Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

With me he could have a pack, but not be Alpha and responsible for everyone. I wasn’t sure it would work out so well for him if I moved in with Adam—and I knew it wouldn’t work out if he moved over here, too.
    See, worrying already.
    I took a deep breath and let it go. Tomorrow I would worry about Samuel, about Stefan, and about Amber, whose ghost was the least of her problems. I was just going to enjoy today. For the whole day I was going to be happy and carefree.
    I slid out of bed and realized I was stark naked. Which was only to be expected. But there was no sign of underwear on the floor or in the bedding. I was head and shoulders under the bed when Adam said, from the doorway, “I spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter A.”
    â€œI’ll spy your little eye and squish it,” I threatened, but, since the bed hid me, there was a grin on my face. I’m not body shy—not growing up among werewolves. I can fake it so people don’t get the wrong idea ... but with Adam it would be the right one. I wiggled the something in question, and he patted it. “I’ve been smelling whatever you’ve been cooking”—something with lemon and chicken—“it’s making me hungry. But I can’t find my underwear.”
    â€œYou could go without,” he suggested, sitting on the bed just to the right of me.
    â€œHah,” I said. “Not on your life, buster. Jesse and who knows who else are down there. I’m not running around without underwear.”
    â€œWho would know?” he asked. “I would know,” I told him, pulling my head out from under the bed only to see that he had my bright blue panties dangling from a finger.
    â€œThey were under the pillow,” he said with an innocent smile.
    I snatched them and put them on. Then I hopped up and went to the bathroom, where the rest of my clothes were. I dressed, took a step toward the bathroom, and had a flashback.
    I’d been here, unworthy, soiled ... stained. I couldn’t face them, couldn’t look into their faces because they all knew...
    â€œShh, shh,” Adam crooned in my ear. “That’s over. It’s over and done with.”
    He held me, sitting on the bathroom floor with me on his lap, while I shook and the flashback faded.
    When I could breathe normally again, I sat up with an attempt at dignity. “Sorry,” I said.
    I’d thought that last night would have taken care of the flashbacks, the panic attacks—I was cured, right?
    I reached up and grabbed a hand towel and wiped my wet face—and found that it just kept getting wet. I’d been so sure everything would be back to normal now.
    â€œIt takes longer than a week to get over something like that,” Adam told me, as if he could read my mind. “But I can help, if you’ll let me.”
    I looked at him, and he ran a thumb under my eyes. “You’ll have to open up, though, and let the pack in.”
    He smiled, a sad smile. “You’ve been blocking pretty ferociously since sometime on the trip back from Spokane. If I were to guess, I expect it was when you let Stefan bite you.”
    I had no idea what he was talking about, and I guessed it showed.
    â€œNot on purpose?” he said.
    Somehow, I’d slid off his lap and was leaning against the opposite wall. “Not that I know.”
    â€œYou had a panic attack on the way home,” he told me.
    I nodded and remembered the warmth of the pack that had pulled me out of it. Remarkable, awesome—and buried under the rest of the events of the past two nights.
    His lids lowered. “That’s better ... a bit better.” He looked up from the floor and focused on me, yellow highlights dancing in his irises. He reached out and touched me just under my ear.
    It was a light touch, just barely skin to skin. It should have been casual.
    He laughed a little, sounding just a bit giddy. “Just like Medea, Mercy,” he said, dropping his hand and drawing a breath that sounded just a little ragged. “Let me try this again.” He held out his hand.
    When I put mine in it, he closed his eyes and ... I felt a trickle of life, warmth, and health dribbling from his hand to mine. It felt like a hug on a summer’s day, laughter, and sweet honey.
    I spread out into it through him, sliding into something I just knew were warm depths that would surround me with—
    But