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I swallowed and nodded my head. “Okay.”

“That’s my girl,” Gram patted my knee and hopped from the car with much more agility than most people her age. I followed along behind her at a sluggish pace. Inside, she spoke with the hostess and we were led to our seats. I moved in a robotic motion. Or maybe it was more
zombie
like?

I slid into the booth and the girl handed me a menu. “Thanks.” Just because I felt like I was getting an ulcer didn’t mean I couldn’t be polite.

She smiled and disappeared.

I opened the menu and picked a random item so that I’d have something to tell the waiter or waitress.

Right on c
ue the waiter turned up with a steaming basket of freshly backed rolls and a notepad in hand.

“Hi ya’ll I’m
Harley, do ya know what ya want to drink?”

“I’ll have water with lemon,” Gram said and then rose her eyebrows at me.

“Uh… I’ll have diet coke,” I said.

He scribbled in his note pad. “If ya’ll know what you want to eat I can go ahead and get that in for ya.”

Gram ordered a pasta dish and then Harley turned to me. “And what
will
little Miss Pouty Pants have?”

Gram snickered and I shot her a scathing look.

“I’ll have a cheese pizza.”

“Small?”

“No, large,” I smiled and shoved the menu into his outstretched hand.

He laughed and disappeared around the corner into the kitchen. I think Harley need a good kick to his knee.

Gram continued to chuckle under her breath. If she didn’t watch
she
was going to get the kick to the knee and not Harley.

To resist the urge to kick my grandma I grabbed a roll, ripped it in half, and proceeded to slather it with butter. I took a bite and was surprised by how good it was and the fact that I could actually eat something.

Gram finally managed to ga
in
control and fixed herself a roll.

The restaurant was surprisingly nice with granite tables, yellow stucco walls, and accents of royal blue. I also appreciated the use of hand painted art. 

“So, how was your first day back to school?” Gram asked.

I raised an
eyebrow just as
Harley
returned with our drinks. “Horrible. Caeden and Travis got into a fight.”

“Oh,” said Gram and her voice
rose
two octaves higher. “What was the cause?”

“You seriously don’t know?”

“Oh,” she said again. “Caeden was defending you.”

“Yeah,” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “And Bryce wouldn’t do anything to stop him. Logan and Bentley could barely get him off of Travis. It was pretty messy. He hurt Travis pretty badly. I’m worried that maybe Travis has gotten ahold of Caeden and done something.”

“Bentley wouldn’t let that happen,” Gram said. “Besides, the Grimm pack is weaker. Not just number wise but in general.”

“That doesn’t mean they can’t do some serious damage Gram. Travis
did
murder his father. It takes a sick person to kill their parent no matter how evil said parent may be.”

Gram’s smile was wide. “Spoken like a true Alpha.”

*
* *

I paced in my bedroom, biting my nails, getting absolutely no homework done. Caeden was definitely going to get a kick to the shin for this as soon as I was sure he was whole and unscathed.

“Sophie!” Gram called from her bedroom. “Go to bed! I can’t sleep with you pacing!”

“I can’t sleep!” I called back.

I heard Gram’s dramatic sigh and then the
shuffling of
her shoving the bed covers off.
“I declare Sophie Noelle, you will be the end of me.”

She shuffled into the kitchen and I left pacing my room to see what she was up to.

Gram puttered around the kitchen; opening and closing cabinet doors.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making you a tea that will
hopefully
make you sleep,” she sighed dramatically. “You’re driving me bananas.”

She pulled out a teakettle and a mug. She set to making the tea and I sat at the table watching her. “I really don’t think tea is going to help me sleep,” I said and propped my head up on my hand.

“Well, it can’t hurt,” she huffed and put her hand on her hip.
Her gray hair was sticking up wildly around her head. I glanced at the clock, which I had been trying to avoid, and saw that it was after midnight. “And don’t think,” she said, “for one minute that if you stay up all night you’re going to get out of going to school tomorrow.”

“School is the least of my problems,” I mumbled.

The teakettle went off and Gram dutifully poured it into a mug. “Please try to drink it,” she said as she handed it to me. Its warmth was a welcoming comfort. I blew into its amber depths and watched the steam coil above it in ever evolving shapes.

Gram patted my cheek. “Go to bed, Sophie.”

“How come you’re so calm about this?” I asked.

