Vamp, Wolf, or Shifter?

Sustenance

The appointment with Aidan’s “physician” is relatively quick and painless. He gives me several antibiotic ointments and salves for the wounds on my arm before informing me that after the initial healing concludes, I’ll probably still have the scars forever.

I don’t particularly care, if I’m being honest. I stopped caring about my appearance a long time ago, and a little wound on my arm would be the least of my concerns even if I hadn’t.

When the physician leaves my room, all I really want to do is curl up into my bed with my dog and cry myself to sleep.

Unfortunately, Cooper seems to have other ideas.

“I know you’re tired,” he says as he slips in just as the doc is exiting. He’s toting two, large copper mugs. He eyes Balto warily when he enters, but doesn’t comment on him. “But I thought you might appreciate some… sustenance.”

I eye the mugs with interest; I can’t help it. “Moscow Mules?”

He grins and nods as he comes over to hand me my drink. “I knew you were cool.”

I smile weakly as I accept the drink. I certainly feel ready for a little liquid courage right about now, but is this a good idea? “Your dad doesn’t… mind? About stuff like this?”

He laughs. “Not at all. He’s not exactly the poster guy for strict parenting, if you hadn’t noticed.”

I grimace at that, taking a big, long swig of my drink. “Could’ve fooled me.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Something happen today?”

I consider not sharing. If I was smart, I wouldn’t. I have no idea how close Cooper and his father are, and I have no idea how much Cooper reports back to him. Judging from how quickly Aidan knew about me and the science lab, I’d say he reports back a lot; then again, I already deduced that it was likely someone else, seeing as Cooper was right next to me for most of that time.

Heaving a sigh, I gesture for him to join me on the bed. He eyes Balto cautiously for the second time. (What is it about these guys and dogs?) Rolling my eyes, I nudge Balto to exit the bed. Balto shoots me a bit of a glare before jumping down.

Cooper gives me a cute, sheepish grin that suggests he knows exactly how embarrassed he should feel, then claims the recently vacated spot next to me. Once he’s settled, I ask him carefully, “How did Aidan know what happened today so quickly?”

Cooper shrugs. “He owns this town, if you hadn’t noticed. Has little birds in every corner, as they say. I’m sure one of his school birds told him the whole saga.”

In a way, it makes sense. “But… it was just the chemistry teacher and us in there. The students. Are you saying he owns some of the students?”

“Well, yeah. You can’t own an entire town without owning a few of its minors.”

I shake my head, flabbergasted. “Do you know who?”

“Not really. You’ll start to develop a feel for it the longer you’re at Pewter—who to trust, I mean. There’s Julia and Max, obviously. And then there’s the kids on the other side—Dean Morgan types. Dad doesn’t own him, either, but that doesn’t mean he’s trustworthy.”

I wasn’t going to bring Dean up, but now that Cooper has, I can’t help but push the subject. “Did something happen between him and your dad?”

“Who—Dean?”

I nod.

He watches me thoughtfully for a second, then says, “That’s what he got after you about, isn’t it?”

I bite my lip. I still have no idea what I should or shouldn’t say to Cooper, so I decide to play it safe and phrase this delicately. “I think he’s… worried that Dean might do something to hurt me.”

He takes a long swig of his drink. “He can be like that. Overly dramatic. I’m guessing he told you you’re not allowed to speak to the guy anymore?”

I give a careful, hesitant nod.

“Well, you might as well do as he says. You don’t want to piss him off this early into living with us. I wouldn’t stress it too much, though. He hates Dean because of a whole, boring saga of family rivalry. Dude’s a prick, for sure, but I doubt he would intentionally try to hurt you.”

I can’t help but feel brightened by this. Compared to his father, Cooper is seeming extremely sane right now. At least one of them is. “Got it. Thank you.”

He smiles a soft, gentle, and alluring smile. “You’re welcome. How’s that arm feeling?”

I glance down at my arm, having mostly forgotten about it. “Oh… fine. Doesn’t really hurt.”

He reaches down to touch it, and I have to stop myself from giving a little start at the feeling of his fingertips. Like Julia, his fingers are smooth as a pearl, and colder than expected.

“Sorry,” he says with a small grin as his fingers gently trace the lines of shriveled skin where the acid got me. “I tend to run cold.”

I laugh weakly. “No problem.”

He releases my arm, straightening. “Did he tell you about the party yet?”

“The… what?”

“The party. The one we’re throwing in your honor this weekend. I’m guessing from the look of panic on your face that he hasn’t?”

He certainly hasn’t, and I certainly don’t like the sound of this one bit. “I really don’t think that’s necessary. I’m not exactly—”

“Nonsense. Trust me—it’s necessary. With me on your side, no one will give you too much of a hard time at school, but if you want to really wow them, there’s no better way than a party.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I know we just met, Coop, but do I really strike you as the type who wants to ‘wow’ anyone?”

He laughs, too, but there’s a lingering seriousness in his gaze that watches me thoughtfully. “I guess I didn’t think of it as a ‘type’—seems to be what everyone wants, at least in this town. But, now that you mention it… No. You don’t seem particularly concerned with what people think at all. Why is that?”

It’s a bit of a personal question. Does he think we know each other well enough already to discuss this sort of thing? Why does that assumption make me feel flattered, rather than offended?

Probably because he’s so damn gorgeous.

“I had my fill of it,” I finally tell him. “Trying to impress people. Caring what people think. It only ever left me feeling more hurt and alone than when I started. And then my parents died, and, well, that kind of put things into perspective for me.”

I didn’t intend to share quite that much; were he anyone else in this town, I wouldn’t have. But Cooper and Aidan both know the details of why I’m here; it’s the whole reason they adopted me in the first place. Poor, seventeen year old girl loses both parents in a car accident. There’s no point in hiding it from him.

“I’m sorry, Quinn,” he says softly, returning his hand to my skin—not to my forearm this time, but to my hand. “I know how it feels to lose a parent. If there’s anything you need… I’m here.”

I never considered the question of Cooper’s mother. There clearly hasn’t been a woman of the house since I showed up, but I never jumped to any conclusions about what happened to her. I don’t know why, but hearing that Cooper lost a parent, too, is oddly comforting.

“Thanks,” I tell him honestly. I squeeze his hand, and for an instant, locked onto those agonizingly bright, blue eyes, I wonder whether something more might happen between us—something dangerous.

It can’t, though. I’m not ready for that with anyone, but especially not with the guy who is, for all intents and purposes, my brother.

So I pull gently away from him, look away, and say, “I think I need to get some sleep.”

I don’t dare look into his eyes as he takes his leave of me. I think seeing disappointment would tug at my heartstrings a whole lot more than it should.