3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

10 | touch

1 0

t o u c h

IT WAS A huge comfort – to see Jed shift and wait for me by the back door like he knew that I was going to accompany him no matter what. I grabbed my jacket, phone, blanket and book and went along with him, watching as he scanned the surroundings with pricked ears and sharp eyes for a minute or two, before easing back and settling down beside me.

"I'm scared to go to sleep," I said at last, my voice barely audible in the soft silence. Turning, I laid flat on my back and stared blankly up at the stars dusting across the sky in random patterns. "I feel like – if I just close my eyes, it'll all come rushing back."

An involuntary chill raced down my spine and I flipped on my side, keeping one arm propped beneath my head and the other hand resting beside my cheek. Jed's eyes were bright as he watched me; spine stiff and tail whisking back and forth like he could gauge my mood and knew that I was uneasy.

"And I owe you an apology," I continued. "I was wrong. Maybe you killed that other wolf, and maybe you've killed others. But what the men said that day – that wasn't you." I held my palm up. "Right?"

I didn't know what I was expecting. Maybe for Jed to shift his right paw, or just move a little closer to me.

But what I didn't expect was for him to lean forward, ears flattened and head tipping down, until his nose pressed against the smooth bowl of my palm. It was the first time he'd initiated contact with me, and I found myself holding my breath because the moment was far too precious to break. I felt the warm air pulse against my skin as he exhaled, and then the fleeting contact was over when he drew back quickly, propping his head on top of his paws and closing his eyes.

Look at him. Even in his current form, he's afraid of you. What makes you think he's as beastly as everyone else says he is?

We spent over an hour there, until the night's chill began to set in. On the way down, we crossed paths with Adrian and one of his friends.

"Alpha, Luna," Adrian greeted, with a twinkle in his eye, and his friend did the same, lowering his head in a polite gesture. But I didn't miss the fascination in his eyes as he noticed how Jed was in his werewolf form next to me. Adrian, of course, looked more than amused. "First cooking and now taking him out for a walk in the dark," he mused and shook his head in mirth. "What're you doing to our Alpha?"

I grinned and followed Jed as he ignored them. "Have a good evening, boys."

When we were in the house, Jed headed straight up to his room, no doubt to shift back and put some clothes on. I closed the back door, latched it tightly shut and kicked off my shoes, placing them neatly on the mat by the door. Jed didn't come back down after that, but it wasn't a surprise to me because he often spent a lot of time outside, in his room or in the study. Occasionally, I'd see him leave the study with a file in his hand, a distracted look on his face as he scanned some document, only to head into the kitchen for a glass of water and then retreat back into his room. It was during those times that he seemed almost – normal, like he wasn't a Lycan but a regular guy with a job that he immersed himself in a lot.

It was just as well. I didn't want him to know that I was planning to spend the night out here anyway. Shrugging off my jacket, I headed upstairs to freshen up and change into something more comfortable before going downstairs again, this time with a thicker blanket in tow, along with the knife that I always had with me. Lorraine had returned it after picking it up from the junction where I was captured, and I now took the knife with me wherever I went, except on those occasions that I was with Jed.