Jonah sat down at the table, quietly studying the two other women in the dining room. His sister was busying herself, as she always seemed to busy herself, this time serving the food and filling glasses, and Jonah felt a pang of sadness. She was working so hard, but it was clearly just an attempt to keep from having to deal with her feelings. She wanted nothing more than to be on the move at all times, focused on the moment.
He looked away from Betsy and took a chance to study Lyla, who was carefully folding napkins into the shape of swans. Her long, graceful fingers worked swiftly, folding this way then that, her thick golden hair falling forward into her face as she finished one swan. Lyla brushed it away and then began work on another, her ocean colored eyes focused as she folded. A sudden animalistic longing woke the wolf inside him, and he kept his eyes locked on her until she looked up, smiling sweetly and offering him one of her finished swans.
Jonah took it from her, his eyes focused on the white cloth napkin in an attempt to hide the fire inside him. The wolf was just below the surface, ready to claim her right then and there. But that kind of thinking was dangerous. He couldn’t get close to anybody. Especially, not in his line of work. That was the end of it.
“So, Jonah,” Betsy said, finally sitting down at the table across from him. “How are you? How have you been? Tell me everything!”
“Well, I can’t actually tell you everything,” Jonah said. “It’s confidential. But I’ll tell you what I can.”
He could sense Lyla across the table, her energy spiked with interest. Jonah had to stop himself. It wasn’t fair to use his senses to try to feel the girl out. She couldn’t do the same.
“Where were you last?” Betsy asked tentatively. She was trying hard not to overstep her bounds with him. She was probably afraid she would drive him away again. Jonah cringed, another pang of pain tightening his chest. He wished Betsy would stop blaming herself for everything that had happened. At some point while he was home, they were going to have to have a talk. But not now.
“I’m not at liberty to say where we were last,” Jonah said. “But I can tell you how I liked it. It was a beautiful place, near a beach.”
“Oh, I thought you looked tan,” Betsy said.
From across the table, Lyla’s eyes flickered up and, just as sweet as the scent of the pie in the oven, he could sense desire from within her. It was impossible to hide such a thing from the wolf. It was useless to try.
Lyla seemed to realize he’d noticed, because her face turned bright red and she looked away quickly. The wolf begged him to make her face him; face her own feelings, but Jonah managed to put it in its place. Avoiding his claim over this girl was going to be harder than he thought.
“What really matters is that I finally get some time to myself,” Jonah said, shoving all thoughts of Lyla away and feeling guilty for the lie even before it was fully out of his mouth. “To spend with my family.”
Betsy beamed and they began to eat.
“Did you happen to pass by the square?” Betsy asked about midway through the meal. “It’s completely different now.”
“No,” Jonah said. The memory of the last time he had been in the square was bright. The idea of all that changing was like a punch to the gut. “I came right here from the airport.”
“Really? I think you should see it. There’s a new store there that Douglas opened.”
“Really? Douglas?”
Jonah hadn’t seen Douglas since he’d graduated high school about eight years earlier. They had been close friends, but once Jonah lost his parents, he had become something of a recluse. Douglas had stayed by his side, but eventually, they lost touch as his friend went off to SSU. He graduated just about the time the SEALs had taken an interest in Jonah. He’d barely been able to say hi to Douglas before he was whisked away on his first mission; a covert mission up in Oak Mountain, where they’d recruited Nichols.
From there, his career with the SEALs had taken off, and before long, he had found himself climbing the ranks and commanding a group of his own in a special unit dedicated to preventing disaster; a specialized unit for shifters. There were even rumors of a top secret dragon sect of the SEALs, but so far, Jonah had dismissed it as nothing but a myth to amuse the rookies.
“Yeah,” Betsy continued. “He’s begun a business there just like he was talking about. In fact, Lyla was heading out that way tomorrow, I bet she could show you.”
Lyla and Jonah locked eyes, Lyla looking a lot like a deer frozen in the headlights, and Jonah shook his head, returning his eyes to his casserole.
“No, it’s all right. I couldn’t impose.”
“It wouldn’t be an imposition!” Betsy insisted. “We’ve been planning this for weeks.”
Jonah looked hard at Lyla, who smiled shyly at him. God, that girl smelled good. The wolf was making it clear what he wanted. And this time, Jonah didn’t look away. He was curious about what the girl was going to do.
“It really isn’t an issue,” Lyla said. “I’ll be by here around 10am to pick up the boxes and the forms, then be back later in the afternoon to drop off the items that are being donated for the auction. You can just ride along. It’s not a big deal or anything.”
“Well then,” Jonah said, sensing she meant it, even if his intensity did make her a little uncomfortable. “I guess that’s that.”
They spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up like old friends, and when it was time for Lyla to leave, Jonah had to admit, he was a little bit sad to see her go. She was like a breath of fresh air, something sorely needed in an old house full of pain and hard memories.
And when Lyla was gone, and it was just Jonah and Betsy in the house they had shared during their childhood, Betsy smiled sadly as if she could feel the same weight bearing down on her too.
“Come on,” she said, touching Jonah’s arm kindly. “I’ll show you to your room.”
***
Jonah woke up late that night, startled by the nightmarishly familiar features of his childhood bedroom. It had been so long since he’d visited home that actually being there felt more like a dream, especially when he was only half awake.
He got up and walked through the house and out to the back porch, grabbing a bottle of his favorite wine that just happened to be sitting in the kitchen and his cell phone on the way out. The moon was big and round, and Jonah gazed at it, lowering himself onto the porch steps. The wolf was feeling restless, obsessing over the woman that Jonah was refusing to allow it to claim. How had he managed to let Betsy talk him into taking a trip with the first woman he had ever felt so strongly toward? It was not only alarming, it was all wrong. He had to keep the wolf at bay. No matter what.
Jonah was a Navy SEAL. He couldn’t let himself get caught up in a relationship with a woman who was probably going to just distract him from the mission at hand. It was far too important for him to make sure he was able to gather information about the bear shifters. If he was able to get an idea of how bad the situation with the Serah Stone was, then he would be able to work out a strategy to address it.
The shrill sound of Jonah’s cell phone rang through the air and he answered it quickly.
“Yeah?”
“Lucas. We have a lead. I’m going to send you and Nichols the coordinates. Meet there tomorrow night, 2100.”
“Yes, sir,” Jonah said. It was strange to hear the Lieutenant’s voice here of all places; especially so soon after waking and just getting his bearings.
“The Stonybrooke Council has some information that should help you. That’s all I can say.”
Before Jonah could reply, Gregors had already hung up.
Jonah sighed heavily and headed back upstairs, his mind reeling. No matter how distracting his sister’s beautiful friend happened to be, he was just going to have to make sure he didn’t lose focus. There was a far greater mission he had to stay focused on. He couldn’t let being at home tear his focus from his job. If he did, there wouldn’t be any home left to come back to.