I strip the sheets down to the mattress pad. It smells new. It can stay.
The position of the bed is okay. I push the frame a few feet either way to make sure, but it’s fine. Unless it’d be better a little to the right. No. It’s good. Centered.
Killian inches forward and moves the mattress in the direction I’m pushing. And now it’s too far to the left.
What is he doing? I don’t need help. This is my job. My wolf snaps her teeth at him. He raises his hands and backs away.
“All right. I’ll stay over here.”
He watches intently as I remake the bed, occasionally stroking his hard cock. That’s okay. As long as he stays out from under foot. He’d only mess it up.
I get everything put together, but it’s not right, so I take it apart again. At some point, Killian goes to his closet and comes back with a stack of blankets. Some are good, but some reek, and they have to go. I throw them out into the hallway, but even with the door shut, they bother me, so I take them out back and shove them into a metal trashcan.
Killian tails me, which is fine, because his scent masks the blanket stink. And the trashcan stink. And I don’t like the smells coming from the nearby cabins, either. Too plastic, chemical, processed.
I need nose plugs like swimmers have on TV.
And food.
I’m ravenous.
I head back inside, stopping in the kitchen.
“I’m hungry.”
“Okay.” Killian already has the refrigerator door open. “What do you want?”
“Meat.”
“I don’t have any defrosted.”
Frozen meat? That’s wrong, too. I huff and head back to the bedroom. I’ll finish my nest and then go hunting. There’s just enough time if I hurry. The hour’s growing late. But that doesn’t make sense.
None of this does.
But that doesn’t matter. The nest is the only important thing, and I’m almost done. I pile a down comforter in the middle and cover it with the best smelling sheets and the contents of the hamper. There’s not much. A few pairs of jeans and Tshirts, but it’ll have to do.
I stalk around the bed, examine what I’ve made from all angles.
“I need more.” I catch Killian out of the corner of my eye. He’s leaning against the wall, still watching. He’s wearing drawstring pants now. When did he put them on?
“I need those.” I snap and point.
“My pants?”
I snap again. He needs to listen.
“Una, I’m not sure you know what you’re doing,” he says in a very rational tone which makes me want to rip off his face.
I bare my teeth. Arrogant male. I know what I’m doing.
And it’s so damn hot in here. “Put them on the pile.”
I let my wolf growl at him a few times so he knows we’re serious while I throw open a window. The moon is full and high. I draw the night breeze deep into my lungs. It’s cool and sweet.
My body is a live wire.
The ache in my bad leg is so faint it hardly registers. There are so many more things to feel.
Like my breasts. They’re full and tender. And this bra has got to go. I peel off my top, fling it into a corner, and send my bra sailing after.
Out of nowhere, Killian plunges between me and the window, snatching the curtains closed.
“No.” I slap his hand and go for the fabric.
“You’re not giving a show to whoever walks past,” he growls.
“I want to see the moon.”
He’s tense, and he grabs my wrists so I can’t pull the curtains back open, but his voice is conciliatory when he says, “I know, shy girl. Next time, I’ll take you out to the old dens, okay?”
Yes. That’s where I’m supposed to be. Deep in the woods behind the old quarry. Surrounded by bark and brush and moss. Stone and soil. Running water and the hum of winged insects and croak of bullfrogs in the rushes.
That’s the right place.
“Take me there now.” I turn, and he’s right there. So close. So sweet smelling. I brush my nose across his pecs, listening to his heart pound. Ka-thunk. I remember the sound, but it’s fainter in my memory. He was smaller then.
“I can’t,” he says. “It’s not safe without scouting first. I’d need other males to guard us.”
“Okay. Go get males.”
He chuckles, gently prying my fingers off of the curtain. “I wouldn’t be able to tolerate other males around you like this.”
“Like how?”
“You’re in heat.”
“No, I’m not. Heat hurts.”