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Northstar Heir's Scarred Mate 22
22As soon as Bodie disappeared down the hallway with his dad, her stomach clenched with nerves. She was left to entertain Val, though it wasn’t her house, and it certainly wasn’t her place to entertain Bodie’s mother like she was a mother-in-law or something. She fiddled with her fork, though she was done eating, and realized the plates were still on the table.She sprang up and started moving them to the kitchen sink, eager to have something to do. She managed to delay conversation for a few minutes by scraping off the plates and loading the dishwasher, but then it was inevitable to return, since she had no other choice. She sat down again and realized Val had been quietly observing her the whole time. She looked at the woman’s cup and noticed it was empty. “Would you like more coffee?”“No, thank you. We have a long drive ahead of us, and Duke gets impatient if I ask to stop along the way for any reason.” She gave a small laugh, obviously unbothered by his impatience.“I see.” She
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23Claire was sleeping in when Bodie left early Monday morning, since she had to work that evening. Dillon had asked him to come in, and he decided to take half the cake they’d baked into the station to keep himself and Claire from eating all of it. Considering neither one of them knew much about baking, it had turned out reasonably well, and he placed it down on Juno’s desk as he entered the station a short time later.She looked at it with interest. “What’s that?”“It’s a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. Claire and I made it this weekend.”Juno arched a brow. “I didn’t know you could bake. I guess she does?”Bodie laughed. “Truthfully, neither one of us are very good, but we muddled through. It’s just a matter of following instructions.” He removed the cover, revealing the frosting was a little uneven, and the cake was sloped. “Don’t let the appearance fool you.”After a brief hesitation, she reached out and plucked off a piece, taking a bite. “That’s surprisingly good.”
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24It hovered on the tip of his tongue to tell her what he was thinking, but he realized it was too quick. She’d probably freak out and maybe even run away. She was sure to be frightened by his sudden conviction that she was the one for him. It was better to let her ease into the idea and get more acclimated to dating him before he started talking about forever.Their food arrived, piled high, and Claire ate with gusto initially. Suddenly, she stopped eating and dropped her fork. Then she looked down. He thought for a minute she was just getting more room to continue eating, but when she didn’t resume, he asked, “What’s wrong?”She shook her head. “I guess I’m not very hungry.”Considering she’d been practically inhaling the food a moment before, he was suspicious to say the least. He turned in his seat, his gaze locking with Wanda Starr. Dillon’s sister was glaring openly with an air of intimidation, though she started to quell when she met Bodie’s gaze instead of Claire’s. He glared
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25 Claire’s stomach was twisting in knots as she entered the kitchen. She smothered a groan at Saul standing there. He sent her a curious look. “What are you doing here, kid? You aren’t scheduled for two hours yet.” She’d hoped to be able to go right through without seeing anyone, so she feigned a glance at the clock. “Gosh, I guess I must’ve misread the time. I’ll be back when my shift starts then.” She rushed through the kitchen, breezing past him without giving him a chance to ask her anything else. She waited at the front of house for a few minutes, giving Bodie’s truck time to put distance between himself and the restaurant. He should be halfway back to Northstar by now, and that would give her enough time without him being aware of what was happening. Everything settled heavily in her stomach like a lead balloon as she broke into a jog to get to her parents’ house faster than usual. She was used to doing a lot of walking, since she couldn’t bring herself to drive anywhere, bu
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26Her mother served herself and Thomas a few minutes later, apparently having accepted Claire’s statement that she wasn’t hungry. Claire was glad, because the last thing she could have done was manage to eat now, even if she hadn’t been concerned about what her mother might’ve put in the food. She fiddled with her glass of juice, but she didn’t lift it to her mouth.“How is your new place?” asked her father. He sounded almost normal.She shrugged a shoulder. “I haven’t found one yet. I’m staying with a friend for now.” She bit down on her lip, wondering if she should’ve admitted that. Surely, they’d make an intuitive leap and realize she was staying with Bodie.Martina stiffened slightly. “You’re not staying in Northstar, are you? You did promise to stay away from there.”“Someone I know from work.” That wasn’t technically a lie, since she and Bodie had reconnected at The Honey Trap.“This omelet is outstanding, Martina.” Thomas took a big bite, and his appetite seemed as normal as e
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27The forum was practically dead, though Bodie continued to try to make connections or get people to say something. It appeared that the most active ones, the forum founders, weren’t online. Without them there, everyone else checked in and left quickly. He dared hope that without those three, the whole movement might fall apart if they could find out who was behind it.That wasn’t entirely true though, because there were locations sprouting up all over the world, according to the forum. Each country had its own subforum, and there was enough activity in each one that suggested the Human Purity Movement was gaining momentum, even though it was currently bound by secrecy since shifters weren’t yet known to the whole world.His blood ran cold when he read a post about how they might force shifters into the public eye, making humans acknowledge them. It was a terrible idea, and he knew humans weren’t ready for it. It would lead to war and suffering for both sides, but likely his own peop
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28Claire’s window was painted shut. That wasn’t something new and nefarious that her parents had done since she’d last used the room. It had happened accidentally five years ago, when her father had repainted the room for her when she was deep in depression. It had been Martina’s idea to brighten the room and change her perspective.It hadn’t completely helped pull her out of depression, but she’d appreciated the gesture, and the warm yellow color had been cheerful then. It was still cheerful now, and it brought a surge of nostalgia for the parents she’d had. That was followed by a crushing wave of grief, since they clearly weren’t the same people, and she didn’t know if they could be reclaimed.She let out a sniffle as she sat on the bed, feeling sorry for herself. For a moment, she wanted to wallow in despair. It was eerily parallel to how she’d felt for the first few weeks after being released from the hospital, when she’d had no reason to go on and had been completely without hop
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29Dillon answered on the second ring, and Bodie quickly filled him in on what had happened, along with the suspicion there was a bomb somewhere in Northstar. Dillon sounded as alarmed as Bodie felt, and he promised he and Juno would immediately begin searching. “Be sure to check in frequently,” said Dillon before hanging up.The misery was practically pouring off Claire in waves, and he could feel it as if it were his own. If he allowed it to overcome him, he would probably burst into tears alongside her as she continued to silently cry. He did his best to erect a block between them just so he could stop receiving the full brunt of her emotions at the moment. He did reach across the bench seat and take her hand though, squeezing gently. He wanted to tell her it would it be okay, but he didn’t want to make a promise he couldn’t keep.As he drove toward Northstar, he tried to think about where they might have planted a bomb. It couldn’t be anywhere too visible for the components, or ev
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