War of Hearts (True Immortality 1)

She looked something else entirely.

Thea felt a sharp burn as she glared at the young woman who gave Conall a flirty smile. Conall didn’t return the smile, but it didn’t lessen Thea’s unexpected annoyance. In fact, she pushed in front of him and shot the woman a death stare that made her blanch and turn away.

Suddenly she felt the wolf’s heat right along her back and then the whisper of his breath on her ear as he bent down, amusement in his words, “What was that, lass?”

She stepped away, needing space, and cut him a dirty look. “We don’t need anyone staring too hard or remembering the big guy on the bus from Dresden to Düsseldorf.”

Conall’s lips twitched, his pale grey eyes dancing.

“What?” she huffed.

He shook his head, looking far too pleased. “Nothing.”

It was probably a good thing everyone started to get off the bus before Thea could punch him in the nuts. They were supposed to be allies after all.* * *Having grabbed a quick breakfast at a café near the bus station, Thea felt somewhat rested and fed. Conall had insisted on buying toiletries for them both so they could have a quick wash in a public restroom. Afterward he said they both needed a change of clothes.

If he thought they had time to waste, Thea wasn’t going to argue with him. Used to traveling dirty sometimes, the smell of sweat and bus breath didn’t bother her too much, but it clearly bothered Conall. It was kind of cute, actually. If you could call anything related to Conall “cute.”

Since she really was just following him around, she let Conall lead them to a pretty tree-lined street in the middle of the city that seemed to be the central shopping area. She insisted on him doing what he needed to do first and so she waited while he bought a pair of new jeans and a few T-shirts. The cold didn’t appear to bother him, and Thea suspected that the rumor werewolves ran at a higher temperature than humans was true.

Paying closer attention to the shop assistants, Thea realized that while there was definitely wariness emanating from them as they watched or interacted with Conall, there was also a heavy fascination from both men and women. When he gave a pretty shop assistant a brief smile, Thea felt something twinge in her chest. The same something that had bothered her back on the bus with the flirty woman.

She ignored the feeling because with it came with a vulnerability she feared.

After Conall had what he needed (she’d wandered away when he started looking at boxer briefs), he stopped in a public restroom and changed into his new clothes. He’d packed the other new shirt and old clothes in his backpack. When he came out of the restroom, he didn’t seem surprised Thea was outside waiting for him. It relieved her to realize he trusted her word that she’d stay to see this through with Ashforth.

Now it was time for her to buy a change of clothes. It was weird wandering around shops with Conall. One assistant had even mistaken him for Thea’s boyfriend.

Confused by the messy emotions roiling inside her, Thea grew impatient as they searched for clothes. She had basic requirements—jeans for bottoms and tops that covered her back. Somehow with Conall beside her, she couldn’t think, and the thirty minutes they’d been looking felt like hours.

Finally, she grabbed a pair of jeans and a black, long-sleeved Henley to try on. Conall insisted she pick out more than one shirt.

“I have a wardrobe of clothes to return to. This is all you have.”

“I don’t need you to buy me clothes.”

“I can afford a couple of shirts.”

Seeing his mulish expression, Thea picked up a silky black shirt for the warmer weather. Conall took it out of her hand, checked the size, and then exchanged it for the same shirt in forest green. She stared at him questioningly as she took it.

Why did he have to make her feel like she was the only one in the room when he looked at her?

He shrugged. “The color suits you.”

Thea felt a flush beneath her skin and accepted the green shirt. On the way into the changing room, she spotted a green T-shirt with a V-neck and grabbed it too. He was buying.

Her intention had been to get in and out of the changing rooms as fast as possible.

However, sometimes she had an issue with jeans fitting because she was small in the waist and legs but fuller around the ass area. The jeans she’d selected didn’t fit well.

“How’s it coming along?”

She jumped at the sound of Conall’s voice beyond the curtain.

“Uh … the jeans don’t fit.”

“Right …” His footsteps faded and Thea peeked around the curtain to see Conall had flagged down a store assistant and was bringing her to the changing cubicle. Thea closed her eyes in annoyance. She hated dealing with people and would rather figure shit out on her own.