about the drug from personal experience.”
The cave was quiet save for the sound of her humming, which she couldn’t seem to stop. If it bothered Dougal, he didn’t say anything. He smelled like cloves.
She must have said it aloud, because he said, “Always interesting how we can’t identify the scents on ourselves. We can smell everyone else, yet not our own aromas.” He rubbed his eyes. “You smell like I remember home.”
“I haven’t lived there in so long.”
“Doesn’t matter. You still do.”
“I thought you were my mate. Pretty stupid, huh? The gods are never so kind to me.”
He jolted. What did his movement mean?
She’d no sooner uttered the words before she drifted. With no idea where she floated, she just went with the sensation. She was reasonably certain she didn’t actually leave her body. Hallucinations. In the real world, she lay on the ground in a cave pressed to the man she’d thought about for sixteen years.
The sound of her mother humming the song moved her forward through nothingness to...something. It didn’t make sense, but then it didn’t have to. Hallucinations were by nature illogical.
Pain flooded her head, and she jerked to a stop only she didn’t because she wasn’t really anywhere anyway. Except there she was, standing in the basement of her parent’s home watching the worst day of her life. The day everything she’d thought she knew about life, werewolves, and who she was changed drastically.
She saw herself standing there, the little girl she had been. Her mother had asked her to go to the basement to see if the boiler was lit. The kitchen had suddenly gotten cold. Her father wasn’t very good at fixing things and her mother had her hands full with all the little kids.
Caitlyn knelt on the floor. She saw the flame beneath the device was lit which meant it should have been working. What was going on? She sniffed the air. Something smelled off.
“Mom?” She called. “I think there might be a problem.”
“Obviously there’s a problem, Caitlyn. Which is why I sent you to check.”
Caitlyn growled low, lest her mother hear her. “Thanks, Mom.”
She bent and stared beneath the boiler again. The flame flickered. So it was lit, only it wasn’t working one hundred percent.
The grown version of Caitlyn watched herself with a certain amount of detachment. Amazing she could feel so calm. In about five seconds, the basement was going to explode. How long had it been filling with gas? Why hadn’t her parents smelled it? Probably because they never went into the basement. They’d never had the greatest noses. Things went the way they went, she supposed.
Boom.
Chapter Five
D ougal held Caitlyn as she shook. Detoxing was the part of drug abuse, which really sucked. Users went up and then they came down. The good news was her wound finally healed. It was not bleeding, fully closed and hardly red. She wouldn’t have an infection.
I thought you were my mate .
He closed his eyes and tried to breathe. He thought so too. His knowing it didn’t mean, however, they could actually go the mating route. What did he have to offer a mate? A lifetime of waiting for him to get home from an endless war or news of his death by dragon? What could he do if he ever made it home to support her?
He turned on his side to stare at her sleeping face. Her color wasn’t good. Then again she was in the middle of a drug withdrawal. How good could she look?
How did he not notice her beauty? He barely noticed the scars and only when she pointed them out. No, she was perfectly her.
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked for him. “Am I okay?”
Such an innocent question. Where any of them ever okay anymore? “Yes.”
“I don’t feel right.”
“Your body is ridding itself of the drug. If you want more, I’d be okay with it considering the level of your injury, since another couple of hours of pain relief would be fine. You’d feel better again.”
“No.” She grabbed at
The cave was quiet save for the sound of her humming, which she couldn’t seem to stop. If it bothered Dougal, he didn’t say anything. He smelled like cloves.
She must have said it aloud, because he said, “Always interesting how we can’t identify the scents on ourselves. We can smell everyone else, yet not our own aromas.” He rubbed his eyes. “You smell like I remember home.”
“I haven’t lived there in so long.”
“Doesn’t matter. You still do.”
“I thought you were my mate. Pretty stupid, huh? The gods are never so kind to me.”
He jolted. What did his movement mean?
She’d no sooner uttered the words before she drifted. With no idea where she floated, she just went with the sensation. She was reasonably certain she didn’t actually leave her body. Hallucinations. In the real world, she lay on the ground in a cave pressed to the man she’d thought about for sixteen years.
The sound of her mother humming the song moved her forward through nothingness to...something. It didn’t make sense, but then it didn’t have to. Hallucinations were by nature illogical.
Pain flooded her head, and she jerked to a stop only she didn’t because she wasn’t really anywhere anyway. Except there she was, standing in the basement of her parent’s home watching the worst day of her life. The day everything she’d thought she knew about life, werewolves, and who she was changed drastically.
She saw herself standing there, the little girl she had been. Her mother had asked her to go to the basement to see if the boiler was lit. The kitchen had suddenly gotten cold. Her father wasn’t very good at fixing things and her mother had her hands full with all the little kids.
Caitlyn knelt on the floor. She saw the flame beneath the device was lit which meant it should have been working. What was going on? She sniffed the air. Something smelled off.
“Mom?” She called. “I think there might be a problem.”
“Obviously there’s a problem, Caitlyn. Which is why I sent you to check.”
Caitlyn growled low, lest her mother hear her. “Thanks, Mom.”
She bent and stared beneath the boiler again. The flame flickered. So it was lit, only it wasn’t working one hundred percent.
The grown version of Caitlyn watched herself with a certain amount of detachment. Amazing she could feel so calm. In about five seconds, the basement was going to explode. How long had it been filling with gas? Why hadn’t her parents smelled it? Probably because they never went into the basement. They’d never had the greatest noses. Things went the way they went, she supposed.
Boom.
Chapter Five
D ougal held Caitlyn as she shook. Detoxing was the part of drug abuse, which really sucked. Users went up and then they came down. The good news was her wound finally healed. It was not bleeding, fully closed and hardly red. She wouldn’t have an infection.
I thought you were my mate .
He closed his eyes and tried to breathe. He thought so too. His knowing it didn’t mean, however, they could actually go the mating route. What did he have to offer a mate? A lifetime of waiting for him to get home from an endless war or news of his death by dragon? What could he do if he ever made it home to support her?
He turned on his side to stare at her sleeping face. Her color wasn’t good. Then again she was in the middle of a drug withdrawal. How good could she look?
How did he not notice her beauty? He barely noticed the scars and only when she pointed them out. No, she was perfectly her.
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked for him. “Am I okay?”
Such an innocent question. Where any of them ever okay anymore? “Yes.”
“I don’t feel right.”
“Your body is ridding itself of the drug. If you want more, I’d be okay with it considering the level of your injury, since another couple of hours of pain relief would be fine. You’d feel better again.”
“No.” She grabbed at
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