Chapter 14

The sun was hot as the heatwave bore down over Northumbria. Yet in the shade of the tree in the garden, the Wolfblood and his cub barely noticed. He lay on his back in a state of stupor while the cub played in the shade, doing cartwheels and prowling around like a full wolf, pouncing at insects in the grass as though they were prey and she the hunter united with the rest of her pack.

Other than that, the garden was deathly quiet. Only the singing of the birds, wilted as it was in the heat, and the sound of the girl in front of him playing made any sound in the windless day. Not even a breeze served to disturb the grass around them.

"Want some lemonade, Dan?" The Wolfblood jumped a mile at the voice behind him. He hadn't heard Emma walking up. Yet there she stood, a tray in hand with glasses of lemonade fizzing away on them proving yet again why she was one of a kind.

"When did you get back?" Dan asked her as he stood up to take the tray and helped her sit down with them. She sat back, rubbing the slight swelling of her stomach. The cub had also noticed the lemonade on offer and stopped what she was doing, moving over and waiting patiently, dusting her hands off on her trousers. Dan grinned and held one out to her. She took it gleefully, latching her lips around the straw and drinking greedily.

"Not long ago." Emma replied as she rested her head against his once he'd sat back down again. She stretched out and relaxed in a way that Dan found irresistible and he couldn't resist nuzzling a bit closer into her. He breathed deep, taking in her scent and noting that it was quite different from usual. Probably because she'd just been down the shops. The stink of the other humans must have been clinging to her. It would wear off in a few hours. The two of them sat back properly, drinking lemonade and enjoying the sun and shade as the cub in front of them continued playing, wolf-fighting an invisible enemy. It was a beautiful, idyllic moment that Dan found himself mentally recording as he took in every detail of it.

"She's growing up fast, you know." Dan said as he nodded to the girl in front of them. "I find myself begging the time to slow each day."

"I was begging it to speed up while I was out." Emma muttered. "I swear to god this town is imploding." Dan turned over and pulled her closer, letting her slide sideways and rest across his lap as he listened to her breathing even out.

"You should have stayed home." She grinned up at him. It was a gentle smile that brought back the day he first realised he was in love with her.

"I am home." They continued to lie there in the shadows, the heat of the day showing no sign of easing off. As the sun moved, so did they. They followed the shade. After about an hour, Dan heard a knock at the front door. He gently eased Emma off his lap to go and get it while she promised to keep watch over the cub. He took off towards the house at a lazy jog as the door knocker rapped again, the sun warming his cold back as soon as he stepped out from the shade. It was only once he'd made his way through the back door and into the hallway, that the scent of a Wolfblood caught his attention. He opened it to reveal a panting, sunburnt and exhausted Emma who was absolutely laden down with shopping bags and looking ready to murder the next human she saw.

"Well can you give us a hand instead of staring?" she demanded. "I swear to god, you'd think they'd let a pregnant woman get through without getting shoved around like a pinball! And the crowds! Being pursued by shoppers through those lanes... Now I know how Pac Man felt!" Dan couldn't speak. His mind reeled as he struggled to accept what he was seeing. Emma was here! But she should be out there! When she'd sat down, she hadn't smelled like Emma. She'd smelled like a bunch of other people at once as though she'd been among countless humans. Yet here was Emma, sunburnt, furious and smelling just like Emma. This was Emma. So who had he just left out there with the cub?

Without thinking, he turned and bolted from the room, racing through the hall again and bursting out into the garden. The sun was in his eyes, instantly blinding him. What had started out as a beautiful and gentle day now seemed malicious and vile as though it were conspiring against him. He pushed through it, his eyes watering furiously, and ran to the tree. In the shadow it cast, three empty lemonade glasses lay on the ground along with a shattered tray. Dan sniffed the air, but his nose was instantly assaulted by the stench of chemicals. A scent bomb! They were unfortunately easy for a Wolfblood to make and were incredibly effective at disabling a Wolfblood's sense of smell. He couldn't track them! Defeated, he collapsed to his knees and let out a scream of rage and pain that brought Emma running as fast as she could.

"What's going on?" Emma asked. "Where's Maddy?"

"You were here!" Dan's voice was a low growl. "You bought us lemonades! We were cuddled up under the tree! But it wasn't you!"

"Dan, slow down!" Emma gripped his face and forced him to look into her eyes. "What happened?"

"I- I don't know." Dan admitted. "I just don't know."