Cynthia is what?" Alpha Allaire asked. "She was helping the wolves with their training."

Demetria bit her tongue. "I'm just overwhelmed. It's nothing. I made your lunch, Kerry."

Kerry studied her, before glancing back at Alpha Allaire. "If you need me, holler. I'm going to eat really quick with Demetria."

He gave him a clipped nod, even though Demetria could see he wanted to ask more. When the door shut, Kerry turned toward her and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Baby," he whispered. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm worried. Cynthia being here isn't making sense to me." Kerry listened but kept quiet. "I have this bad feeling. It's deep in my gut. Something isn't right..."

"How about let's go to dinner?" he asked.

Demetria stared at him, wondering if he'd listened to anything she said. "Dinner, Kerry? I'm about to have a meltdown."

"There is a steakhouse in town. They have salads. It's my favorite place. Come on," he said, slapping her butt. "Get dressed. We'll leave as soon as you're ready."

Demetria tightened her fingers into a fist when Cynthia walked in the front door. She was dressed as if she'd been fighting, and wore a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, Cynthia," Kerry said nonchalantly, but Demetria knew her arriving wasn't a surprise.

Kerry was keeping Cynthia from overhearing their conversation. "Hey, guys. Those wolves are tough," she said, grabbing a water. "Did you two find anything in the diary that's helpful yet?"

"Not yet," Demetria said, walking toward her bedroom. "I think Kerry and I need one night away. We're going to get dressed and go eat some lunch. You can have the burger I made for Kerry. Alpha Allaire caught scent of the professor from the college."

Cynthia's eyes rounded. "He's here? Did they trace him?"

Demetria shook her head. "No. His scent disappeared. So he took the time to cover it, or he—"

"Learned to fly," Cynthia said. "I'll go help the wolves look. You two go relax. You look tense, Demetria."

Demetria gave her a half-hearted smile and walked into Kerry's bedroom, where he waited for her. "Thank you," she said.

Kerry smiled. "No problem. I was serious about going out to eat. Get dressed. We can talk freely and have our first date."

Demetria chuckled. "Going on my first date with my fated mate after we screwed each other's brains out and he marked me—what a lady."