Page 24 of Those That Defy the Realm

I latch onto her racing heartbeat, her breathing accelerated. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to hide.”

“What are you doing down here in the dark?” She walks over to the lighting switch panel near the doorway and bathes the room in a soft glow from the sconces.

“I guess I lost track of time.” It comes out with very little conviction, my brain still too busy to put together any further explanation.

The pack we’re trying to take down.

The fact there’s a chance Ash might be getting on a boat right now.

The way I can still smell the sweet perfume Claire put on this morning, the scent luring me to take a step closer to her. Only, as I close the distance, I pick up the scents of others on her too. They’re faint, so I don’t think it's more than a recent hug, or more likely, that she’s been packed into a busy bar and forced to rub shoulders with whomever she was with. Still, it’s distracting.

“Oh. Did you get more of your book done?” Over the past few days Claire and I had filled the other in on our entire life stories. She knew a lot about me, more than most people in my life. I’d even told her a little about my human years.

“Hhhmmm?” I ask, stepping even closer to her, where she still lingers by the wall.

“Your book. Editing. Did you get some more done?” She has to look up at me now as I move into her orbit. “Henry, are you okay?”

Gently, I lift my fingers to brush a few strands of hair off Claire’s shoulder. She’s wearing a silk blouse today, one with a slightly more open neck, and capped sleeves. It leaves the inner edges of her collar bones on show.

She doesn’t exactly flinch at my touch, but she does tense, and move away, her back hitting the wall. “Henry, what’s wrong?”

Shaking my head, I snap myself out of it. “Sorry, I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting you back so late.”

I move away, forcing myself to go and stand beside the countertop instead, gripping the edge with one hand so I don’t invade Claire’s space again. The beast in me feels edgy. Maybe with how much I’d worked myself up about the danger we’re in with Adicious’s pack, I’m feeling more than a little protective. It’s a strange feeling. I’m not normally one to be ruled by the instincts of my nature in such a primitive way.

“Yeah, it was last minute. After the showing, the clients invited us for drinks. We went to this charming ancient brewery in the old quarter. It was packed but it was fun.” Claire confirms my earlier theory of her being in a bar. She keeps eyeing me warily as she tells me more about her night, moving about the kitchen, putting her shoes out of the way, and grabbing herself a glass of water.

Her throat bobs as she drinks, her swallows loud in the silent room.

My gaze lingers on her neck, her pulse visible under her creamy skin.

“Are you hungry?” Claire asks, once again pulling my focus.

“No,” I answer instinctively. I had drunk one of the blood packets already today but now that I think about it my fangs are tingling like I could use a drink.

“Okay…” She rinses her glass and leaves it on the side. “Well, I guess I’ll say goodnight. See you in the morning.”

She leaves me standing there, still clinging to the work surface like I need a life raft. I nod when she flips me a smile over her shoulder. One that doesn’t quite reach her eyes but is radiant nonetheless.

The vision of her laughing and joking tonight with others coils my insides further. I don’t understand it, this sudden reaction I’m having.

Maybe I am just tired. And I have been stressing myself out this evening as it seems this little bit of peace is coming to an end. Perhaps I’m picking up on the tension Ty must be feeling, maybe some of Rory’s too, as I’m bound to her as much as I am bound to him. When I pull for those bonds, though, nothing changes.

No, these feelings are my own.

Sifting through my thoughts, most stem from the fact that my evening with Claire was interrupted. It might have only been a few days but, apparently, I’ve come to rely on our conversations each night as a way to relax.

And she did that with others tonight. Others that left their scent on her.

It hits me like a bullet to the chest. I’m jealous.

Drowning in envy that she spent her evening with others instead of me. Now that I’ve named it, the feeling intensifies further until I’m completely green with it. I try to keep rational, but it gnaws into my core, seeps into my soul. This is stupid, crazy. Claire and I are nothing to one another. Barely anything, friends perhaps. New friends.

This reaction isn’t normal. Isn’t me.

I stay downstairs for a long while after she’s gone to bed, turning myself inside out in an attempt to understand it. Of course I’m not dumb enough to deny that I find her attractive. She’s funny, interesting to talk to, and fucking sexy in a way that I don’t think she realises. Interacting with her in any way just makes my day a happier one. But I know we’re not destined for any kind of relationship in that realm. She’s human, for one, the full-stop to anything long term. Since I found out she’s Rory’s best friend though, it adds another line I can’t cross. I made that mistake at Solstice and whilst I do not regret what I did with Ash in any way, it is a complication I don’t need in my life. Especially now I’m bonded into this pack.

Ash is also a reason. The warmth I feel at the memories of our night together is still very much current tense. And the thought of seeing him again, if he indeed is part of the party coming to provide us with some much needed back-up, awakens butterflies in my stomach that ignite sparks of a secret hope that we might be able to make a repeat of our night together. Surely that means I shouldn’t be fawning over Claire as well?