Ruby stared at Amanda as Hudson crouched down beside her. She watched as Amanda’s eyebrows furrowed when he kissed her forehead and then whispered into her ear. Ruby had a hunch about something and decided to go on it.
“Hudson, Tab, it’s getting late. Why don’t you both head to your dorms, and I’ll stay with Amanda until she wakes up, and the moment she does, I’ll let you both know.”
Hudson was hesitant to leave. He wanted to be the first thing Amanda saw when she woke up. He wanted her to know that he had been by her side the entire time that she was out and see that he was being supportive and someone that would take care of her and protect her. Hudson let his shoulders drop as he slowly nodded in agreement.
Tabitha walked over to ruby and gave her a hug. “You’ll let us know the second she wakes up, right?”
Ruby smiled and nodded.
Tabitha headed for the door and waited for Hudson.
Hudson kissed Amanda again on the forehead and said, “I’ve been here for you the whole time.”
Ruby saw the pain in Amanda’s face, but her eyes remained closed.
“I’ll make sure to remind her when she wakes up. Now, the best thing you two can do for her gets some rest. There will be a lot of explaining to do when she wakes up. You need to be calm and relaxed when you talk with her so that you don’t lose your temper.”
Hudson narrowed his eyes at ruby for the comment but knew she was right.
“Goodnight, Ruby. I’ll be back in the morning if I haven’t heard anything from you before then.”
Ruby smiled and nodded as she followed him to the door and locked it behind them. She then turned off the main light in the living room and walked over to the couch where she sat and waited.
Amanda peeked out of her left eye to check if everyone had left. When she saw that the room was dark, she let out a sigh of relief. She opened both eyes and sat up on the couch. She rubbed her eyes and then gently touched the spot that was hit on the back of her head. She winced as she touched it. Yep, that was going to leave a mark and be tender for a while. Just as she slid her feet off the couch and onto the floor, a small lamp was turned on and there sat Ruby watching her.
Amanda jumped and curled into the corner of the couch.
“Calm down, sugar. The coast is clear. There’s no one else here but you and me.”
Amanda was still scared. But if she were truly honest with herself, she didn’t know exactly what she was scared of. Ruby had always been kind to her, and she had always felt safe around her. Amanda still curled into a ball, took a deep breath and allowed the tension to slowly leave her body.
“Good girl. Now, be honest with me, sugar. How much did you hear?”
Amanda looked at Ruby with fear. Not because she was afraid of telling her what she heard, but because she was afraid there could be more that she hadn’t heard.
Amanda shrugged and picked at the jean material on her knee as she looked away from Ruby.
“I’m not sure if I heard everything, but I heard enough.”
“Do you want to talk about what you heard?” Ruby asked her patiently.
Again, Amanda shrugged but refused to say anything.
“Would you like me to let Tabitha and Hudson know that you’re awake so that you can talk with them?”
Amanda shook her head.
Ruby took in a deep breath; she slipped her shoes off and tucked her feet underneath her on the couch.
“I can sit here all night and wait; I’ve got nothing but patience until you’re ready to talk,” Ruby assured her.
Amanda uncurled herself from her previous position but still kept her legs folded and crossed in front of her.
“Is it true?” Amanda finally asked.
“What, sugar?”
Amanda paused for a moment and then asked, “Is it true that you can shift into a wolf?”
“Yes,” Ruby told her flat out.
Amanda’s eyes widened at how blunt Ruby had been.
“So, Hudson was the wolf that was in the alley.”
“Yes.”
Amanda rubbed her face with her hands. She was trying to get a grasp on all this, but a part of her wanted to run away and cry. But that was what Mandi, her shy, timid self, would do. The new her wanted to stay and deal with this as a reasonable person.
“Are there a lot of you?”
“Yes, generally, we tend to stay and live in packs. So we are around others that are like us.”
“Are you and Hudson from the same pack?”
“Yes, though I live here now, they are the closest pack to the college, and I check in with the Alpha and Luna to keep my status.”
“Alpha and Luna, what is that?”
“I think that is a better question for Hudson to answer for you than me. Do you have other questions?”
“Is it true Tabitha has known Hudson this whole time?”
“I’m only going to answer that with a yes, but you need to talk about that with them. I only want to talk about the things that concern you and make sure that you feel comfortable being around me.”
Amanda gave her a small smile.
Ruby got up and headed for the kitchen.
“Ruby?”
“Yes”
“What’s a mate?”
Ruby turned to look at her for a moment and then continued her way to the kitchen. The room was open-concept, so Amanda could see Ruby and what she was doing in the kitchen.
Ruby grabbed a small glass from a cabinet and then a colored liquid bottle from another cabinet. She walked back into the room and sat back down on the couch.
Amanda waited patiently for Ruby to answer.
Ruby poured the colored liquid into the glass and then took a sip.
“There are many stories about our life. It was said years ago that the Moon Goddess picked who our wolves would spend the rest of their lives with. We call it the mate bond–when two wolves reach a certain age, they can sense their mate if they are close by. Now, they do have a choice to accept the bond or reject the bond. If one person rejects it, the bond will be severed and broken. But if the two accept the bond, they’ll mate and mark each other, and they’ll be together forever.”
Amanda sat there for a moment, taking in everything that Ruby just told her about the mate bond. And even though she still didn’t understand what it meant for her and Hudson, since she wasn’t a wolf and only human, she didn’t want to say anything that could sound like she was rejecting him until she was absolutely sure.
“Ruby, would you be okay with me staying here for a few days? I don’t think I’m ready to go back to my dorm and deal with either of them just yet.”
Ruby smiled.
“It would be my pleasure to have you here, sugar. But I must warn you that I’m not going to lie to you. If Hudson and Tabitha come looking for you, I will tell them that you are staying here with me.”
Amanda nodded. “Of course, Ruby. I would never ask you to lie to me. I know that I need to talk with them at some point. It’s like what you told Hudson–I would rather talk to him when I am cool, calm, and collected. I don’t want to say anything that I might regret later.”