A Girl and Her Wolf (Howl, #7) Read online

  When he pulled the car into the driveway and began to unload the groceries, Emma got Davenport out of his car seat and took him into the house, closing the door loudly behind her without so much as glancing in Colby’s direction.

  It was obvious that she didn’t seem to want to talk to him. He just didn’t know why.

  Chapter 7: Emma

  Emma tried not to be too angry with Colby, partly because she didn’t want him to feel her anger, but mostly because she knew she couldn’t be mad at him for telling her how he felt. And he was right. They were young.

  She knew she had to find something to keep her mind occupied, though, or she was only going to worry about the test results. Daven seemed like he wanted to play, so she crawled around with him on the floor and made quacking sounds. Daven loved that.

  After a while, he seemed to get tired and curled up in her arms and fell asleep. At that moment, Bennett appeared in the room. “My, my . . . you and Mr. Jackson seem to spending quite a lot of time apart today, don’t you agree?” He smiled and then teased, “Might it be because one of you was offended by the other’s diary entries?”

  “What? That’s ridiculous,” Emma replied. “Our diary entries have nothing to do with why we’re . . . spending a little time apart. Though, to be honest, I think it’s very healthy for us to spend some time apart. It’s not good to be that attached at the hip, even if we are mates.”

  “Perhaps that’s true,” Bennett agreed. “However, I can’t help but shake the feeling that there’s some trouble in paradise.”

  “I hate how you act like you know everything about us sometimes, Ben. You may think you know it all, but you really don’t.” Emma shook her head, frustrated.

  The ghost nodded. “I agree. I do give the two of you your fair share of privacy. However, I have caught you guys in very compromising positions. Even you must agree with that, Miss Emma. Or do you prefer that I call you Mrs. Jackson from now on? It’s hard to shake old habits.”

  She didn’t anything in response. All she could think to do was glare at him, as the memory of Bennett spying on her and Colby for the very first time flooded her thoughts. . .

  *

  Emma had all the lights in her room turned on as she paced back and forth, making sure she wouldn’t fall asleep. She’d decided that she was going to stop sleeping—during the night, at least—because she still hadn’t gotten used to changing into a werewolf in the middle of the night when she was supposed to be catching up on her beauty sleep. It had been a while since she’d become a werewolf, but she still hadn’t gotten a handle on it.

  To be honest, she hadn’t gotten a handle on a lot of things that had changed in her life since she’d become a werewolf. She hated not being able to throw parties on a whim like she could at her mom’s house and no longer having access to her mother’s credit cards. She also couldn’t stand sharing a bathroom with a houseful of guys. Umm . . . eww.

  The sleepwalking thing was definitely the worst, though. It was bad enough that she didn’t get to sleep in her old comfortable queen-sized bed back home, but she didn’t even get to spend most of the night in the double bed she had here.

  And what was even worse—not to mention strange—was that she always ended up waking up right outside Colby’s window. Not only did that mean that he could totally catch her lying completely naked on the ground outside his room, it was also making her begin to wonder how much she really liked him.

  Ever since Emma had become Colby’s mate, she’d started to notice him so much more. The same guy who had only ever been completely dorky and elfish to her had suddenly started to look just like Penn Badgley if he had blonde hair (and Penn Badgley was just the cutest actor ever). Colby suddenly smelled really good, too—even better than the sporty colognes most of the guys she’d dated had worn, a scent which she had never been able to get enough of. There was also the fact that, even though she would never admit it to anyone, she often found herself laughing at the jokes he made or the things he thought mentally, which she normally would have thought were nerdy and immature. And when he bought her that beautiful sapphire ring? It really was the nicest gift any guy had ever given her.

  It was clear that she was completely falling for him, whether she wanted to admit it or not. And maybe it was about time she did admit it, because let’s face it: coming clean about her feelings for her mate would mean that she wouldn’t have to work so hard to try to block him from hearing her thoughts. And her thoughts ran wild so much sometimes that it was almost impossible not to think about him.

  Emma climbed out of bed and crept out of her bedroom. She tiptoed down the hallway, hoping that the sound of her footsteps wouldn’t alert any of the members of her pack who weren’t sleeping. What would anyone have thought if they saw her creeping to Colby’s bedroom in the middle of the night? They would have made fun of her about it for weeks, and even though she was starting to come to terms with the fact that she felt something for Colby, she didn’t want everyone else to know about it. Not yet, at least.

  Once she was standing in front of Colby’s bedroom door, she hesitated on what to do. Should she knock? No, it was too late to knock. If she thought that the sound of her walking down the hallway in the middle of the night was enough to give her away to her pack members, then clearly doing something as disruptive as knocking was out of the question.

  Before she could even decide what to do, though, Colby was flinging his bedroom door open. He met her eyes, a confused look in his.

  “Emma?” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”

  “I need to talk to you,” she replied quietly. “Can I come in?”

  “Of course you can,” he started to say, but then he glanced down at the dinosaur print pajamas he was wearing. “I, uh . . . I didn’t mean for you to see me in these,” he admitted sheepishly.

