Clay's Hope (25 page)

Luke looked from her to me then back again.
He opened his mouth to ask a question, hesitated, and then glanced
at the door once more. Finally, he stood.

“I’ll be around,” he said.

The door had barely closed behind him when a
knock sounded.

She turned in my lap, met my gaze, and shook
her head. I slid an arm under her legs, and standing with her in my
arms, I glanced at the door. I knew she didn’t want to talk to
whoever waited, but I doubted the Elders would be put off for long.
She’d fainted during the Introduction and had been out for two
days. And when she woke, the first thing she’d done was talk to
Luke. They would want to know why.

I turned and carried her to the bedroom.
There I set her on the bed, covered her, and closed her in her
room.

With no choice, I went to answer the
apartment door. Sam stood on the other side as I’d expected. There
were several other wolves with him. Most likely spectators drawn by
my removal of Luke from the common room. No other Elders,
though.

I stepped aside to let him in.

“Where’s Gabby?” Sam asked, eyeing the
closed bedroom door.

“Bed,” I said softly. “She’s still
sick.”

Sam took a step toward her room, and I
stepped in front of him. It was dangerous to challenge an Elder. If
he really wanted to, he could physically force me aside or simply
command me to move. Instead, he sighed and looked at me.

“Is she getting better?”

“She woke up. That’s something.”

“Clay, I know you’re upset with how we
handled the Introduction, but this is better for her.”

“Did it look better?”

He sighed again and ran his hand through his
hair. “Let me know when she wakes up again. I want to talk to her.”
Then he turned and left.

I went back to the bedroom and found Gabby
already asleep. Lying on my side, I pulled her close and closed my
eyes, ready to sleep for the first time in days.

Instead, her conversation with Luke replayed
in my head. Her comment, “I need some time to myself,” took on new
meaning. The key was her look at the door. She’d known the Elders
were out there listening. The way she’d held Luke’s gaze
afterward...she’d been trying to get him to understand
something.

We needed help leaving the Compound without
the Elders catching us.

* * * *

A noise woke me. Gabby’s stomach. It growled
again, and she shifted in her sleep. I smiled and waited for her to
open her eyes. The lamp was on, illuminating her features. She
looked better. Less pale.

Her breathing changed, a sign she was awake,
but she didn’t open her eyes. She was thinking. I’d seen her do
that many times. Gabby wasn’t the type to just shoot out of bed.
She liked to take a minute. I figured she used that time to make a
plan for her day. She seemed to like making plans and sticking to
them.

I gently brushed her hair from her face. She
opened her eyes and turned her head to look at me, and my heart
swelled at the emotion I saw there.

“Do I say good morning or is it close to
good night again?”

Smiling, I reached for her hand and brought
it to my mouth. A noise from the apartment stopped me from pulling
her into my arms. Frowning, I turned my head and focused. The sound
of the apartment door closing barely reached me.

Sam hadn’t returned since our last talk.
Could it be him? I tensed as the bedroom door opened.

Luke poked his head in.

“Better hurry. You carry her, and I’ll grab
her things,” he said, looking at me.

I didn’t hesitate. I leapt off the bed and
scooped Gabby into my arms, covers and all. I couldn’t believe Luke
had understood Gabby. I’d barely understood her.

She squeaked as I lifted her. Blankets
covered her face, and she shook her head to dislodge them since her
arms were pinned. Her scowl made me grin.

Luke already had Gabby’s bag and was
cramming her things into it. I turned and left the room, Luke
trailing behind me. Moving quickly, we quietly raced through the
halls and made it out the main entrance without being seen. I was
sure we’d been heard, though.

In the dark yard, the car faced the gate.
Luke must have moved it. With a burst of speed, I reached the car
and shifted Gabby’s weight to pull the handle. The door’s loud
groan made me cringe and move faster.

I settled Gabby inside and buckled her in.
As I moved away, Luke took my place to hand her bag in. She took it
as I jogged around the hood, but she motioned for him to wait. She
grabbed a scrap of paper from her bag and quickly wrote something.
She handed it to Luke with a wave, keeping silent.

