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Taylor had been waiting for her the moment she showed up at the house. How the hell had she known Giselle would come back here was a mystery, but she was so happy to see her would-be sister at the gate. Giselle shifted at the back gate and walked inside, trying to avoid the accusatory gaze.
“You going to explain why you ran off with Ash? And where are your clothes?”
“Nope. No point.”
“You had sex with him, didn’t you?”
That stopped Giselle in her tracks. “No way. Not even close. Why would you think that?”
“C’mon. We’ve all seen how hard you’ve been crushing on him. You’ve wanted to jump him since the moment you laid eyes on him.”
“Okay, first of all, um... no. He’s cute, sure, but I’m not jumping on anyone.”
“Right.”
Giselle turned her back on Taylor, letting the marks on her neck show. “I found the wolf.”
“Elle, Oh. My. God! Are you okay? C’mon, let’s get you inside and clean that up. Does it hurt?”
The speed at which she changed gears had Giselle doing a double take. She’d gone all Mother Hen and was channeling Martina so much, Giselle wondered if Martina might have been right there guiding her. “I’m fine. Really. Most of it healed with the shift.”
“If you call this healing, that wolf must have done one hell of a number on you. There are at least four separate bite marks here. He didn’t try anything, did he?”
“Who, the loner? No. But he was odd.”
“You talked to him?”
“He’s defending that spot for some reason – the cave at the edge of the creek. And I think it’s tied to a statue I found out there.”
Taylor pulled her into the bathroom and began rubbing her down with alcohol and slathering creams on her. “Should completely heal with the next shift.”
“Thanks.”
Taylor wrapped her arms around Giselle and gave her a quick squeeze. “Glad you’re okay.” Then she smacked Giselle on the arm twice. “And that’s for going out there without backup.”
“I had Asher.”
“And I noticed he wasn’t with you when you got home. Did the bastard bail on you when the wolf showed up?”
“Before. We searched for hours and couldn’t find him. So Ash gave up. Pretty pissed for me sending him on a wild goose chase.”
“Angry or not, that’s no excuse leaving you out there all alone. See, those Thrace wolves are assholes.”
At that moment, Giselle agreed. If Ash hadn’t been such a hot head, he’d have stayed long enough to see the wolf, and maybe help protect her. Boys! Who needed them?
“Yeah, he’s an ass. I’m over it.” She lied more to herself than to Taylor. “Do me a favor...”
“What?” Taylor eyed her suspiciously.
“Don’t tell Di... please.”
Taylor narrowed her gaze. “How are you going to explain missing school at the same time as Ash? She’s bound to have noticed.”
Giselle shrugged. “How am I supposed to know his schedule? I was having a sick day.”
The look on Taylor’s face said more than words how bad a lie that was, but she simply shrugged. “Whatever.”
“I owe you.”
“Yes. You. Do.”
Giselle worried about what the ramifications of those words would be. But her sick excuse was becoming more real by the moment. Maybe it was adrenaline, maybe it was the bite the wolf had given her, or maybe she was just coming down with something. In any case, she needed to lie down.
“Thanks,” she said, and headed up stairs to her room. “I’m going to skip the rest of the day too. I need to sleep.”