“You better,” Nora said. “Monday it is.”
The barista called Nora’s name and she said goodbye to June. In the car on the way to school, Nora sipped her coffee, and thought about how nice it would be to build a relationship with June. She was sweet, and Nora could use a girlfriend in her life, if not to talk to about Cain then to have another girl to talk to about anything.
Nora had always been lacking in friends, not because she couldn’t make them, but because she kept herself busy and preferred the company of kids to adults. It was one thing that made her such a good teacher. She was able to work with the other teachers well and she was able to connect with the students.
She smiled remembering how often the other teachers were jealous of her for connecting with the students and understanding them so well. She hoped that, even though Ashton was a dragon, she could still do the same for him. She felt for him in a way that she never had for other students, as if he was her own.
Considering she was Cain’s mate, that probably did make Ashton her own. Excitement bubbled in her stomach, at the thought. She would have to ask Cain later, because if Ashton was hers, she was going to move all of her things in her apartment to the house after school.
Did she want to be a mother, though? That was a big responsibility and one that she had never thought about. She had never dated seriously in the past, and this was so sudden.
Once she was parked, she pressed her forehead to the steering wheel. This was all so much, so soon. Maybe she wouldn’t go back to Cain’s house tonight.
Time away might do them all good. Maybe this mate thing was a hoax, and they all believed it because they were high on raging hormones. But, how unrealistic could a mate be when she saw Cain shift?
This was all too much, and she couldn’t think about it now. She had to get to her classroom and set up for the day.
When classes were over, Ashton came up to her, as she had expected. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she needed to get by herself and distance herself from both Ashton and Cain. She hoisted her bag on her shoulder and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow Ashton.”
She left the room quickly telling herself not to look behind her. She needed to get to her car and get home, then she could relax and think about the situation fully and everything it entailed.
When she got home it was like breathing a breath of familiar but stale air. She hadn’t been home in three days and the place already needed a good dusting. But, everything here was hers.
She dropped herself onto the couch and slumped as deeply into it as she could. Just sitting there was making her drowsy. She was comfortable in this place, and she was worried it was something she might lose if she continued with Cain.
This wasn’t something she could just jump into and agree with. She needed more information, and the best person she could get that from was Cain. She groaned as she realized that if she really wanted to consider committing to this then she needed to at the very least talk to him again, or else she would be no closer to a decision come tomorrow.
She thought for a moment about Googling her questions, but figured that would bring up too much myth and lore. Although, how much of it would be fake? If shifters were real, what else was real?
Her phone rang, and she jumped, surprised by the sudden sound. When she looked at the caller ID, her stomach tightened. It was Cain.
“Hello?” She said. She had never been scared to talk to him, but now her voice came out trembling.
“Where are you?” His was voice was as firm as it had ever been, stable and sure.
She closed her eyes again wanting to rely on the sound of his voice. How did he do that to her? Make her feel safe like nothing could ever be wrong?
“I’m at home,” she said.
“No, you’re not. Ashton called me, crying, saying you left.” It wasn’t confidence in his voice; it was anger.
Even when they had first met and she had started speaking to him about how he cared for Ashton, he had never spoken to her angrily. He had never raised his voice. But this was different, tense and hurt.
“No Cain, I’m at my home, my apartment.” She pressed two fingers around the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her own voice from rising sharply.
“Tell me the address.” Without thinking, she rattled off her address. “I’ll be there in ten.”
He hung up just as quickly as he did when she first called him from the school. He wasn’t happy, and she couldn’t imagine what that would look like. She had built up an image of Cain as always being gentle and caring with her.
Maybe he wasn’t though. What if he was abusive? He was a dragon, and he was always saying how it was common for dragons to be physically aggressive.
What if that carried over into a relationship?
Nora’s stomach cramped tighter, and she was ready to scream if it would only release the pain of not knowing. She reached for a pillow to throw, but before she could grab one, there was a knock on the door. She froze, unable to get up to answer it. She was too scared to find out if her worries were true.
“Nora, please open the door,” Cain called through after knocking again. “Nora!”
She stood up and walked lightly toward the door, trying to stretch out the distance. The time she had had to herself wasn’t long, and hasn’t been that great. Perhaps it wouldn’t be horrible to let him in.
When she opened the door, Cain fell through crushing Nora in a hug. “Thank God! Why didn’t you come back?”
Her shoulders were shaking. She had started crying on the impact with his chest. He smelt like pine and wood smoke, and she inhaled as much as she could, flooding her senses, trying to bring back the calmness she always felt with him.
Instead, she felt as if she was being crushed and breathing was a sin. She pushed away from him, for once feeling as if his touch were pins and needles digging into her skin.
“Nora?” Cain looked at her with lines of worry etched all over his face. She wanted to smooth them away, but she didn’t know how.
“Nora what’s wrong?” He stepped forward, but she held up a hand.
“Please,” she begged, tasting the salty tears on her lips. “I can’t. I can’t do it.”
“What do you mean, you can’t do it?”
“I’m not ready to be ‘married’ or to be a mother. I love Ashton, and I want to help you two, but this? Mate? I can’t.”
Cain gathered her into his arms, refusing to release her, no matter how much she pushed. “We can go slowly; I don’t mind.”
“But I don’t know what you need or what it means to be a mate. I don’t know if I can live up to that.” Her chest was so tight she thought she might never be able to breathe again.
Cain smoothed slow circles on her back, allowing her gasping to be the only sound hanging in the room. When she was able to breathe more slowly, he said, “Nora, we can date first. We should date first.”
“Really?” She looked up at him as if the thought had never occurred to her.
“Yes,” he laughed. “Last night was wonderful, but it is in no way a marriage. Some mates are known to skip the traditional wedding. They consider being mates is soul-binding enough, but not all do.”
“Oh,” she said, now feeling her heart calm, and his touch more comforting. “What about Ashton?”