“Yeah, we actually need to talk to you about that,” Jameson says carefully, sharing a look with Abe.
Abe sighs.“Come on.Breakfast is done.Let’s get some food into you.”
He lifts me off the couch and sets me on my feet slowly, making sure I’m steady before stepping back.He takes my hand in his, and we follow Jameson and Fern into the kitchen.
“It smells great.Thanks for cooking, Abe,” Fern says.
Abe nods distractedly as he pulls out a chair for me and watches me sit.
“Do you need a pillow?Are you cold?I’ll get you a blanket,” he says, dashing off before I can respond.
I turn to Fern, wide-eyed.She smirks knowingly.
“Is he always like this?”I whisper.
She laughs.“No, I don’t think so.Usually, he’s pretty laid back.”
“He’s a wolf shifter who just found his fated mate.This is his new normal,” Jameson grunts as he piles eggs onto Fern’s plate.
I blink.“What?”
Abe comes back into the room, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders and tucking it under my legs.The man is practically swaddling me, and I didn’t even say I was cold.
Man, what would he do if something were really wrong?
Then I remember him hovering over me when the doctor checked me over.I remember waking up next to him on the couch this morning, his worried eyes locked on me like he’d watched me sleep all night.
We’ve barely spoken, and already it’s like I’m the center of his whole world.
It’s a strange new reality, one that’s so foreign to me.I’m used to my parents not caring about me, to being invisible to my peers and colleagues.With Abe, it’s… different.He sees me,reallysees me.I have all his attention, all his care.
“What did my dad say?”Fern asks gently.
Abe tenses next to me.
I clear my throat.“He didn’t say much.He wanted to know where you were, but I told him I didn’t know.He had other men with him, and they had more questions.”
“Like what?”Jameson asks.
Abe grabs my chair and drags me closer.
I stare at him, but he just smiles slightly and adds food to my plate.
“We’ll start with pancakes and see how your stomach handles them,” he tells me.
“Uh, thanks.”
I wiggle my arms out of the blanket so I can eat.I’m starving, and I moan as I dig in.
We eat in silence for a minute before Jameson clears his throat, and I remember he asked me a question before Abe started feeding me.
“What did the men who took you look like?What did they say?Did they tell you why they took you or what they wanted from you?”Jameson asks.
“They were regular men.Average height and build.One had dark brown hair, another was blond.The other two were overweight.”
Jameson seems frustrated by the lack of information.
I try to think of something interesting that they said or did.“They took me to a motel, and we were there for a few days, I think.We kept moving from motel to motel.They seemed nervous the first couple of days, then just annoyed with me after that.”