Page 19 of Blinded
Walking without my sight was hard. I was scared to take big steps, so I shuffled my feet, but that made me stumble on the small bumps and rocks. I tried to trust Bayne, and I did have confidence in him to keep me standing, but it was hard to give over complete trust and walk normally beside him. I'd always heard how those who were blind used their other senses to get around, but I didn't understand how. My sense of smell would tell me if someone was directly in front of me, but other than that, it did little good. My hearing would alert me to things around me, but it didn't help me know about a rock or bush in front of me until I hit it. I didn't see how I would ever adjust to this. It was too hard. It was going to be easier to just hide inside and let the world happen around me.
"Your emotions are all over the place. What are you thinking about?" Bayne asked.
I sighed. "It's going to take time to get used to the fact that you can sense my feelings through our link."
"It's different, but I like it. I like being able to tell if you're hurting or in danger. You feel mine too, right?"
"Yeah, but so far, the only thing I've felt from you is anger and arousal." I smiled as he sucked in a breath.
"You can feel my arousal?"
"Smell it and feel it. It builds my own desire to feel yours. It intensifies my own."
"Cohen mentioned once that sex between mates was crazy because it was like you could feel the other person's pleasure. I didn't understand it really at the time, but now, I'm seeing a bit of what he meant. If you can feel me just aroused, how crazy will this become when we are doing more?"
I smiled. "It's going to be wild."
Bayne took a hard breath. "Fuck, keep walking. I can't think about this now." He kept me moving forward. "Tell me more about you. Did you always want to teach elementary school?"
"Yeah, I've always loved younger kids. I didn't want all the drama of teenagers. I liked the younger grades. I was happy teaching fourth grade. They are old enough to have some sense, but still young enough that I can connect with them and teach them."
"You're honestly okay leaving your pack to come here? You'll have to leave that all behind."
I tightened my hold on Bayne as we continued to walk. "It's worth it. I'm gaining a mate, and from what I can tell, a much stronger pack. You wouldn't believe the difference in your pack compared to mine. It's amazing how nice things are here. My pack is always fighting, arguing. I mean we are all friends, but there is a lot of tension. Pete doesn't make it easy. It's not as bad as some packs I've heard about, but nowhere near as nice as yours seems. I wish I could see what it's like. It sounds big when we are in the pack house."
"It's huge. It's an old lodge. There are close to twenty bedrooms, a huge rec room. The medical clinic is there, and Corta and some of the other women keep the kitchen going almost around the clock. Kurt likes to give some of the lone wolves a place to come hang out. He said no wolf should ever have to sit home and eat alone." Bayne sounded proud.
"I smelled that Kurt's mated." I was curious how many mated wolves were around.
"He is. A few years back a rogue wolf bit a human. Turns out, that human was Kurt's mate. You'll meet Josh soon. I'm surprised you haven't yet. The two are seldom apart."
"How many mated wolves are there?"
"A handful, maybe. Some older wolves are mated, then there are maybe six or seven younger mated pairs. Cohen and Kurt both have mates. Janice and Frank are mated, Tabitha and Roger, now you and me." Bayne slowed his steps. "There are some who have lost mates. Corta's mate died a few years back. More of us seem to be finding mates recently. I think it's because of technology. Years ago, we didn't travel as much. We didn't have the ability to visit other packs like we do now. I mean, fifty years ago, you and I would probably have never had the chance to meet. Now, we travel all the time, stay with packs in other areas, have a better chance of meeting our mate. How is it in your pack?"
"Very few mates. Maybe three couples including my parents. But we aren't a rich pack, so like you said, there is less travel. I was lucky to be able to go off to college and experience different places and packs. My dad is a scientist, so we had the money for me to go. Most of the others are poor, and Pete takes a portion every month to keep the pack running." I inhaled as a scent caught my attention. "We're here, aren't we?"
"Yeah, it's about twenty feet in front of us. Can you smell anything?" Bayne asked.
"Blood. Mine and Bridger's. I can smell the bears who saved us, and a few other wolves that I don't know." I turned my head, lifting it as I inhaled hard again. "Something to the left, but I can't place it. Smells sour."
"Kurt mentioned that to me. It's vomit, and lots of it. Evidently, whoever did this to you didn't have the stomach for it once it was done." Bayne's fingers slid down my arm, and then linked with my own.
"I need to go over there. I need to see if I can smell the person or people." The thought of going closer to the vomit didn't sit well with me, but it was the best way for me to scent whoever had attacked me. "You don't have to go, just set me in the right direction."
"I'll go with you. I want to memorize the scent as well. My wolf has sworn vengeance on whoever hurt you."
I nodded, turning toward the smell. "Don't let me step in anything."
"I've got you."
We started moving toward the smell, Bayne leading me around things so I didn't stumble. The scent got stronger, and I found myself wanting to hold my breath to keep from gagging. "That's smells strong for several days old."
Bayne nodded. "Meat. Whoever threw up had just eaten a steak or something. I'm not about to go digging through it, but one of the other wolves in our pack got that pleasure and said it was meat, cereal, some kind of green stuff, and a few other things he couldn't identify."
"I smell sour milk as well."
"It would go along with the cereal."
