Chapter 15

Kate

It was Luke's bedtime. We had gone through so much and made so much progress all in one day, I wanted him to get his sleep. I knew how much of it he needed being a hard-working werewolf. Luke let me walk him to the edge of the forest surrounding his house. Before I could take a step any further, he held out a hand to restrain me.

"Are you okay? You know, with humans?" he asked before I could get any closer to his house, undoubtedly with his father inside.

I hesitated. "I… well I've been practicing. I can handle it with control, but not too much."

Luke pursed his lips. "I'm sure you'd understand if I didn't let you come any further, right? I'd rather test it another day."

I smiled at him. "Of course. I don't want to hurt anybody."

Luke let himself smile and took a step in front of me, giving me a smirk. "So would you hurt me if I asked for a goodnight kiss?" he asked, returning to his playful self.

"Mmm, I don't know…"

Luke stepped even closer, taking my hands and guiding them around his neck. He leaned in another inch, our mouths becoming even closer yet. Before our lips could touch, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Do you think we're moving too fast? I mean…"

"It's nothing we've never done before," he assured me softly, before finally getting our lips to touch. At that moment, after a year of not being able to do that, his warmth completely flooded my body and made me stand on edge. If it were possible, my ice-hard skin would melt in his arms at the feeling of his warm body embracing me, touching every part of my body, engulfing me like flames licking my icy surface.

A moment too soon, he let go and stared into my eyes. His face completely betrayed his emotions. He wanted more, as much as I did, but being as courteous as ever, he didn't want to make me do anything I didn't want to, or go so far as to regret something if I ever lost control.

"Good night," he whispered.

"Good luck," I told him.

His forehead creased with confusion. "For what?"

"For getting to sleep tonight." At that moment I pulled away and, before turning away, gave him a devious smile, then disappearing into the trees.

I found Adam only a couple yards outside the La Push territory. He sat up in the trees and had a rabbit clutched in his hands and was feeding on it leisurely as if it were a snack. I was surprised to see him relieved when he saw me.

"Hey." He jumped from the branch and came towards me. "What's going on?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Just hanging out. Luke went to bed."

"Are you going to stay here?" he asked, he face a look of concern.

I nodded. "Yes."

Adam gave a heavy sigh, as if in relief.

"Why?" I asked, curious about his reaction.

"This is better for you than hanging out with me—better for the both of us actually."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you belong with Luke. And I was never made to hang around my sister all the time," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Were you bored of me?" I smiled.

"Not bored of you, bored of this lifestyle. I think I should try my hand at getting back into society, somewhere new." Adam kicked a pinecone by his foot. "I think I could get myself enrolled in college or something, change my name."

"That's a great idea," I encouraged him. "But please be sure to practice being around people before you completely engage in the human world again. I don't want you to mess this up for yourself."

"I will." He smiled sadly at me, as if a goodbye was coming. "Are you and Luke… better?"

I adverted my eyes to the ground, barely containing my smile. "Yes. Well, there are things that need to be fixed, but I think that I will be here for a while."

"That's good. I'm happy for you, Kate. You really look ten times better already."

"I know."

Adam stepped forward and pulled me in for a hug. "I'm going to miss you, sis."

"I don't want to say goodbye. We'll see each other again," I told him sadly, waiting for a confirmation.

"Yes, we will, sis. Don't worry. You have Luke. Treat him well, because he will always be here for you."

I held him tighter. "See you later, Adam."

He gave me one last squeeze before turning and disappearing through the air.

It wasn't four hours before I heard the crunching of the pine needles on the forest floor. I had returned to the spot where Luke had dumped me into the ocean, and now lounged on the beach, staring up thoughtfully into the stars.

Luke laid down silently beside me, putting his arm around me so I would scoot closer to him.

"Adam left," I said, scowling up to the stars.

"I'm sorry." Luke leaned over and brushed my hair away from my forehead, then kissing it.

"I suppose he never really wanted to stay in this area. He was always aspiring for bigger and better places."

"He will be fine, wherever he goes."

I let out a deep breath and turned more on my side, wrapping my arm around his stomach. "Couldn't sleep?" I asked.

"Not at all."

Luke's fingers wove in and out through my silky brown hair, over and over again. The gesture felt so good, so soothing the way his warm fingers came into contact with my cold skin.

"Does it bother you? That everything about my body is different?" I asked.

Luke sighed as if we had gone over this already. "I hardly notice."

"It doesn't bother you that my face is different? And my voice and my skin and my hair?" I pressed.

"Your hair was just as soft and brown as before. But everything else about you still has the essence of you," he began. "I still hear your voice, even though the sound of it has changed slightly. I still can see the same expressions in your face, just not exactly how it was before, and your skin may be hard, but its still your skin. I'm not too picky about your physical appearance. You are who you are."

He continued to stroke my hair as I took in what he was saying. As strange as it all was to me, I supposed I should believe what Luke was telling me, what he had been telling me all along. Simply put, it didn't matter what I looked like to Luke. It was who I was that made him love me, not the way I looked. Of course, he loved the way I looked as a human, and I'm sure he loved the way I looked now, but only because it was what came with me. If I had a unibrow and a mole on my nose he would love that too.

Luke gave a huge yawn above my head. "I think I can sleep now," he said, a smile in his voice.

"Please try. I'll be here in the morning," I assured him.

"I'm counting on it."

Luke's fingers continued to weave through my hair, until his motions became slack and his hand finally rested on the side of my head. His familiar snores began not a moment later. As he slept, I listened to the sounds he made and felt the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath my head. I found that I could lay here for eternity with the sounds of Luke sleeping satisfying my attention.