Page 19 of Glass
8
FELIX
“Where is she?” I demand, glaring at Doc as he grimaces back at me. There’s no way in hell it’s a coincidence that he’s awkwardly hovering outside my tent first thing in the morning while my mate has woken up and vanished while I slept.
“She woke me up banging on the door, Felix.” He shrugs helplessly, holding his arms out wide. “If I hadn’t seen her shift for myself last night, I would have thought she was a cougar. She was as mean as one.”
“Where is she?” I ask again, my voice harder.
He jerks his head to indicate she’s gone deeper into the campground. “She wanted to wake the kids up, but I convinced her to take a long walk and cool her head instead. Figured you’d want to make that introduction yourself.”
Irritation swells in my chest and my shoulders tighten. Doc opens his mouth as if to add something but then snaps his jaw closed.
“What is it?” I’m already mad, so he might as well give me the full picture to stew over while I sniff out Poppy’s trail. Now that we’re bonded, it won’t be any problem tracking her down, no matter how far she’s made it.
“I tried to convince her to go back to your tent, but she seemed pretty mad. If it was something you did—” I erupt with a sharp growl, and his skin pales slightly. “I’m just sayingifyou did something… You might want to consider apologizing,” he finishes sheepishly.
Doc is good at standing up for our people, but he also is smart enough to know when to shut up. He tips his chin, and I know that’s the last he’s going to say on the topic.
“I’ll be back. Get the kids up and have them wait in your camper for us to get back.” I’m not going to withhold Poppy’s siblings from her, even if I am suspicious as fuck about why she was trying to get them up in the middle of the night. She had a perfectly good spot to sleep next to me, and no one around here is in a hurry to go anywhere this morning.
Except maybe her, a little voice in the back of my head says. Fuck.
* * *
I’m prepared for a lot of things—but finding Poppy having breakfast with a human man a half-dozen campsites away isn’t one of them.
They’re sitting plastered next to each other on a fold-out bench seat. Their arms brush as they talk with Poppy moving her hands expressively. Even sitting down, I can tell the guy is at least a few inches shorter than me and lacking the same muscle tone. Besides that, he’s human. I wouldn’t consider him a threat in any way if he weren’t turning his head to smile atmywoman with overly-whitened teeth.
I growl under my breath as I approach them from the treeline behind what must be the guy’s campsite. It’s not much to look at, a cheap tent and fizzling fire.
Either Poppy’s instincts aren’t as sharp as they should be, or she’s ignoring my presence on purpose as I come up behind them. Her purple-colored hair hangs knotted down her back, somehow making her look even sexier despite my best effort to ignore the attraction. I’m too damn mad; I don’t want to think about how I would rather be taking her again in my tent than tracking her down.
I’m so mad I don’t even bother eavesdropping as I clomp toward them, branches snapping under my feet. I make no effort to be subtle.
The man says something that Poppy must find funny because she throws her head back with a laugh that echoes around the campsite and grates my nerves. “What’s so funny?” I snap, and both of them seem to startle as they turn to face me.
Poppy’s face quickly morphs into a deep frown. The guy beside her practically leaps out of his seat to put a foot of space between them.
“Don’t mind him,” Poppy tells the guy with a saccharine sweet voice. “That’s just my brother.”
I see fucking red. “Brother my ass,” I grumble as I close the distance between us. She jumps up before I can reach her, but I manage to grab her wrist before she can dart away from me. I hold her there with nothing but the bench between us.
“Hey buddy, I think you need to calm down,” the guy says, his voice nervous. I glance over to see his eyes darting between my face and the tight grip I have on Poppy’s wrist. I force my hand to unfurl even though I don’t want to let go of her; I might be an asshole, but I’m notthat kind of asshole.
“Now fuck off,” I tell him in a flat voice.
Poppy scoffs indignantly. I glare at the side of her head as she looks over at him. “It’s cool, I know you wanted to get an early start hiking. Thanks for breakfast, Chris.”
“It’s, uh, Kyle,” the guy corrects. He sounds flustered over the error, but it helps the tension in my shoulders ease. She didn’t even bother remembering the right name for the guy, so he can’t be too important.
“Fuck off, Kyle.” I stare him hard in the eyes, a sneer pulling at my lips. It only takes a moment for him to take the hint.
“Right. Uh, nice meeting you Poppy,” he half-mumbles before taking off at a brisk pace across the campsite to disappear into the surrounding trees. I watch his departure until I can’t see him anymore and even the smell of him fades away.
Poppy meets my eyes again and scowls. “That was rude.”
“Ruder than making friends with someone and not even remembering their name?” I taunt back haughtily. She presses her lips tightly together, not having a comeback for that one. “Are you purposely trying to make me crazy?”