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g flourishes of the rest of the furniture. One side had gouges from the claws of a certain pissed-off Were. I ran my fingertips over the grooves, wondering what could’ve made Donovan so mad.
On the desk stood the only picture in the room. It was an antique black and white photo of a beautiful woman. Curls flowed down her back as she laughed at the camera, her grin frozen in time. I knew that smile.
“Your mother?” I asked, holding out the frame for him to see.
“How’d you know?”
“The smile and her eyes. You look a lot like her.”
“Ah. Yes. I favor her over my father.”
I put the silver frame down carefully, placing it back where it belonged, and turned back to the room.
A flat screen TV hung above the fireplace in the sitting area. It was the only thing that hinted we were living in the modern era. That made me a little nervous. Some Weres thought technology was a luxury, but for me, it was a requirement.
Donovan was leaning against the doorjamb between his room and the hall when I finally turned to him. “It’s nice.” My voice went up at the end and I winced.
He chuckled. “You can change it as you like. I’m not too keen on decorating. I let someone do it a long time ago and left it. But I want this to feel like home for you.”
I looked back over the room, now trying to see myself there. I didn’t. “You won’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
I let out a sigh of relief. Living here was going to be an adjustment, but I’d make it work. My bags sat on a bench at the foot of his bed. I strode to them to grab out my phone and computer. “What’s the Wi-Fi password?” I said as I sat on the bed and powered up my laptop.
His hands were on his hips as he looked down at me. “Ehm…”
Oh no. I didn’t like the sound of that. “No big. I can get a wireless router. You have an Ethernet jack, right?” I was sure I could find one in the little town that we’d passed on the way to the stronghold.
“Ehm…” He scratched his head. “Well, to be honest…”
My hands tightened around my laptop and I heard a tiny crack. I placed it on the bed beside me before I seriously damaged it. I counted to five and took a breath before speaking. “You do have internet. Right?” I mean everyone had internet. It was essential to life. I knew I couldn’t survive without it.
“There’s a computer in the pack library. It’s got some service.”
No. That wasn’t going to work. “You have a flat-screen TV, so you must have cable.” Depending on the service, we could get internet installed no problem.
“DVDs.”
I couldn’t even with that. Not with the jet lag and the mad wolf and the murder scene and…
Time to regroup. I just had to think… “I can fix this. I just need a second.” Come on, Meredith. Who did I know that could help upgrade a castle of this size to the modern era?
“There’s this IT specialist, Sophia, in the Arizona pack. She upgraded our system a couple years ago. I’ll call her and we can get this place wired.”
Donovan winced. “Might have to wait until other things get sorted first.”
Right. We’d hunt down John’s murderer, figure out a solution to the Vivian mess, and then get Wi-Fi. I’d be without for like a month. Tops.
I checked my phone. I had a signal. Data was roaming and I couldn’t even load a Google search, but at least I could text and make a call. Or so I hoped. Because if I didn’t have that…
I’d survive. Yes, I’d be super behind on this season of Escaping Polygamy and I didn’t even want to think about Life in Pieces or Jane the Virgin, but I’d catch up. The hardest part was going to be the lack of Skype. No calls to my friends. No chats with Ciara or Max. I was totally cut off from my friends and family, with a hostile pack and no TV to give me any relief. “I’ll find the library later and email Sophia. We can have her come in a few weeks.” Getting that locked in would at least give me a light at the end of the tunnel.
Donovan pulled me up from the bed, rubbing his hands up and down my arms as if to soothe me. “We’ll get it sorted. I want you happy and comfortable in your new home.”
“I will be.” At least I hoped I would be. Right now, this place wasn’t home to me at all. I hadn’t even been here a day, so that made sense. But I’d figure it out. I just had to give it some time.
While we were on the topic of making this my home, I wondered when Donovan was thinking of making us official. Before John died, we’d talked about waiting a while. I had a feeling that had changed. “Now that I’m here, should we go ahead and have our ceremony?”
