B0079G5GMK EBOK (21 page)

“Gu bráth,” Adam whispered.

“Gu bráth,” Clarissa confirmed and sank into his dark eyes.

After a few hours, Clarissa sneaked downstairs, wrapped in a sheet. The house was quiet. Her friends had cleaned it up and left at some point during the day. There was a note on the table that said everything. It was useless to explain. The comments and jokes of her friends confirmed what she had doubted. Everyone knew. At least they knew everything that had happened before she and Adam had disappeared upstairs. Clarissa blushed and went to get some juice from the fridge. A silent voice in the living room stopped her.

Joshua, the panic hit her. Joshua would kill her. What had she done! Adam's warmth surrounded her in a trice and she relaxed. She trusted Adam and the confidence filled her. Everything was as it
was
supposed to be. She lifted her chin and prepared to see Joshua and his rage.

Clarissa stopped at the doorway of the living room. The door was slightly open. She pressed her lips together and pushed the door open.

“Mother,” she sighed and rushed into Sofia's arms.

Sofia

Words were not necessary
as we both knew that I already knew everything. I fondled her hair and held her tightly in my arms. Clarissa's childhood was over, but she didn'
t mind at all. She looked at me in wonder
with her bright green eyes
mixed with a bit of golden brown
.

“Mother,” she sighed again.

“Shh, it's all right,” I said and let go of her gently.

“It was amazing,” Clarissa started, but couldn't continue. Her lips were shaking and she had happy tears in her eyes as she looked at me questioningly.

I knew. Clarissa saw everything so much clearer now, as she shared Adam's mind. Adam had given her a gift beyond her imagination, and she would have it forever. The sense of a wolf would make her stronger and she could probably shift her shape better from now on. Her life was bound to Adam's forever, I thought, bitterly.

“You know that wolves are monogamous, right?” I started carefully.

Clarissa looked at me and waited. I wasn't sure if she actually understood a word I
was saying
.

“Adam is a wolf and so are you, for at least some part,” I said and waited for her to understand me.

Clarissa just stared at me and I grabbed her shoulders. I looked deep into her eyes and when I was sure she was really listening, I continued.

“You have bound yourself to Adam for the rest of your life,” I said.

“Oh,” Clarissa said dumbly.

“
I mean forever. E
ternity and so on,” I said, waiting for at least some kind of response.

“Oh,” she said again an
d I watched as the realization hit her
.

“You mean like forever forever,” she whispered, half-terrified and half-excited.

I nodded and waited for her to go on. She stared at me and smiled goofily.

“Is it always like this?” Clarissa asked and I felt the warmth that floated in her mind every time she thought about Adam.

I sighed and nodded. Clarissa got up and observed her body, amazed. She was like a new born child. I heard Adam scuffling on the stairs and the door opened. He stayed in the doorway and I could do nothing but gasp. His black hair was a mess and he was holding the sheet to his waist with one hand to cover his lower body. His upper body was naked and was gleaming with sweat. His trained muscles were clearly seen and he looked really yummy. Wild and reckless. Dangerous. Clarissa spun happily around next to him and almost drooled. Then she looked at me, terrified.

“Joshua,” Clarissa sighed with horror.

“Don't even think
about it,” I said and backed away
instinctively.

“You're going to
tell him,” I said strictly and Adam grinned at Clarissa.

Clarissa begged
him for help
, but he lifted his hands in
the air an
d almost dropped his sheet. He backed away
, too.

“Don't do that to me! You don't want me to get involved,” Adam said, laughing.

I looked at him, wondering. Who was this handsome, laughing man? I had never seen him like this. Laughing and relaxed. Clarissa tried to reach him, but he passed her, laugh
ing. I knew in that moment that
their game had changed. His eyes looked feverish and Clarissa licked her lips lightly. Adam stopped and Clarissa slid into his arms. I shook my head in disbelief. They were like some horny young wolves. I raised my hand and stopped them before their lips met.

“Clarissa,” I snapped with the
voice of a pack leader.

Clarissa's ha
nd stopped and she looked at me
wonderingly.

“Joshua,” I reminded her.

She slowly gained her balance and humbly bent her head down.

“I give you one week, that's all,” I said strictly.

Clarissa couldn't believe what she had heard.

“A week,” she sighed. “That's too soon.”

“Where I stand, I think it's all clear. You have chosen your partner and you have to tell Joshua,” I continued and looked at her demandingly.

Clarissa tried to mumble some objections, but stopped as she noticed I was serious. She couldn't do anything to turn my head.

“Okay,” she said in a quiet, resigned voice.

“Joshua deserves to hear this as soon as possible. So sooner is better than after a week,” I said strictly. “I
'll expect
you to take care of it the first chance you get.”

Clarissa nodded guiltily
. I nodded lightly at Adam and took my jacket from the corner of the sofa. I was about to step outside when I turned. Clarissa had melted into Adam's arms and he was holding her gently. I sighed as I knew exactly what would happen after I closed the door behind me.

The cold winter air quickly cleared my mind. I knew I couldn't go home now. Not when my thoughts were so mixed up. I turned my car to the small side road that took me to a small hill about two kilometers from our home. The road was not even, and as I didn't want to take the risk of getting stuck in the snow, I left my car at the beginning of the road. I struggled in the snow for a while with my two feet, and then I let myself turn into a wolf. I was sure that a proper rabbit hunt would balance my thoughts and after that, I would be ready to face Joshua and the others without revealing Clarissa's secret.

