“This is new to us both, Kieran,” she continued stiffly. “We knew each other in another way before. Now we have to start over.”
He looked back at her, the pulse heavy in his chest. “Yes,” he said.
“I know how difficult this is for you. The sooner we bring back your memories, the less difficult it will be.” With long, deliberate strides she walked to the sofa and sat; down. “Do you agree?”
She seemed very far away with only the width of the room between them. “Yes,” he repeated.
Still she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Let’s go back to what we do know. You were human five years ago. You don’t remember your time as a wolf since then, except in fragments, or even how you change. And we know that you were human seventeen years ago, when we met, so at some point you must have been…”
He lost the thread of her speech, hearing only the sound of the words, their sharp and urgent rhythm. She was making a wall with those words, a cage meant to keep him out. He walked to the rug by the stove and crouched with his arms around his knees.
“… and you came back here again, wherever you were in between. There must be important keys to your memory in this area. Damn, I wish I knew more about amnesia. But your amnesia might not be typical.” She sighed. “In any case, the calendar brought something back to you, and other objects might have the same effect. We’ll begin in the cabin, and after that… Kieran?” She looked from him to the ground by his feet. “Are you hungry?”
He realized he’d been blindly staring at the chunk of venison that still lay there, oblivious to its pungent scent. All at once he remembered the look in Alexandra’s eyes when she’d seen him tearing at the meat.
Shock. Disgust.
He rose, snatched up the venison, and went to the door. Cold air slapped at his clothing. His bare feet slid on the thin layer of snow coating the porch. He flung the meat as far away as he could, just past the border of trees edging the clearing.
He shut the door carefully, denying his anger. And his shame.
“I will eat like a man,” he said.
She was the first to drop her gaze. “I’m short on supplies, especially for… a man of your size. And Granddad’s clothes aren’t a very good fit, either.” She inhaled slowly. “I’ll have to go into town and pick up a few necessities.”
“Wherever you go, I go.”
“That would hardly be wise, given your situation. Not so soon—”
“Because you don’t trust me,” he said.
“You asked for my help, and you’ll have to trust my judgment.” He heard an edge of panic in her voice. “You can’t just walk into town without your memory.”
“Why?”
She pushed to her feet. “Because, dammit, we still don’t know what you might—” She closed her mouth and flushed.
What you might do. “I go with you,” he repeated, the hairs rising along the nape of his neck.
They stared at each other, fighting a silent battle for dominance. He couldn’t let her out of his sight—that was the unshakable conviction that drove him, that rushed through him like the blood in his veins, and filled his senses.
As she did.
A sharp, blaring noise broke the silence. Kieran leaped and turned in midair to face the door. Alexandra strode past him, flipping back the curtain at the window.
“God. It’s Julie,” she muttered. She rubbed the side of her face and looked back at him. “Kieran, you have to stay in the cabin. This won’t take long.”
“Who is she?”
“I’ll explain later, and we’ll talk—” There was a crunch of footsteps just outside the door. Alexandra opened it quickly, cast a final glance at Kieran, and went out.
Kieran hesitated only a moment. He heard voices through the door before he reached it.
“… been wanting to talk to you, Alex.”
“I appreciate your coming out here, but this isn’t really a good time—”
He opened the door. A smiling woman stood close to Alexandra, dark haired and honey skinned. She looked toward him just as Alex did; her eyes, too, were dark, and they fixed on him intently.