Thicker Than Ink

Forty Six

"Are you okay?" Quinn is gentle as he checks on me... The bowl of frosting in my hands kind of just hanging out at the moment while I stand in the middle of the kitchen still basking in the residual warmth of Daddy's presence in my mind asking me about the colors I wanted the walls to make sure they've got it right... 

I wish he would have stayed just for a few seconds longer... The way he had surrounded me so completely for just a moment having made me feel so very adored...

I knew that we would both be uncomfortable today... I knew it wasn't going to be easy on either side of things... But I don't think either one of us ever actually considered just how lonely it would feel not to be attached at the hip to each other when we really haven't been separated since getting together... 

I'm so used to feeling so safe under Daddy's watchful eyes and strong demeanor that I feel vulnerable... Even just here at home with Quinn being so great and helping me... Trying to keep me distracted from the fact that I want to run to Silas and bury my face in his chest and vow that I won't ever leave his side again if only to keep my heart from feeling so strangled in my chest... The hair's on the back of my neck raised just as high as my wolf's hackles over feeling so exposed...

"I'm okay I guess... Today is just hard... Why not keep telling me about Archie? He seems really nice?" I change the topic before Quinn can grill me about my feelings, speaking them aloud seeming just a bit too overwhelming at the moment... The topic, in particular, being the handsome man that had walked in behind him when he had shown up today who had voluntarily joined the ranks of the crew with the very same mischievous look in his eyes that Casper so regularly walks around with... His status as a witch confirmed when I had overheard him volunteer to help Cassie with the heavy lifting magic wise on his way out back.

"Oh goodness... Where did we leave off?" It's easy to spot the flush rising in my best friends cheeks, the few steps that it takes me to get over to the table to plot myself down in the chair across from him, the quick work he's making of crushing the freeze-dried strawberries with the rolling pin more than amusing as he continually crunches them in the plastic bag we had dumped them in to, "Oh! I was telling you what happened after the frosting incident the other night!"

It doesn't take long for Quinn to adorably get back into the story he was telling of how wonderful his mate is and how he never thought he would end up being licked and teased in the middle of the kitchen in his apartment only to wake up in bed all cuddled up with dinner and a movie waiting for him when he woke up, the kitchen having been cleaned to remove all of the sugary sweet stickiness that had been a result of the amusing romp... The usage of frosting so intriguing that when Quinn had asked if we should make a little extra frosting to set aside before it's time for him to go I barely needed to think about it before telling him yes in such a rushed tone that it had made us both laugh...

And laughing is good... Laughing means that it might be getting just a little bit easier... That my anxiety levels are finally hopefully leveling out... Both myself and Quinn constantly reminding me that if I really need him Silas isn't that far away and that I can get to him if I need him... And that he can get to me if I want him to.

....

Silas

...

It had taken me a while to find enough balance in my mind to actually start getting real work accomplished... The longer the day drags on the more something feels a bit off to me...

I had come out here to take in just how much of the outer wall is actually finished and I haven't been able to go back in through the unfinished door... Liam and the others all popping their heads out to stare off into the distance with me trying to figure out what the hell is making us all so antsy...

The strangeness on the wind not making sense to my nose no matter how many times I pause and turn towards it... Liam and the guys slowly starting to notice it too, the uneasiness of us all seemingly unexplainable...

It might not be easy to admit... But part of me is almost glad that my sweet Mama is tucked away inside the house... Because as hard as it is trying to focus without being able to keep an eye on him to make sure that he's safe and okay I don't think I really want him around whatever it is that's going on...

Everything seems just a little bit too quiet... A little bit too calm... The birdsong that I can pick out seeming a bit too far away instead of right beyond the treeline... The rustling that we should be hearing from everything else just not... Happening...

It doesn't make sense to me... And it doesn't sit right with Liam either...

Something is wrong and I can't put my finger on it... At first, I had just assumed it was because Addy and I are trying and so far succeeding in spending some time apart... But that isn't it...

I give it just a few seconds longer before turning back towards the door... Only to pause when a rustling finally occurs... A whimper following it that has me whipping around and makes Liam stop what he's doing to come back to the door just as the wind picks back up and brings to us a smell that rips a growl out of my chest that I have no control over...