I felt someone touch my mind lightly and was happily surprised as I noticed Daniel and Gavin were also on a hunting trip in the same woods. I lifted my snout and howled a little. After a while they answered my howl and two large male wolves appeared from the bushes. I rubbed my snout on Gavin's fur and let my head rest, for a moment, on Daniel's neck. Gavin barked questioningly and jumped a little bit further from me. I revealed nothing. I just stayed close to Daniel and enjoyed my brothers' presence. Gavin gave up and started to sniff some old footprints of a wood mouse. Daniel pushed me gently and jumped after Gavin.

Daniel was slightly bigger than Gavin and had always thought that he was the leader of the two because he was bigger. However, Gavin had always been so reckless that no one could really lead him to do anything he didn't want to. Now he demonstratively turned his back to his brother. Daniel snorted and started to play chase and catch with me.

Just when Daniel and I
were rolling like a mess down the hill, Gavin howled challengingly. We stopped and stared at him, snuffling. Our furs were full of snow and our snouts were covered with frost. Gavin stared at us from the upper hill and sniffed the ground. I opened my sense
s and my snout was filled with the
delicious smell of a rabbit. I couldn't help myself and pushed Daniel, who was standing there peacefully. He fell
in
to the powder snow. I waited for him to attack me but he just grinned and revealed his teeth. Then he jumped lightly next to Gavin.

We hunted
for nearly four hours and by evening
, we had preyed on two rabbits and a fat mouse. Hanging our prey on our teeth, we proudly jogged to my car. The winter sky darkened into a deep blue and for a moment we enjoyed the magical moment that made the woods look so beautiful. Then we shifted back to our human forms.

From the outside our house seemed a pretty peaceful place. Clarissa was sitting on the lounger and Flow had rolled up on her lap. She
was staring
at the repeat of Friends on TV. Joshua
was staring
at her and the other males
were
s
taring
at Joshua. David
was playing
cards with Marie and Tiamhaidh was helping her. I could feel the sigh of relief as we came in. Clarissa glanced at me quickly, but turned her eyes back to the TV. Joshua begged me to tell him some answers with his eyes. Mat got up fast and grabbed our prey, starting to clean them up. David looked at the mouse with disgust, but said nothing. I put my arms around David's
neck and pressed my cold nose on
it.

“For the dogs,” I whispered and smiled warmly.

David relaxed. He loved meat, but he wasn't ready to eat a mouse. Ciall got a hot cup of tea from somewhere and put it in my hands. I sat next to the fireplace and grabbed the striped grey woolen socks from the floor. Tiamhaidh looked at me and laughed.

“Be my guest!” he shouted. “I hope you enjoy my socks.” And continued the card game.

I stared absentmindedly at Clarissa. She
was trying
her best to look relaxed, but everything in her revealed that she was not. “Relax,” I whispered in her mind. “I can't,” Clarissa whined and glanced at Joshua. Joshua looked at us, confused. What had happened? Not more than a day ago, he h
ad been sure that Clarissa would
choose him. But now, she
was obviously
pushing him away.

I slurped some hot tea and put my legs closer to the fire. “You'll have to tell him!” I ordered Clarissa. She looked at Joshua g
uiltily, and buried herself in
Flow's fur. “As soon
as possible!” I scowled at her
angrily, and she nodded.  I could easily shut Joshua out of Clarissa's mind, but
I didn't want to do that. W
olves didn't lie, and Joshua couldn't possibly understand what had happened. I could've eased his pain easily. One word, Adam, and he would've understood. However, I didn't want to let Clarissa get out of this easily, so she had to deal
with
Joshua by herself.

Clarissa
observed Flow's fur
like it was the most interesting thing in the world. At times, she looked at Joshua and sighed. Joshua got up and went to sit next to her feet. I glanced at Clarissa warningly, and she scowled at me. I was sure she was going to stand up and leave Joshua alone on the floor. The scowl, directed at me, confirmed that I was right. Flow looked at me with her gentle eyes and asked for help. She sensed that something was going on, but she didn't quite understand what it was. Whatever it was, though, she wanted to get as far away from Clarissa and Joshua as she could. I couldn't let her suffer any longer and I gestured for her to come to me. As she jumped from Clarissa's lap, Clarissa got the excuse she wanted and got up as well. She complained with a loud voice how bad a headache she had and asked to be left alone. Joshua stared at her back and came next to me.

“Mathair, I don't understand. I don't understand anything at all,” Joshua said, confused.

I looked at him and smiled
gently.

“Just give her a little time,” I said quietly.

“But,” Joshua began.

I silenced him with one look and got up. I felt like a traitor, but I couldn't face him now. This was Clarissa's mess and she sure had to solve it. I took David's hand and pressed him to go upstairs with me. Joshua looked stunned and I felt how the others felt stunned as well. This was so not like me. I wanted to solve things straight and I didn't play games like this. Ever. So all of them were really confused.
I, however, didn't stop to give
any explanations. I just kept going.

Clarissa

When the school bell rang, Clarissa, Cait
lin and Emilie rushed out of
class
. The last class of Friday had
again proved to be painfully long. The teacher had tried desperately to get at least some knowledge
in
to their heads, but in vain. They wouldn't remember a word afterwards.

Clarissa pushed the front door open and stopped. She stared at Joshua, who
was marching
across the yard with a murderous look in his eyes. Caitlin and Emilie passed her and sneaked out, looking apologetic. Clarissa tried to make her face look happily surprised and prepared to hear his tantrum. She had no clue why he was so cranky. Yes, she admitted, she had been avoiding Joshua as best as she could, and after her birthday party she had been sure that he knew about her and Adam.