I dig through my dresser drawers and raid my closet looking for something passable. Zheng looks out of place in the space as he leans back against the pink floral comforter covering the bed.
He’s wearing his usual black pants, though today he’s paired them with a long-sleeved thermal tee that stretches tight over his broad chest and shoulders and a pair of checkered sneakers. His muscles are well defined, even beneath the fabric of his shirt, and his tee rides up, exposing an inch of smooth, pale skin dusted with a light trail of jet-black hair.
I force myself to look away from the curve along his hips that I know leads to an Adonis belt I have no business admiring. How did shifter guys get that? My body sure as heck wasn’t shaped like that and I’ve seen him eat. Zheng’s like a garbage disposal in the lunchroom, but looking at him now, you’d never know it.
“I can’t believe you live here,” he says, a hint of wonder in his voice.
“Yeah, well, only up until a week ago.”
His head tilts in question and I sigh, not wanting to explain but not seeing a way around it, either. “My mom died.” I stuff down my emotions and force the words past my lips, refusing to let them swallow me whole. “Dad’s the only surviving relative I have, so I was shipped off here. I just moved in the week before last, so none of this,” I wave at everything around me. “Is mine or even resembles the life I grew up with.”
“That’s why your scent is still faint in the room?” He shakes his head and his face pulls down into a frown. “Damn. I’m sorry.”
I shrug. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
Silence stretches between us.
“Is that why you’re a lone wolf now? Why you don’t have a Pack?
I swallow hard. “Partly, yeah. Brian is human. He doesn’t know how important it is to belong to a Pack. If he did, I wouldn’t be here.”
He nods, his eyes softening. “Yeah, I get it. My pops is human, too. He and my mom aren’t together. I’m his best kept secret. Everyone he knows thinks I’m human. I guess I’ve gotten good at masking my beast. But only when I’m with him, which thankfully isn’t too often.
“Ah, living that double life?”
He smirks. “I guess you could say that.”
Looking through one final drawer in my dresser, I give up in defeat. “I don’t think this is going to work. I don’t really have anything appropriate for camping,” I say, resignation in my voice. I needed this. Needed a safe place to shift. To be me. It’s been weeks since I’ve been able to don my wolf skin. If I don’t find a way to do it soon, I’m going to go insane.
Zheng considers me a moment before taking my hand and pulling me from the floor where I’d been sitting. “It’s cool. You can borrow some sweats of mine if you want. My bag is already packed in my trunk. Or we can always run by a store?”
“I don’t think I’d fit in anything of yours,” I say, eyeing his physique. Zheng is tall and thin, probably just shy of six feet but still a good nine inches taller and fifty pounds heavier.
“Is there, I don’t know, a Target nearby or on the way?” I ask.
He chuckles. “I didn’t take you for the Target type but yeah, there is.”
My shoulders sag as I lean against the wall, relief sweeping through me. “I don’t come from money. All of this, my dad’s assistant bought it all for me when I moved in. I’m very much a Target kind of girl.”
He grins this goofy lopsided smile that has my wolf relaxing beneath the surface of my skin. “I think I like you even more with that revelation. Come on. Let’s get you some new kicks and go have some fun.”
6 Isabella
I’ve never been one for shopping, but I absolutely raid Target as soon as we get to the women’s section. I’m not the picky type so I grab the basics. Things I can mix and match with little effort. A few solid white shirts and a couple with funny phrases. Some black jeans. A pair of cut-off shorts even though it’s past fall and nearing winter. A swimsuit, just in case. And a few pairs of cotton sweatpants along with an oversized hoodie for good measure.
Zheng is a good sport, helping me carry the piles of clothes as I wander up and down the aisles without a single complaint. When I feel like I have enough, we make our way to the registers.
I feel bad when the cashier rings me up and gives me the total. Four hundred and thirteen dollars. I swallow hard as I hand over Brian’s credit card and guilt sweeps through me, reminding me I need to find a job so I don’t have to rely on him. I’ll be eighteen soon, and I need to be prepared for that. My Pack will take me in, but I don’t want to be a burden on them either.
It only takes a few minutes after she hands me my receipt to remember my mom just died and Brian hasn’t bothered to be around all week. What kind of father does that?
That helps sweep away any lingering guilt over how much I’m spending today. I’ll still need to search for a job, though.
“Damn, Isa. You look good.” Zheng says when I step out of the restroom.
As soon as I’d paid, I’d changed into a pair of gray sweatpants rolled at the