  “It’s fine. I don’t care what you’re wearing. It’s so dark that I can barely see,” Emma admitted in a low voice as she stepped inside his room and closed the door quietly behind her.

  “You haven’t been able to sleep,” Colby told her.

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “How did you know that?”

  “We know everything about our mates, Emma,” he replied. “You’ll eventually start to see that you can sense every emotion I feel—as long as you actually try to pay attention to them, that is.”

  “Oh.” She had definitely heard some of his thoughts, but he was right; she really hadn’t tried to pay attention to his emotions up until now. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

  Colby nodded knowingly. “Yeah, I know. You hate having to share a bathroom with a bunch of guys,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Emma’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t meant for him to overhear that. What else had he overheard? “Even when I try to block you out, it seems like none of my thoughts are private anymore.”

  “Pretty much.” Then, with a grin, he added, “But that means that none of mine are, either.”

  “True.” She gave him a small smile. She thought for a moment about how to confess the way she felt to him. After a few moments of hesitation, she decided that the easiest way would just be to say it. “I have feelings for you, Colby. I think . . . I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  Even in the dark room, she could see that his eyes had lit up a little with her confession. “Really? You really have feelings for me?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you dork. And if you’re going to be my mate, you’re going to need to start to get some confidence. Is it really that weird that I could fall in love with you?”

  “Well, the whole mate thing aside. . .” He considered it for a moment before nodding. “Yes. Yes, it is weird.”

  Emma sat down on his bed and wrapped her arms around her legs. She was over talking about how weird this whole thing was. She wanted to hear what his thoughts about her were. Ever so casually, she asked, “Do you think you might feel the same way? About me, I mean?”

  Colby’s blue eyes softened.
“Aw, Emma. Of course I have feelings for you! In fact, I have a really embarrassing confession of my own to make.”

  She raised her eyebrows, almost afraid—but also intrigued—to see what it was.

  “I’ve had a crush on you my whole life,” he explained. “I always tried to force myself to not have feelings for you, because . . . let’s face it. What are the chances that you were a werewolf, too? It didn’t seem like we would ever be mates, no matter how strongly I felt for you. So it felt like a waste of time.” Glancing over at her, his eyes flooded with happiness. “I really think, sometimes, that the reason you became a werewolf was because the two of us were really meant to be all along.”

  “Maybe,” Emma replied with a small smile. She still had a hard time coming to terms with why this had happened to her. For a long time, she’d been angry at Troy. How could she have had such strong feelings for someone who decided to ruin her life?

  “Maybe your life doesn’t have to be completely ruined,” Colby told her quietly, meeting her eyes. It was obvious he’d been listening in on her thoughts. “And maybe it would have been ruined otherwise. Maybe this was meant to be because you were going to get hit by a school bus or something and die. You might be an immortal for a reason.”

  She shrugged in response. “There’s no way we’ll ever really find out, I guess.” Glancing over at him, she asked, “So, now what?”

  Colby raised a blonde eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what happens with us being mates?” Emma questioned. “Where do we go from here?”

  He hesitated for a few moments. “Well, if you’re okay with it, maybe we could start dating.”

  “Dating? Hmm.” Now that she had gotten past the hardest part—telling him how she felt—his answer should have been obvious.

  The thing was . . . Emma wasn’t sure if she was fully ready for that yet. Even though she could no longer deny that she had feelings for him, there was still a part of her that wasn’t completely over Troy yet, either. She still didn’t understand why Troy had rejected her—why Jason had rejected her—but she worried that it all had to do with her. She didn’t deserve a good guy. Colby may have been a little dorky, but he was much, much too good for her.

  “We can always take things slow for now,” Colby said, seeming to sense her hesitation.

  She met his eyes, which were waiting expectantly for an answer. “I think I’d like that,” she agreed. “To take things slow . . . and just see what happens. Do you think that maybe we could keep this a secret, though?”

  His eyebrows knitted together. “Us dating, you mean?”

  She nodded. “It’s not that I want to keep you and me a secret, but I just want to keep things private for a while. I don’t think the whole pack needs to know our business, and if one of them finds out the truth, then the rest of them will, too.”

  “Okay,” Colby agreed with a nod. “That makes sense. It would probably be better if we don’t have outside influences when it comes to our relationship.”

  Emma narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’re going to date me, you need to stop talking like that.”

  “Like what?” His forehead wrinkled in confusion.

  “Like a smart person! ‘Outside influences’? Come on. Nobody actually talks like that,” she said.

  “I do,” Colby replied, seeming a little confused about why it bothered her. “Are you saying that you want me to dumb things down for you, Emma?”

  “Well, no . . .,” she stammered. “Maybe a little.”

  “I can do that, but . . .” He leaned over and, before she even realized what he was doing, felt his lips against hers.

  Her lip trembled, and as her knees buckled beneath her, she knew she wanted more. When she pulled away and looked into his eyes, she whispered, “Wow. No one’s ever kissed me like that before.”

  Colby grinned proudly, just as someone cackled in the corner of the room. A moment later, Bennett appeared in front of them.

