Before I walk back into the schoolroom, I spot Marisa standing on the main house's deck with Wesley. Both are scanning the surroundings, alert for any danger.
She nods when she sees me, and I nod back.
I’m not sure we’ll ever be friends after she hung me from that deck, wanting to get rid of me so I would stop getting in the way of her relationship with Aren, but I think we can be pack.
Maybe.
I return to the schoolroom, smiling apologetically at Gregor for disturbing his lesson.
“Are you staying?” Leo asks as I return to my seat.
Clearly, the kids were doing a whole heap of eavesdropping. From the interest in Gregor’s gaze, the kids aren’t the only curious ones.
I hesitate to answer, especially knowing the kids might not understand the complex relationship Aren and I share.
“Well…” I start, still not sure what to say, as I shift around a little to get comfortable in my wooden chair. “It’s hard to say.”
A girl with blond pigtails asks, “Don’t you like Aren?”
“Um…”
My mind flashes back to all the sex we’ve had over the last couple of days, and I hope I’m not blushing because there is no way to explain any of that to little kids.
“Because if you did, then that means you should stay, right?” Saskia, a little girl with bright red pigtails, asks me.
Innocent eyes peer up at me.
“It’s complicated.”
“Because he locked you in the cage?” a cute blond boy asks me.
I clear my throat. “Partly.”
“Couldn’t you lock him in the cage, then it would be even?” Saskia suggests.
I can’t help but smile at that. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that.”
“Why not?” Leo wrinkles his nose. “If someone pushes me over, I push them back, then we’re friends again.”
My eyes find Gregor to see what he’s making of all this.
“Pity all things can’t be resolved so easily,” he says dryly.
“Yeah.”
We get back to the lesson.
An hour later, Gregor is delving into more interesting shifter history when my wolf suddenly snarls, the sound echoing in my mind and catching me off guard.
Danger.
I shove myself to my feet.
“Wait here,” I order Gregor and the pups.
I’m at the door and stepping out of the schoolroom before Gregor can stop me. I pull it closed behind me and stand at the entrance.
Scanning my surroundings, I hunt out the thing that has my wolf snarling in my head, convinced that something is wrong.
