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Warren’s head dipped down into my shoulder with a growl of frustration. “We won’t get any of my mom’s pumpkin cheesecake today.” Of course I wouldn’t make Warren late to his own parents’ dinner, but a teeny tiny part of me still worried that humans might be on the menu. I learned very quickly since the day in the woods that not all shifters looked favorably on humans.
“Dude! I’m gonna eat all of it!” Jase shouted from the living room and we laughed, our bodies rubbing against each other deliciously with joy.
“He wouldn’t dare, would he?” I asked Warren, who grumbled sitting up in bed, taking the warm sheets with him to entice me to get up as well.
“Oh, I think my jackass cousin would dare just about anything, dear heart.” Warren shuffled to the door, his sweatpants hanging low on his hips and showing the indentations of his back muscles as they roped down over trim hips and muscular abs in his front. I thought I’d save my calories for Warren later and skip dessert. There was pumpkin and then there was pumpkin.
Warren opened the door to his bedroom and we found Jase doing a handstand against the wall. “What?” I’d only stayed over at the house a few times, but I’d never seen anything like that.
“Yoga shit,” Warren muttered and pushed Jase’s legs as we walked into the kitchen, knocking him down. Jase laughed as he crumpled to the floor in a heap of limbs.
“Coffee, anyone?” Reagan was sitting on the counter, drinking coffee and paging through a Black Friday sale circular for the one big box store in town. When I thought about it, Woodland Creek was a strange place altogether, and yet there we were, doing something as mundane as having coffee and waffles before going to Thanksgiving dinner with Warren’s family.
* * * * *
“Stop thinking so loudly.” Warren nudged me at the dinner table and I peered over at him, a nauseous feeling hitting my stomach.
“You can’t do that too, can you?” He laughed and reverently tucked a loose lock of hair from my bun behind my ear.
“No, Kerri, I can’t. There are some of us who can but not me. Even if I could I wouldn’t want to break your trust in doing so. Your thoughts are your own and I like that you keep me guessing.” Caught up in our smiles, we didn’t see Jase stand up at the table, nor did we hear him cling his drinking glass right away.
“Here, here, I’d like to make a toast.” Jase looked strange dressed up in a button-down shirt and dress slacks as required by Warren’s mom.
“Toast, you mean talk about something you’re grateful for?” Mrs. Boone clarified her nephew’s statement, smiling gently in my direction.
“Sure. I’m grateful that Kerri Harper decided to dump her douchy ex-boyfriend and move to Woodland Creek so she could save Warren’s pathetic ass from the eight-legged freak.”
Eden swatted Jase and pulled him to sit back down at the table. “Idiot.” She glared at Jase and stood up with her glass raised. “I will admit I had my hesitations when the boys first brought Kerri into the clinic that night, but watching my cousin stay with her and watch over her the way he did…well, I knew there was something special back then even if I didn’t like it or understand it. Maybe Warren can convince you to join our women’s softball league in the spring.”
We all laughed and Warren hugged me at the table, his arms anchored around me safely. Eden’s approval definitely gave me the warm fuzzies. Thank whatever higher power, deity, and belief system out there because frankly I was more shaken up than I wanted to let on. The softball team was a nice thought, but I had visions of cheetahs chasing squirrels around the baseball diamond and lions living as vegans on the team with me. Needless to say, I was kind of tapped out for surprises.
Over dessert of promised pumpkin cheesecake, Jase filled in the family on how I saved Warren’s ass from the crawling goop spewing spawn of Satan. Everyone had a good chuckle over that and formally welcomed me to the family.
I’d been thinking about my own back in Ann Arbor. I’d barely been in Woodland Creek three months and at times the memories of my relationship with Dillon and my parents who found fault with me left a painful reminder that at one time I hadn’t been enough. No one wanted me then…except Warren. Sweet Warren with his shaggy hair and soulful eyes, more wolf than man. Everything had changed, for I saw myself as deserving much more and being capable of doing more with my life.
That Thanksgiving was the first holiday I didn’t feel alone in a crowded house and I kind of liked it. It definitely took some getting used to, like seeing my students Colin, Levi, and Gage smile at me when they walked into class, keeping our secret. Vider’s Pub definitely had a secretly strong homemade beer that I wouldn’t recommend drinking if you were new to town. Someday I planned to return to the cliffs to see the aura that only came out under a full moon. Its beauty was stunning and worth the trip. It was a lot to take in knowing your boyfriend was a wolf who had trouble shifting. We visited the apothecary, who searched out for Warren in an old looking book, that he was probably just a horny late bloomer. Jase loved learning this and took every opportunity he could to tease him. The more time I spent in the town the more I fell a little deeper in love with its inhabitants and all the rituals that came with them. There were a number of secrets in Woodland Creek, beautiful ones, dark ones, and dangerous ones, though the best kept secret for me was finding love.
THE END