Luke quickly closed the door. As he scanned
the note, I started the car and slammed it into gear. When I looked
back at him, Luke was already on a motorcycle. I took off in a
spray of gravel. As I’d expected, the noise brought someone to the
door.

The motorcycle roared to life and quickly
zipped past us. Luke saluted Gabby with a grin then disappeared
from sight.

Sam stood on the porch, his gaze locked on
us.

We need to talk to her, son.

She doesn’t want to talk.

I waited for a reply, but none came. A
relieved sigh escaped me. Gabby didn’t notice.

She laid her head back, closed her eyes, and
fell asleep. She didn’t stir the whole way home or when I pulled
into the driveway and turned off the engine. I sat for a moment,
watching her.

She still had dark circles under her eyes,
she hadn’t eaten, and she hadn’t told me what exactly had happened
when she’d touched Luke. Hopefully, the next time she woke, she’d
eat then start talking.

I didn’t get my wish. Gabby woke just a few
hours after I put her to bed.

Since Rachel was home, I was back in my fur,
lying in my usual spot, when I felt Gabby move. She reached for her
phone and checked the screen. I knew what she’d see. Sam had called
it twice since we’d left.

“Crap,” she mumbled when she squinted at the
display.

I thought she was referring to Sam until she
left the bed saying, “I’m going to be late.”

Did she seriously think she was going to
school? I hopped off the bed and planted myself in front of the
door.

She didn’t notice as she grabbed clothes.
When she turned and saw me, she paused.

“Clay, I have to pee so bad it hurts. Can
you move, please?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Did she really
think she had me with that? Although I couldn’t hear a lie, I knew
her well enough to guess what she was doing. I stepped away from
the door, letting her believe she’d fooled me, and watched her grin
and leave.

As soon as she’d closed herself in the
bathroom, I hid her keys in the towel drawer. She needed more rest
to recover, not a day on campus.

When the bathroom door opened, she didn’t
walk into the kitchen as I’d expected. Instead, she went to her
bedroom and brushed out her hair. It took her awhile, and I
regretted not brushing it for her after her shower. I watched from
the doorway. Each stroke moved slower than the last. She was so
tired. Why was she so determined to leave?

She set the brush aside and left her room.
In the kitchen, I heard her pause. I took my time joining her. She
turned to glare at me as soon as she saw me.

“Clay,” she whispered. “Give ‘em to me.” She
couldn’t yell because Rachel was still asleep.

I sat down in the archway.

Gabby sighed and looked around once more. I
wanted to shake her. Gently. Instead of looking for her keys, she
should eat something. Then, go back to bed.

“Please, Clay. I think I’m figuring out
what’s going on with me but won’t know for sure until I talk to
Nicole. At school. I need the keys.”

I remained mute and unmoved. She could ask
Nicole tomorrow. Meanwhile, I could hear Rachel stirring as Gabby
continued to stare at me. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Rachel
would be coming into the kitchen.

“If I can’t find my keys,” Gabby said, “I’m
going to walk.”

Rachel passed behind me just as Gabby
finished speaking.

Gabby’s expression was hilarious, and I
almost laughed.

“Gabby, you need to get out more and stop
talking to the dog,” Rachel said, closing herself in the
bathroom.

Gabby glared at me; and I sighed, knowing
I’d lost. I didn’t want her walking. Standing, I went over to the
drawer, shifted my hand, and grabbed out the keys.

“Thank you,” she said.

Then she left.

I considered following her but Rachel was
still in the bathroom and would notice if I was missing. So, I
heaved a sigh and lay on the floor by the door.

It didn’t take Rachel long to finish her
morning routine, which still included touching me way too much,
before she then headed out the door. Once she left, I shifted and
dressed for work. Gabby would be at school already, and Dale was
probably wondering if I’d show up today.

A chill wind whipped around me on the walk
to the shop, and I hoped Gabby had dressed warm enough. The right
bay door was half open. Ducking under, I found Dale working on a
single car. He didn’t hear me, so I went to the desk to look at the
orders. There were more than usual. It meant that my absence had
put him behind.

