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“Porch.”
Birds chirped in the yard while the trees swayed in the breeze. The weather was a tad warmer away from the ocean, humidity making my shirt stick to my skin as I took a seat on a wide, cushioned wicker chair. The material squealed under my weight. I frowned at my knees, trying to determine whether or not I should move.
Regina tapped the chair twice and sighed happily as she sat in the chair across from me. Her eyes were alight with hunger as she observed her plate—which wasn’t fair.
Not at all fair.
Don’t tell me you’re getting jealous of a goddamn slab of meat, Eric.
I sucked air into my lungs as I looked down at my food. “This isn’t going to be enough food.”
“I got you a few bags of jerky and some protein bars.” She plucked her fork from the plate, stabbed a steak tip, and popped it into her mouth. The way her eyes rolled up as she chewed made me ravenous. “What the actual—?”
I laughed. “Enjoying yourself over there?”
“I don’t understand how you made it taste so good.”
“I’ll tell you if you tell me why you poked my chair.”
She smiled as she chewed, a glint of amusement in her eyes that held a sliver of amethyst. Once her irises returned to their usual silvery gray, she swallowed her food. “I noticed you were nervous about sitting in the chair.”
My skin tingled with a hyper-awareness of how much she noticed my reactions to things. “You…noticed that?”
“Well, you’re a pretty hefty guy. Lots of muscle. I’m willing to bet you’ve accidentally broken a few chairs or tables in your life.”
I coughed once. “Yeah, well…Muscle can be heavy. Add the supernatural element of being a wolf, and my strength is off the charts, even in my human form.”
“I’ve helped many different creatures who had the same problem. I’m also familiar with places not being fat-friendly.” She gripped her thigh and shook it. “So, I picked up a few magical tricks to reinforce furniture. I leave it after I’m done using it, too. That way, nobody else has to worry about getting embarrassed.”
Affectionate gratitude filled my heart as I balanced my plate on my knees. I had yet to take a bite, too captivated by this woman who was alleged to be my mate while being forbidden from taking the role. She delicately raised another steak tip to her mouth, seeing her enjoying food doing something to both my inner wolf and my outer human.
“You’re so much like Steven.”
She paused mid-chew and locked eyes with me. Emotional fury swirled in her irises, inky tendrils of purple infecting the gray. Something about seeing her in such a raw form made me feel for her. It made me understand her.
“Grief takes a while,” I explained as I plucked a steak tip from my plate with my fingers. “It starts off slow, languid. It almost feels okay that first week or two. You’re thinking how you can handle it, how you can manage the next day and then the next.”
She slowly started chewing again, her attention entirely mine.
“You get used to it. And then one day, you wake up and you’re sobbing.” I popped the morsel of meat into my mouth, chewing it thoughtfully before swallowing it. “It hurts to breathe, to think, to do anything. And then you realize you have to keep doing this for the rest of your life.”
Her eyes widened as her gaze slid down to her plate. “Yeah, it’s been…”
“Heavy,” I finished for her, “is the only word that can possibly apply. Like you said: heavy dreams.”
“Very heavy dreams.”
I lifted another steak tip. “But—but—it drifts back. It goes somewhere. Every time you run into a reminder of that person, it hurts less. The ball gets smaller, though it never goes away.” I placed the food into my mouth. “Just one thing at a time most days.”
“You seem to know a lot about it.”
“Marines, vampire-wolf war, black ops—” I shrugged. “My ex-girlfriend betrayed me in the middle of all that, too.”
She nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry to hear that. Kiki has told me a little bit about it. Wasn’t she a spy?”
“Yep. She was a double agent. Working for the vampires if you can believe it. A wolf like that helping fangs.” I shook my head. “She played the role well and got what she needed out of me.” I set my plate aside. “And then she left us.”
“That’s awful.”
