“She deserves to be as happy as I am.”

“She will be.”

I hoped so. “Donovan really loves her.”

“If they’re mates, then that’s definitely true.”

“Right.” I laughed. “At least he won’t have to bite her.”

He was quiet for a second. “I don’t think it’s been long enough for us to laugh about that.”

I tightened my hold on him. “Come on. It is kind of funny.”

He sighed. “If you say so…crazy girl.”

I pressed a kiss to his neck. “I say so.” As Dastien walked, I had a feeling I was going to regret being carried, but I couldn’t muster the energy to say something.

Chapter Eight

I’d never really liked going into school cafeterias. Throughout my life, they’d been a place where I was ridiculed. These days, they weren’t so bad. I’d found my place in the pack, and I had friends and a kick-ass mate. But as Dastien stepped into the crowded cafeteria, I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

Being carried was a horrible idea. “Put me down. Now.”

He tightened his arms around me, cradling me against his chest. “No.”

Everyone stopped and stared. Not just one or two or twenty people. Everyone. Every single person.

What was I supposed to do? Apologize for pulling all that power? Make a speech?

“Say something,” Dastien whispered into my ear.

God. This was so not what I wanted to do. “Will you put me down?”

“No.”

“Fine.” This wouldn’t be humiliating at all. I cleared my throat. “Hey, everyone. I’m sorry for taking without asking. Meredith’s really sick, and I was trying to hold a connection to Donovan to find out how to break the curse. He’s in the Andes right now, and it took a little bit from each of you to talk to him. So, thank you.”

People shouted out questions.

“I wish I had answers for you, but I don’t yet. All of you helped me get closer to finding out how to help Meredith. So, thanks again. And I’m sorry.” I turned to Dastien. “Good enough?”

“Yes.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him, but he looked around the room and then started walking to where Adrian, Chris and Shannon were sitting. As we wove through the tables, conversations picked up again.

Dastien set me in a chair. “I’ll be back with food.”

“Thanks.” Everyone else was already eating. Smells of fajitas and enchiladas made my stomach growl embarrassingly loud. Whoops. I put a hand over my stomach. “I guess I’m hungry.”

Chris shook his head, and his blond hair fell into his eyes. He slid a small plate with a pile of Mexican rice and refried beans smothered with cheese on it my way. “Start with that.” He handed me a fork.

I wasn’t about to turn the food away. I gave Chris a nod, and started eating.

Dastien hadn’t been gone long, but by the time he got back with my tray, I was nearly licking the plate.

“That was kind of intense,” Adrian said.

I looked around the table, and they were all staring at me. “What?”

Dastien took the plate from me and set a tray down. It was piled high with Mexican food. My favorite. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day and never get sick of it. It was like the cafeteria gods had read my mind today.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so hungry in my life,” I said over my mountain of food.

“I can’t watch this. It’s so…disgusting.” Shannon stood. “I’ll be in Meredith’s room.”

“What’s her problem? I swear you guys regularly eat way more than this.”

“Yeah, but usually we take time to do things like breathe and chew,” Adrian said with a chuckle.

The extreme hunger that I felt sometimes took some getting used to. My stomach had somehow turned into an endless cavern when I became a werewolf. On a normal day, I ate maybe five times as much as I did as a normal human. Or more. Whatever I’d done to talk to Donovan had really worn me out, but the food was helping.

“Sorry, guys. I’ll try and slow down.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Chris said as balanced his chair on its back legs. “I’m not upset. I’m kind of impressed. You’re tucking it away like a pro.”

Not even when I was recovering from being bitten by a vampire was I this drained or hungry. Although that was a different kind of drained. Or maybe it was the power that Dastien was feeding into me? He ate one-handed, and his free hand hadn’t left my back. The steady pulse of his alpha power warmed me from the inside like a balm on my tired muscles.