I picked the hardest one left over from the
day before and grabbed the keys.

“Didn’t know if I’d see you today,” Dale
said from across the shop.

“Gabby was sick.”

“Ah. Yeah, well, I’d want to take care of
her too...if she were mine.”

He turned back and started working on his
car before I could decide how to take his comment. Brushing it off,
I went to get the first car. I had other wolves to worry about. I
couldn’t start worrying about human men, too. But I did. All
morning, and all afternoon. Gabby was run down. Would she be able
to fend off men like she usually did? Wait...would she need to?
She’d said she lost her pull the last time this happened.

After finishing the jobs left over from the
day before, along with half of the current day’s jobs, I decided
I’d done enough. I looked around and noticed Dale was sitting in
his chair, filling out his last order. Perfect timing.

“Need to head out,” I said, returning the
keys to the rack behind the desk.

He glanced at the clock, then opened his
cash drawer.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “We’ll
settle tomorrow.” I just didn’t want to wait for him to figure out
how much to pay me.

He stopped and glanced at me.

“She that sick?”

I shrugged.

“Go. Take care of her, man. You two call me
if you need anything.”

I nodded then hurried home. The house was
empty. Gabby would be home in an hour, and Rachel might not be home
at all. It’d give me enough time to clean up and make something for
dinner.

I grabbed some fresh clothes and went to
shower. While the shower still ran, I heard the back door open. A
grin spread on my face. Good thing I came home early. I quickly
shut off the water, dried, and dressed. When I stepped out of the
bathroom, the house was quiet. She was probably putting away her
books. I went to the kitchen and opened a cupboard to see what I
could make for dinner. We had some onions and potatoes on the
bottom shelf. I grabbed an onion just as I heard her walk into the
kitchen. I turned with a smile on my face. Then froze.

Rachel and I stared at each other.

Shee’t. Busted.

My smile fell, and I started to panic. I
hadn’t been in my skin around her since...I struggled to think
back. She glanced at my hand; and slowly, she started grinning at
me. That worried me more.

“Making dinner?” she asked, looking at the
onion I held.

Was that bad? I gave a single, hesitant
nod.

Her smile broadened. “I’ll help.”

Help?

“What are we making?”

My panic skyrocketed. If I spoke, she’d say
something to Gabby. I went to the freezer, pulled out our bag of
frozen chicken, and held it out to Rachel. She took it.

“Chicken, then?”

I nodded again.

“What do you want me to do with it?”

I pointed to the microwave. Every time I
pointed or nodded, she grinned; and I realized my muteness amused
her. She started to defrost the chicken while I quickly diced the
onion. With the onion browning, I got out four potatoes.

“What’s next?” she asked, turning with the
thawed meat.

Trading the potatoes for the chicken, I
pointed at the table. She sat and started dicing. I seasoned and
sliced the chicken.

“So is Gabby feeling better?”

I shrugged.

“It’s sweet of you to come here and make her
dinner. Are you here often when I’m not home?”

I glanced at her unsure if she was upset by
the idea. Her expression was closed but her scent sweet. She was
amused.

Instead of answering, I washed my hands then
took the diced potatoes from her.

“I’m glad you’re keeping her company. She
doesn’t get out much.”

Moving to the stove, I added the potatoes
and a bit of oil. Everything sizzled as Rachel kept talking.

“It’s not good for a person to close
themselves off from other people. Without social contact and
communication, a person’s mental health could deteriorate.”

Rachel stood and came to lean against the
wall near the stove. She studied me for a long moment. I kept my
eyes on the browning potatoes.

“How’s your mental health, Clay?”

I glanced at her. If she was thinking of
taking me to another doctor...

A car rumbled into the drive. Gabby was
home. I’d never been so relieved in my life.

Rachel pushed away from the wall with a
smirk and moved to the cupboards. I added the chicken as she set
the table.

“Do you work around here, Clay? Live nearby?
I know nothing about you. Tell me a little about yourself.”