Blue Moon (Colors of the Moon #1)

Chapter 24

I pressed my hands against my heated cheeks, while making my way down the hallway. More than anything else right now I wanted to forget the spectacle I had made of myself inside the dining room. How could I have assumed that Jared tattooed me, and that in front of another Alpha?

Just then I walked past the open door of Jared's bedroom and stopped. I glanced from the still closed door of my bedroom to Jared's bedroom and then up and down the hallway. Not a single living soul was in sight, so I moved.

Instead of heading forward to my room, I snuck into Jared's room. Once there, I headed to the big wardrobe next to the full-length mirror. I was sure that since I was Jared's mate, he wouldn't mind me borrowing one of his shirts. I, after all, had nothing clean of my own to wear because all of my clothes had been torn to pieces.

Despite the hint of curiosity, I forced myself to resist the temptation of going through his belongings. Instead, I grabbed a simple gray T-shirt from the top of the pile. A scent of lemon laundry detergent still hung around the fabric while I pulled it over my head, which assured me that the shirt was clean.

Then without taking a peek at anything else his wardrobe might have been hiding, I closed its door and made my way to my bedroom. Instead of a still sleeping Aiko like I expected, I found her pacing up and down the length of the room.

"Morning, Ai. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing for you to worry about." She waved my words away and continued to measure the length of the room with her steps.

I remained nailed to my spot, while watching her pacing. Something was definitely bothering her. Before I could open my mouth, however, an evil itch tingled my neck. Without even realizing what I was doing, I slid the collar of Jared's shirt off my right shoulder and scratched my neck.

The briefest contact of my nails with my skin stopped the irksome sensation, so I turned back around to face my sister. The moment our eyes met, however, I finally remembered that the crook of my neck wasn't an empty patch of skin anymore.

Aiko's eyes were wide open as they moved from my eyes to my neck and then back up. My first instinct was to tug the shirt back up and cover the mark. I wasn't sure why, but for some reason I didn't want Aiko to know about the mark.

As soon as the thought appeared, another realization hit me. If I hadn't known that the wolf and the moon were a mark, then Aiko certainly wouldn't either. She probably came to the same conclusion I had.

"It's not a tattoo," I said. "I know it looks like one, but it's not. It's called a werewolf's mark and it's connected to mates."

Aiko, who had completely ceased her pacing, slowly nodded. But her eyes remained focused on the now covered base of my neck.

"Ai?"

She opened her mouth, but then closed it just as quickly. Without another glance in my direction she shouldered her way past me and exited the room. But not before slamming the door close with a loud bang.

I wanted to run after her and explain what exactly the mark meant. Yet at the same time I struggled to find the right words to explain the whole marking business to her. She was even newer to the werewolf world than I, so I needed to find a way to explain it without scaring her. The last thing I wanted was to make her afraid of werewolves.

I stared at the closed door, while trying to will myself to leave it like that. It wasn't locked, after all. As the by now familiar sensation tightened my throat, however, I rushed to the door. I pulled it wide open, but instead of the empty hallway I came face to face with Jared.

"What's wrong?" He scanned me from top to bottom, and then focused on the rest of the room behind me.

"Nothing's wrong."