  “What are you doing here?” Colby asked with raised eyebrows. “We didn’t use any white candles to conjure you.”

  Bennett shrugged. “It’s hit or miss. I seem to be able to come and go as I please a lot more lately than I used to be. I don’t need the same help appearing as I did back then, but perhaps it’s because this place is my home. In the future, I still might need to be conjured to protect you during a fight, especially if I’m in the company of others. Right now, however, I am happy to be here.” He floated across the room and tilted his head back with more laughter. “No one’s ever kissed me like that before,” he said in a girly voice, mocking Emma.

  She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “I don’t appreciate you listening in on our conversations, Bennett.”

  “Sorry, but listening in on everyone is what I do. You try being deceased for a while,” he replied with a shrug. “Now you just have to hope that I don’t tell all your pack members about this secret relationship the two of you are in.”

  Emma’s face twisted in horror. “You wouldn’t!” Glancing over at Colby, she asked, “Would he?”

  “I don’t know,” Colby replied honestly, glancing over at Bennett. “Would you?”

  “You’ll never know,” Bennett replied, shooting them a sinister grin. “Stay on my good side and maybe you’ll never have to find out.” Without saying another word, he disappeared into thin air.

  Emma glanced over at Colby. “Well, that sucks.”

  “I’m sure it will be no big deal. Don’t worry.” He yawned, stretching. “Are you tired? We need to get up for school in a few hours.”

  She shrugged. “I guess.” Rising to her feet, she said, “Goodnight.” She gave him a small wave before heading back to her bedroom, feeling pleased about their conversation.

  *

  “So, are you two lovebirds thinking about getting divorced already?” Bennett asked now as he sat on the sofa next to her while she cradled Davenport, who was still sleeping in her arms.

  “No . . . I don’t think so,” she replied. Then, quietly, she added, “I hope not, at least.”

  Bennett seemed to soften a little. “Don’t worry. I’m sure that whatever’s going on, it will all work out in the end.”

  “Thanks, Ben,” Emma replied, forcing a small smile. “I think I’m going to see if Colby can watch Davenport so I can go for a walk.”

  “Davenport is quite the cutie, I must admit,” Bennett said, smiling down at the sleeping baby. When he glanced back up at Emma, he added, “I would like to volunteer my babysitting services anytime you need them.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “Can ghosts even babysit?”

  Bennett shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I’ve protected your life more than once. I think I’d make just as fine a babysitter as any mortal or werewolf you know.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind,” Emma replied, even though she couldn’t imagine any instance in which she would trust him to watch Samara’s son. “I’ll see you later, I’m sure.”

  “Indeed,” Bennett agreed. He had that habit of popping up whenever he wanted to. No one ever really knew when he was watching them.

  Chapter 8: Colby

  Colby managed to close his eyes just before a pile of sweet potatoes hit against his nose. So far, Davenport had managed to fling baby food all over the kitchen floor and kitchen walls as he giggled from his high chair.

  On the bright side, he actually wasn’t crying for once even though Emma had gone for a walk. And even Colby had to admit that his Godson had one hell of a swing on him. Maybe he would be the first werewolf in history to make it all the way to the MLB. Luke would have been really proud if his son was the next Babe Ruth or Jackie Robinson.

  Daven started to eat what little was remaining of his sweet potatoes as Colby knelt on the tiled floor and began to clean up the mess he’d made.

  “Is babysitting turning out to be more than you bargained for, Colby?” a voice asked from behind him.

  Colby glanced over his
shoulder to find Bennett hovering on the other side of the rectangular kitchen table. “No, it hasn’t been that bad,” he lied. Truthfully, though, the whole experience had been pretty intense so far. It actually sort of scared him that Emma really seemed to want a baby in the near future. Daven barely liked him. What if his own child didn’t, either?

  “I’ve already let Emma know, but in case she hasn’t informed you—and I don’t believe she has,” Bennett began. “I’m willing to babysit Samara and Declan’s child at any time, day or night. All you need to do is call me—by name or by burning a candle.”

  “Thanks, Ben,” Colby replied. “I don’t think that will be necessary, though. I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on this.”

  “Oh? Like the good handle you had on Emma’s birthday party? I offered my help then, too.”

  Colby’s mind drifted back to the surprise party he’d thrown for Emma that past April.

  *

  “Hey, Samara? What are you doing on Saturday night?” Colby asked into the phone.

  “I’m supposed to go camping with Aunt Rae, Kyle, and Silas this weekend,” Samara replied. “I’m leaving Davenport with my parents for some grandparent bonding time. What makes you ask?”

  “Oh.” Colby’s face fell. “It’s just that I was planning to throw Emma a surprise party. Her birthday’s on Sunday, so I figured it would be cool to have everyone here just as it turned midnight on Saturday night.”

  “I’m sorry we can’t make it. But if you were going to do this, you should have sent invitations out weeks ago,” Samara told him.

  “I know,” Colby agreed. “She only just started hinting a few days ago that it would be nice if someone would throw her a surprise birthday party. She’s never had one before.”

  “Maybe the rest of the pack will be able to make it. And I’ll see if Declan feels up to going.”