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Blinking the bright sunlight from my eyes, I turn my face toward him. My throat is sore when I swallow, and my eyes burn from the smoke-filled clearing.
“You were screaming,” he says, brushing a finger down my cheek. He gently kisses my forehead and pulls back to look at me with worried eyes. “What happened?”
“N-nothing,” I stutter, my voice hoarse.
His eyes narrow at me, disbelief evident in his features.
“I can’t remember the dream. I only remember… being angry.” I try to offer some vague detail, hoping it’s enough to convince him into letting it go.
“Mm, if you didn’t want to talk about it, you could just say that.” He gives a small smirk, one side of his mouth lifting slightly, then kisses my cheeks and gets out of bed. “I have an appointment, but I’ll see you later. Mila will come by for training.”
My brows furrow. “Mila? But I thought you were…” I want to swallow the words as they leave my mouth. Why am I so disappointed at not spending the day with him? I should be grateful, not having him here will allow me more control over my powers, but instead all I can focus on is that he’s going alone. “Is Frank not going with you?”
He laughs, pulling on a button-up shirt and turning toward me. “Do I need a bodyguard for an appointment?”
I scowl at him, crossing my arms over my chest to keep from reaching for him. “Depends what kind of appointment you have.”
“Nothing that I can’t handle myself.” He rounds the bed, cupping my cheek as he brushes his lips over mine before kissing me. “I’ll meet you at the bar after so you can meet the new staff. Now get dressed. I hear Mila pulling in.”
His gaze travels over me, his t-shirt grazing the tops of my thighs, and my cheeks heat at the fire in his eyes. I wait until he walks downstairs before rummaging through my clothes to get dressed for training. Excitement flutters through me at the thought of training with Mila. Last time, her speed was faster than I could track her scent, and I want to see if I can track her better today. If I can, maybe I can track my way to the Lockwood well too… or at least to the witch who guards it. After getting dressed, I go downstairs and pour a cup of coffee, Mila closing the door behind her as I lift the mug to my lips.
“Hey, girl,” she says, smiling. “You ready for this?”
I smile back at her, her cheer hard to resist, then follow her outside. Standing in the grass after setting my coffee down on a side table, I look up at her.
“Okay, let’s practice what we did the first time. Draw out your claws—only your claws.”
I keep my eyes open, drawing inside myself and pulling my wolf forward. She’s become more complacent since I set my bed on fire the other day, choosing not to talk to me but also not fight against my shifts. I fight the frown pulling at my lips as my nails lengthen into claws effortlessly.
“Wow, that’s a great improvement,” Mila cheers.
I retract them, shaking my hands out. “Can we work on tracking today?”
Her eyebrows raise, her shock apparent. “Uh, sure, but I’m not on the hunter team, so it’ll be pretty basic.”
I nod, smiling. “That’s fine with me.”
After a couple of hours of the most intense game of hide-and-seek, I collapse onto the lounge chair. Mila lays on the one next to me, laughing.
“How can you hide your scent so well?” I ask between breaths.
She looks at me with a glint in her eyes. “I use the wind.”
“The wind?” I ask, chugging the bottle of water she tosses to me.
She nods. “Yep. I stand downwind, making sure that whoever I’m hiding from is upwind of me so the breeze won’t carry my scent.”
“Wow,” I say, laughing breathlessly. “That… is really smart.”
“What? Did you think I was all looks, no brain?” She squirts me with her water bottle.
“No,” I say quickly, squealing at the cold water soaking into my shirt. “Okay, maybe a little.” I laugh when she sprays me again, then run inside to grab a towel to dry off.
I grab my phone off the side table in the living room and check for messages from Gideon. The blank notifications bar stares back at me, and worry weeds in my mind. My fingers hover over the keys, wondering if I should text him. It’s almost noon, and he said he wanted to meet at the bar after whatever he was doing. Looking through the slider door at Mila sunbathing on the lounge chair, I wonder if she knows anything about his plans. Did Frank tell her anything? I let out a breath. Probably not, honestly. Frank wouldn’t tell anyone Gideon’s business unless he felt it was unavoidable and necessary.
I toss the phone back on the couch and poke my head out the back door. “I’m going to take a shower. Feel free to use the downstairs bathroom if you want one.”
She cracks open one eye, smirking at me. “Yeah? Thanks for the invitation. You’re a great hostess, almost like you live here or something.”
