Wolf Bonded (Wolfish 1)

“Why haven’t you been at school?” Kaleb asks, cutting to the chase.

Damn those eyes. I can’t pull myself away from feeling that I’m getting swallowed up by him every time I look into them.

“I haven’t been feeling well.”

“You look fine.”

“What, are you the new doctor in town or something?”

“We were just worried about you, Sabrina,” Marlowe says. “Rory’s worried too.”

I make a huffing sound. “Yeah, right.”

“What makes you say that?” he asks. While he stands still, Kaleb has started moving around the cabin, his eyes drinking in the place like a long-lost memory. “Whatever happened between you two at school the other day, I hope you realize he’s just being overprotective.”

I arch an eyebrow at him.

“Overprotective of what?”

Kaleb stops looking around and stares at Marlowe, who returns the look. They both seem to be at a loss for answers.

“There’s lots of things that are a threat,” Marlowe says. “I’m sure it wasn’t anything in particular, he’s just trying to look out for you.”

That’s definitely not a good answer, it isn’t even an answer at all. There’s something weird going on with these boys. It’s like one minute they’re acting like I’m an intrusion and the next minute they’re showing up to make sure I’m safe.

“Does all this have to do with your weird religion or something?” I blurt out before I can stop myself. “Everyone at school says you guys practice some sort of Paganism or something.”

After I finish my impulsive rambling, I realize that if they are Pagan after all, they’re probably going to put a hex or something on me now for being such an ignorant and obnoxious idiot.

Kaleb laughs and steps up close enough to me to touch my hair with his fingers and twirl a stray piece of it around h

is thumb. I freeze up. Normally touch like this makes my skin crawl, but this time I find myself dreading the moment he pulls away.

“Not Pagans,” he says quietly, treating the word as if it should be revered when it passes through his lips. “We’re not really very religious at all. Not in the strictest sense.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, hardly daring to breathe.

Kaleb shrugs. “It’s hard to explain without really experiencing it, you know. We do have something coming up actually. Soon. Maybe you’d like to—”

“Kaleb,” Marlowe cuts him off. “That’s enough. We got what we came for. Sabrina is safe, so we should be going.”

Kaleb turns to look at his brother, who already has his hand on the door handle. He seems reluctant to let go of the strand of my hair that he’s still holding in his fingers. He turns his face back to look at me and I get lost in his eyes again.

I don’t think I’ve stood this close to him for this long before, and it’s entirely intoxicating. I want to reach out my own hand and put it in his hair as well, or maybe rest it on his muscular chest so that I can feel the rise and fall of it beneath my palm.

Marlowe is waiting for him, and staring at us, and yet Kaleb seems unable to move. When he finally releases my hair, he lets his hand slide gently down the side of my neck for just a moment, the touch of his skin on mine burning like embers before walking over to his brother at the door.

“We’re glad you’re feeling alright,” Marlowe says. He seems irritated with Kaleb and I know why. Kaleb almost said too much. “I hope you’ll be back in school tomorrow.”

Marlowe pulls the door open and both boys walk out, but just as Kaleb is about to close the door behind them, he turns and takes one step back into the cabin.

“Kaleb—” Marlowe tries again, but his brother won’t be stopped. Not this time.

“Come down to the river with us this weekend,” Kaleb blurts, shaking his brother’s grip from his shoulder as Marlowe tries to pull him back outside. “Don’t answer now. Not if you’re going to say no.”

I take in a breath, but I’m not sure what to say.

Marlowe grabs ahold of Kaleb, and this time he won’t be shaken free. “Come on. We need to leave now or Rory’s going to kill us.”