She slowed her footsteps and finally stopped. With her back to me she said, “I was married to an
Alpha for a very long time. I got used to having him leave me behind while he went out. Sometimes he’d be gone for days but he’d always come back to me.” She turned towards me and tears glimmered in her eyes. “Caeden will always come back to you, Sophie, always.”

“But I don’t want to be left behind,” I whispered, wrapping my hands tighter around the cup of tea.

“Well, you better get used to it Sophie. You’re going to be left behind a lot. It’s an Alpha’s nature to protect his mate and that usually means you get left behind and lied to.” Sighing, she said, “Go back to bed, Soph, you need your sleep and so do I.”

She looked so forlorn that I couldn’t possibly argue with her.

“Thanks for the tea, Gram,” I said and stood up to kiss her cheek.

“You’re welcome,” she patted my hand and disappeared into her bedroom.

I picked up my tea and headed to my own bedroom, admiring Caeden’s and my handiwork. I perched on the end of the bed and sipped my tea while willing sleep to overcome me.
Archie jumped up on the bed beside me, and Murphy looked up at me from the floor with a sad, helpless, look. I reached my hand out and scratched his head.

“I’m worried too bud,” I said and he looked into my eyes with far too much intelligence.

I finished my tea and set the empty cup on my nightstand. I pulled the covers back and crawled under, turning my light out in the process. I patted the large empty space beside me where Caeden usually slept.

“Murphy, get up here boy,” I coaxed the large dog onto the bed beside Archie. He jumped agilely over me and plopped down beside me. Archie turned
in three circles and then lay
down on the pillow.
I scooted over and cuddled both of the dogs. I rhythmically stroked their fur and counted backwards from one hundred. Then I counted sheep. Eventually, sleep mercifully took me.

*
* *

I awoke to a loud banging noise and sat straight up. I reached for the light, not to turn it on, but for a weapon. All I could
think
was that Travis had killed Caeden
,
and
now
he’d come for me. My heart thudded in my throat.

“Hey, hey, it’s just me,” sounded a voice I’d know anywhere.

“Caeden!” I cried and threw myself in his arms.

“Whoa,” he said
,
as he rocked back from the force of my impact.

He flicked on the overhead light and I did a quick survey to make sure he was okay. Once the elation of his safety had passed I beat his chest and tears flooded my eyes and coursed down my cheeks.

“Soph?” he said.

“Don’t you ever, ever,
ever
, do that again, Caeden. I’ve been
worried
sick
. I thought something really bad happened to you. I thought you were dead somewhere and I’d never know what happened to you. Please don’t go off like that anymore without letting me know that you’re safe.”

“I didn’t know,” he said softly. “I’m really sorry. You’re completely right. I should’ve let you know something. Nothing bad happened so I just didn’t think about the time.”

“How would you feel,” I threw my arms out, “if I went off
to do a scan
and was gone for hours and hours
when I was supposed to come right back
?”

He swallowed. “I’d tear the ends of the earth apart looking for you.”

The fight went out of my body and I buried my face in his chest. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and inhaled his scent. I instantly felt comforted by pine, citrus, cinnamon, and wood.

He picked me up, motioned the dogs out of the bed and climbed inside. The sheets were still warm from my body heat and the dogs.
He slipped his jeans off and tossed them across the room before pulling me against his body
, spooning me
.

“I’m really, truly, and completely sorry for worrying you,” his lips brushed my ear as he tenderly played with my hair. “We caught a strange scent and ran with it and we ended up in Maryland.”

“Did you figure out what it was?” I asked.

“No,” he said and the pillow and sheets ruffled as he shook his head. “I’m sure it has something to do with Travis though.”

“Could it be another shifter? A different type?”

“No,” he said again. “I’d know that. All shifters can distinguish the scent of other shifters. This was… it smelled like death.”

“Death?”

“Murder,” he said. “It was awful,” he buried his face in my hair.

“How do you know it was murder? Did you find a body?” I asked.

“No,” he said and his heart thudded against my back, “we didn’t find any bodies. But the smell…” he trailed off. “There was just this feeling of emptiness, of sadness, I just can’t explain. It’s like I felt these lost souls floating around.”

“What makes you think it has something to do with Travis?”

“Intuition,” he answered immediately. “It’s just this gut feeling I have and I can’t shake it.”