Page 25 of Love, Clumsily
We reached a small clearing where the trail split in two directions. Riley pointed to the left fork. “This way leads to a really pretty overlook. Worth the extra walk.”
As we continued, I found myself appreciating the easy camaraderie that had developed between me and Mason’s family. Riley, for all her teasing, had become something like the sister I’d never had. And Jess provided a valuable perspective as someone who had walked this path before me.
“Can I ask you something personal?” I said to Jess, echoing my earlier question to Evelyn.
“Shoot.”
“How do you handle the… intensity? Of being with a werewolf? Sometimes it feels overwhelming—in a good way, mostly, but still.”
She nodded in understanding. “The possessiveness? The heightened emotions? The way they always seem to know exactly what you’re feeling?”
“Yes, all of that,” I confirmed. “And the physical aspects too. The strength, the stamina, the… enthusiasm.”
Riley made a gagging noise. “Please don’t talk about your sex life with my brother while I’m standing right here.”
“You brought it up last time,” Jess reminded her. “In great detail, if I recall.”
“That’s different,” Riley insisted. “It was relevant to the conversation.”
“How is this not relevant?” I asked innocently.
Riley just made another disgusted sound and walked ahead, giving us a moment of relative privacy.
“Honestly?” Jess said once Riley was out of immediate earshot (though I had no doubt she could still hear us if she wanted to). “I love the intensity. The absolute certainty that I am loved, desired, protected. There’s something… primal about it that speaks to something deep inside me.”
I nodded, understanding exactly what she meant. “Like they’re tapping into a part of us that modern life has buried.”
“Exactly,” she agreed. “As for the physical aspects… well, that’s just a bonus.” She winked, and I laughed.
“A significant bonus,” I agreed. “Though explaining the occasional bruises and bite marks to my doctor was an interesting conversation.”
She laughed. “Just wait until you try explaining why your neck looks like you lost a fight with a vacuum cleaner the day after a full moon.”
We continued walking, the trail gradually sloping upward. Riley rejoined us, apparently deciding we’d had enough private conversation.
“Almost there,” she said, pointing ahead. “Just around this bend.”
The overlook, when we reached it, was indeed worth the extra walk. The trail opened onto a rocky outcropping that offered a spectacular view of the valley below. The forest stretched out in all directions, a sea of green broken occasionallyby the glint of water. In the distance, the small cluster of buildings that made up Pine Haven was just visible, and beyond that, the blue haze of mountains on the horizon.
“Wow,” I breathed, taking in the vista. “This is incredible.”
“One of our favorite spots,” Jess said, sitting on a flat rock near the edge. “Riley proposed to me here.”
I turned to them in surprise. “You’re engaged? I didn’t know that.”
Riley shrugged, looking uncharacteristically shy. “It’s recent. We were going to announce it at the pack meeting today, but then Alex and Tara had their baby news, and we didn’t want to steal their thunder.”
“Congratulations!” I said warmly, genuinely happy for them. “That’s wonderful news.”
“Thanks,” Jess said, smiling up at Riley with such obvious love that it made my chest ache. “We’re thinking a fall wedding. Small ceremony, just pack and close friends.”
“Mason’s going to be my ‘wolf of honor,’” Riley added with a grin. “Though we’re calling it ‘best man’ on the invitations for the human relatives.”
I laughed at the terminology. “Wolf of honor. I like that.”
We sat at the overlook for a while, enjoying the view and the peaceful atmosphere. The conversation flowed easily between serious topics and light banter, punctuated by comfortable silences.
It struck me, sitting there with Mason’s sister and her fiancée, how completely my life had changed in just a few months. Before moving to Pine Haven, I’d been lonely without realizing it—going through the motions of a life that felt hollow at its core. Now I was part of something larger than myself, connected to a community that accepted me despite my differences.
