Pack Mentality: A Wolf Alone

Chapter 12

When Seth arrived back at the hotel, it felt like the darkness had doubled, highlighting the few windows that were still lit. He knew they were on the top floor, but considering that it was a small-town hotel, that wasn't saying much; it was the equivalent of being on the third floor of a narrow Victorian house. Looking up, he was sure one of their rooms was lit up, but he couldn't tell if it was his and Becky's or Dean's solo suite.

I should have brought coffee or something, Seth thought on his way up, pulling the wad of folded papers and business cards out of his pocket and stuffing them in his bag. The town was small enough that almost everything closed around supper time, but there was a late-night diner that catered to long-haul truckers where he could have stopped for a snack. Strangely, his stomach wasn't protesting yet. Another fringe benefit of running with a pack, maybe? He wished he had thought to ask about hunger and cravings and food. I'll have to start a list of questions, he told himself.

Once he reached the top floor, he quickly realized it was his and Becky's room that was lit up; aside from Dean's room there were only two others and what he assumed was a supply closet so the housekeeping staff wouldn't have to lug cleaning equipment between floors; the elevator didn't sound reliable at all. He knocked before sliding his key in, but no one came to the door so he ended up opening it himself. Maybe she fell asleep with the light on? he thought, stepping inside and kicking off his shoes. Once Becky got comfy, she could sleep almost anywhere.

"Hey, man." Dean waved at him from the small couch where he and Becky were sitting, cross-legged and facing each other. On the middle cushion was an old deck of Garfield-branded playing cards. "We're just finishing up a riveting best-of-five match of Go Fish. It's like Reverse Strip Poker. When you win, you put on a layer of clothes." He then pointed to Becky, who was wearing his hoodie and toque, before shaking his wrist to draw attention to the bracelets there. "She was freezing, so I didn't have the heart to take her socks."

"And while you've been running your mouth. . . ." Becky put down her last pair and smiled.

"Damn." Dean leaned back and sighed, wriggling Becky's bracelets off his wrist and handing them back to her. When she started to shrug out of his hoodie, though, he shook his head. "Keep it until tomorrow, Irish. I'm good."

Seth approached slowly and kissed the top of Becky's head. "You can have mine," he said, sliding his down his arms and setting it in her lap before going back to the door to get his bag.

Dean watched him intently, and it took Seth a moment to realize his friend was on the lookout for wolfish behaviour. "I'm good, man. Honestly. That was the smoothest transition back I've ever had."

He immediately regretted saying it when he saw Becky's gaze drop. "So you had a good run then?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice level as she took off Dean's hoodie and held it out to him.

"I learned a lot. Came away with even more questions, because of course I didn't think of them at the time." Seth set his bag by the bedroom door and then sat on the floor by the couch while Dean collected the cards and shuffled them once before shoving them back in their age-worn box. "It's like any group, I guess. Some good people, some . . . less good."

Becky's gaze slid over to him, but she said nothing as she pulled his hoodie on and snuggled into it, yelping as Dean pulled his toque free from her head. "Well, people are people, as they say." Dean tugged the toque down over his head and pulled a few stray red hairs free. "Turns out that some wolves are people too. Or some people are wolves. Whichever. I'll let myself out so you two can play the Reverse-Reverse Strip Poker version of Go Fish."

Seth's brow furrowed. "Wouldn't Reverse-Reverse just be . . . regular?"

Dean shrugged. "Probably. But it wouldn't sound as cool." He gave Seth a friendly punch to the shoulder. "Fill me in tomorrow, man. I'm tired and I'm probably going to have trippy dreams about orange cats now." He shoved his feet into his shoes without tying them.

Seth waited until Dean had left their suite to sit on the couch, reaching for Becky's hand. "Hey."

"Hey." Some of the bleariness in her eyes was likely from being tired, but Seth could smell a hint of the stinging scent of salt too; she must have stopped crying a while ago. "So how did things go?"

"We don't have to talk about it tonight if you don't want to," Seth said softly, pulling her into his arms. She wasn't exactly stiff, but she didn't melt into him like she usually did. "You look worn out. Why don't we just get some sleep?"

"Did that Maggie try to fuck you?" Becky's voice was plain, stripped bare, but Seth could hear the strain beneath it.

He didn't want to lie to her, not unless he had to. There would be more than enough occasions where he would need to lie to keep her safe, but this wasn't one of them. "Yes."

Becky went silent, burying her face against his neck. If their positions were reversed, he would have said she was trying to catch any scents on him, but her nose wasn't keen enough for that. "Okay."

Somehow hearing that tiny little word hurt more than if she had started yelling, accusing him of cheating on her. "I didn't. You know I didn't." He tried to keep any defensiveness out of his voice.

"I said I would understand. Things happen. You don't have to justify anything." Becky let out a shaky breath as she cuddled against him. "So what all did you lea—"

"Becks." Seth turned around a bit and cradled her face in both hands, forcing her to look at him. "I told you I wasn't interested in fucking any of them. I told them the same. In no uncertain terms. I want you to know that." He thought about telling her that he turned down advances and chose to come straight back to her, but worried that Becky might think he was protesting too much to be genuine.

"I do. I just—" Tears started dripping down her face again and Becky tried to move away, but Seth held her tight. "I know it's stupid," she spat, "but I also know that you worry about me. You worry all the time about hurting me, and that wouldn't be a concern if your girlfriend was—"

"Don't. Don't say it. Don't even bother thinking it," Seth interjected, "because it's a waste of energy." It made him think back to Hayden's question about turning Becky, though, and he hated to admit that it was taking up more space in his head than it should. It would absolutely have to be her choice, and she would have to have enough knowledge to make that choice fairly, but just thinking about sharing all those sensations with Becky was incredible. "Come on. Let's go to bed and I'll tell you and Dean everything tomorrow so I'm not repeating myself and boring you." Then Seth stood and coaxed Becky to her feet. "And if you want, you can help me think of questions. I know I have some for my mother." Seth tried to quash the bitterness that rose up in him again. It wasn't all Holly's fault, of course; she couldn't have forced his father's family to spend time with him. But she also wasn't helping the situation much, and her cold-shoulder attitude to Becky and Dean had to stop. "So I should go visit her sometime soon."

Becky's lips twitched. "I think I'll pass this time. I don't feel like freezing my ass to the porch swing, and I doubt Dean wants a repeat either."

Seth kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to talk to her about that, I promise." He pulled her in close and slid his hands under her shirt. "How cold are you now?"

"I just put this hoodie on," Becky protested, lips still struggling to smile.

"I know." Seth flipped the hood forward so Becky's face was in shadow before he leaned in to kiss her. He could immediately feel the heat building within the confines of the hood and he knew the instant Becky did too, because she wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed. "But I'm hoping I'll be a close second."

They tumbled into the bed fully clothed, and Seth pulled the blankets high over their heads, recreating the cocooning effect of the hoodie on a larger scale as they kissed languidly. It must have taken them almost half an hour to eventually get all their clothes off, but he didn't care. Maybe there were some things he would miss out on by not having a werewolf for a lover, but he couldn't imagine losing himself so thoroughly, so willingly, with anyone but Becky.