Page 34 of Cold Moon

All I could do was stare. “I’m... not.”

Claudia blinked at me, her brow cocked like she didn’t believe me. “Okay.” She held out the bag anyway and shook it in the air between us, until I had no choice but to take it. “But right now, you’re here, so you are. Linden gave me your sizes, and I had to go to the store anyway. We’renesting.”

“Nesting,” Alexis echoed, wiggling his fingers in the air. “Want to see the nursery? It’s, like, almost done.”

So, I didn’t have a lot of interest in babies or nurseries, but it wasn’t lost on me that these two were inviting me deeper into their home, trusting me in a space meant for the most vulnerable member of their family.

I had to remind myself that the baby wasn’t there yet, but it still seemed to me like a degree of trust I hadn’t earned, and acceptance I longed for.

“I’d love that, yeah.”

* * *

I leftClaudia Wilson’s in a wonderful mood. I’d spent the day with two Grove omegas, no alphas standing there glaring down at me like it was only a matter of time before I bared my fangs and attacked them.

That left me with a light of hope. Even if half the pack hated me, even if it would be almost impossible to convince them I didn’t pose any kind of threat, I could navigate this. A few pranks and some growling from Grove alphas were nothing to the real threat of violence I’d faced in my own pack.

There was a chance I could wiggle my way into a space here in Grovetown, and that brought back my conversation with Linden from the day before.

He’d said to trust my good intentions, that Skye hadregardfor me, whatever that meant. I’d never find out if I didn’t try.

I went by Ambrosia Grocery on the way to the clinic. The grocer there, Isaac, was a middle-aged omega with brown hair, barely long enough to start to curl. He helped me pick flowers from his small display, and there were plain vases there too.

Sure, I’d never been any good at this kind of thing, but I had seen movies. In them, guys brought flowers when they wanted to ask someone out.

I got to the clinic, and it was like no time at all had passed. I was surprised to find Skye there alone, hunched over his laptop, just like he’d been when I’d left the day before.

When I came in, he glanced up for a second. His cheeks went pink, and he looked back down at his computer. “Oh. Hey.”

“Hey.” I let the door swing closed behind me. So far, I’d spent as much time in this clinic as I had in my apartment. It wasn’t weird to let myself in and wander over to the desk, except for the way Skye’s gaze flicked up to me and back down again a few times.

Maybe he was just nervous. Iwascarrying flowers, basically giving myself away before I said a word.

“So, um...” I looked down at his computer. “Am I interrupting?”

Skye swallowed and shook his head. “Nothing important.”

He snapped his laptop shut, but even when he looked up, he didn’t meet my eyes. Instead, he stared at the flowers, those flushed spots high in his cheeks, sweeping down his long, thin neck. His skin would be warm there, a place where I could nuzzle and kiss and—

One thing at a time.

“I wanted to ask if you might want to go out sometime? Like, to dinner. It seems like we’ve got breakfast on lock, but we could, you know, check out one of the other mealtimes. See what’s up with that.”

“Oh.” Skye swallowed again. His dark lashes fluttered against his cheeks as he blinked too fast.

My heart beat hard. Weird, how I felt like I could hear it all the sudden.

Finally, he said, “I’m not sure we should...”

Skye looked up for just a second, but I don’t know what showed on my face. Shock? It wasn’t like I thought I was such a catch, but he’d... I’d never gotten the impression that he didn’t want to be around me.

It took a few seconds for his words to sink in.

He didn’t think we should go on a date. He didn’t want to go on a datewith me.

Of course he didn’t. I was a Reid, and I had absolutely no business sniffing any further into the Grove pack than I already had. I owed them—didn’t mean I belonged. Skye had been kind, but he’d finally come to his senses. He needed to focus on his own pack.

“Right. Of course. I completely understand.”

---