Page 40 of Blinded
"Yeah, better. I'm still not as energetic as I was before the attack. I don't know how to explain it. I just don't have energy. I used to feel like I could take off and run for hours, now the thought alone makes me tired." I pressed my forehead against Bayne's shoulder. "Physically, I feel fine. I don't hurt. I'm just tired. Nothing we've done the last few days should have worn me out."
"I don't know about that." Bayne laughed. "I'm feeling worn out now."
"Sex doesn't count." I grinned.
"Sex always counts." Bayne kissed my lips before sitting up. "Sorry, but we need to motivate. It's almost eleven. We should have been at the pack house by now. It's just so hard to climb out of bed when you're with me."
"I'm not complaining, and I'm sure Kurt understands. It's a good thing he's mated. He gets how it is. Only someone who has been through it would understand." I sat up and slid my legs over the edge of the bed. "I need a quick shower. Will you grab me something to wear again?" If I didn't get my sight back, we'd have to come up with a way for me to know what color shirts were or make sure everything I had matched. I didn't have much with me. Only what I'd brought for my short visit with Bridger, but it was enough to get me through until I could go in and buy more.
"Sure. You okay on your own?" Bayne asked.
"Yeah, I think I've got it. The sooner I get used to doing things, the easier it will be." I stood, moving slowly toward where I thought the bathroom door was. I missed it by a few inches, but running my hands over the wall, I found it easily.
I showered and dressed as Bayne made coffee. It seemed we were falling into domestic habits. I smiled, looking forward to a lifetime of waking up beside him, especially if we woke up every morning like we had today.
Proud of myself that I'd managed to walk from the bedroom and into the kitchen without hitting a wall, I sat down at the table. "That coffee smells amazing."
"Not as amazing as you do." Bayne bent and kissed me before straightening. "Kurt called while you showered. He said that they tracked the car. It belongs to the mother of the girl that Bridger was dating."
"Mary?" I was shocked. "But I'm sure the scent belonged to a male."
"How much do you know about Mary?" Bayne now sounded like he was sitting across from me.
"Nothing much. I met her for a few hours, but she didn't say much that would matter. Bridger talked a bit about her, but it was mostly about how submissive she was. I got the feeling she was in love with Bridger. She was loyal."
"Could Bridger have pissed her off?"
"No way. They were hot and heavy Friday when I saw her with him. Bridger didn't see or talk to her again until Saturday morning before we went on our run. He said we were going fishing for the day and would meet with her at the bar later that night. Bridger didn't say anything on the call that would upset her. He even asked if I minded if he brought her back home with us. I was staying in the guest room, so it wasn't a big deal if he wanted to. She wouldn't have been in my way."
"I wonder if she has brothers?"
I sat up straighter.
"What?" Bayne asked. "I felt that wave of shock through our link."
"That's what the smell was. It was Mary, but fainter, mixed with something else. Just like twins. They share a unique scent, but still different enough that you notice it. I'll bet anything that Mary has a twin brother." I gripped my coffee cup tightly. "We have to let Kurt know."
"I'll call him now. Finish your coffee while I shower. We can leave as soon as I'm done." Bayne paused to kiss my cheek before he left the room.
How could I have not realized it before? I'd been around twins enough to know the scent difference. I had a set of twins that I taught. I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated that I hadn't put the pieces together before this. If I had, the other two wolves might not have been attacked.
What we needed to figure out now was why would Mary's twin want to hurt us? Did he know what we were or was it just coincidence that he attacked Bridger? Had he been out hunting wolves and didn't know? I didn't believe that. The attack had been too violent for it not to be something personal.
That meant that her twin knew about shifters. That was dangerous. Rumors went around all the time. Most of them were easily covered up by folklore, but this was more than someone saying they'd seen a shifter. It was easy to make people think they were seeing things or it was a play of shadows, but this felt like more. If he was willing to kill, he was willing to expose what we were.
My stomach tightened, the coffee suddenly tasting sour as I stood and slowly walked to the sink and dumped the cup out. I set the cup down and braced my hands on the edge of the counter trying to figure everything out.
"I don't like being in the middle of my shower and feeling you upset." Bayne was suddenly behind me, wrapping his arms around my body as he kissed the back of my neck.
I leaned into his embrace. "I just wish I'd have realized what that scent was sooner. I should have known."
"No, you shouldn't have. You've had so much to deal with. You couldn't expect to have thought about that. None of us thought about it."
"But I knew the scent. I should have connected it to Mary."
"We know now. You can't blame yourself. Hell, you only met her once. It's amazing you remembered the scent at all. Not all wolves would have. Let's go see Kurt and find out what we are going to do. We'll get through this together. We'll figure it out together." He turned me in his arms so I was facing him. "We're going to find this person and make them pay. I promise you."
I nodded, my head falling forward to his shoulder. "I want to know why."
