Echoes of Fire (The Mercury Pack #4)(17)
Privacy, peace, and quiet did not exist in shelters. Madisyn liked to have all three—maybe because it reminded her that she was no longer there. She didn’t even like having people in her lair; needed that little haven that was hers and only hers. Living on pack territory would mean giving all that up.
If she took Bracken as her mate, she’d also be expected to welcome him totally into her life, and Madisyn didn’t really know how to share her life with someone. She’d been on her own since her parents died when she was twelve. The human authorities had passed her from foster home to foster home like a parcel. No one kept her around for long. Apparently, people didn’t like it when you started fires for the sheer fun of it. Shocking.
Looking back, she realized now that the display of deviant behavior had been her way of testing people, of seeing how committed they were to keeping her before she let herself get comfortable. She wondered if her past efforts to annoy Bracken had been her subconscious way of testing him.
Social services had eventually dumped her at the shelter. It had taken a while before Madisyn truly believed that Dawn would allow her to stay. Before that, she’d been constantly on edge, thinking it was only a matter of time before Dawn forced her to leave.
Makenna had turned up at the shelter not long after her, and they’d immediately clicked. Over time, Madisyn had also developed a bond with Dawn. But they were really the only people she had a true attachment to. She’d never developed any attachments to the males in her past. Those relationships had been simple and fun. None of those males had dared look at her with the possessiveness that Bracken had. They hadn’t expected anything of her. Hadn’t laid any demands on her. Hadn’t questioned her actions or interfered with her decisions. But Bracken would. He’d be, by his own admittance, a pain in her ass. And as a matter of fact, she’d be a pain in his.
Nope, what lay ahead wouldn’t be easy on either of them. But now that the shock had worn off and she was no longer feeling off-balance, she could think just fine. Could breathe without panicking. Could even smile at the idea that the guy she’d been craving for years had turned out to be her mate. Plenty of people would think her fortunate.
Hugging her pillow, Madisyn sighed. Like the rest of the bedding, it was soft and luxurious. Nothing like the beds she’d slept in at the shelter. She could still remember the feel of bedsprings poking into her back. Still remembered how the bed squeaked with each move she made. Still remembered huddling under the bobbly, threadbare blankets, trying to stay warm. There were times when the shelter was so full, she’d been forced to sleep on a thin sleeping pad so that the elderly residents had something comfier to sleep on.
Now that she had her own home, she enjoyed her comforts. No cheap shampoo and soap. No rough, secondhand clothes. No coarse towels or thin, lumpy pillows. Best of all, she had her own space. A space she might soon lose, she remembered, but she’d stop thinking about that now. She had other things to concern herself with, like the Maverick Clan situation—something that Makenna and Dawn needed to be warned about.
She peeled back the crisp rose-gold coverlet and edged out of bed. For once, she didn’t feel groggy. Probably because it was the best night’s sleep she’d had in two weeks. There was no restlessness. No cold sweats. No itching. Nothing. Which, of course, was thanks to Bracken’s very skilled fingers—that was another thing she wouldn’t think about now.
After a quick feline stretch, she opened the venetian blinds, letting rays of sunlight stream into the room. Heading into the tiled bathroom, she glanced at herself in the mirror. No bags or black smudges under her eyes. No paleness of the skin. It was nice not to look at her reflection and wince.
She cringed at the sight of Bracken’s bite, of course. She gently touched the mark, frowning when it tingled. She’d never worn a brand that deep before. It would take a good dose of concealer to hide it. Shifters healed quicker than humans, but it would probably take a couple of days for a mark that distinctive to completely fade. He wouldn’t like that she’d covered it, but she wasn’t ready for the questions it would raise. Not yet.
Reminding herself she had shit to do, Madisyn did her business, brushed her teeth, and took a long shower. The latter was a luxury she’d missed while living at the shelter, where there had always been a queue of people waiting for their own turns. Leaving her hair to dry naturally, she quickly dressed and then headed to the kitchen. By the time she’d finished her breakfast and coffee, her hair was dry, and it was time to leave.
It was a short drive to the shelter. Madisyn parked her car in the lot, walked up the path to the redbrick building, and unlocked the door. As she stepped into the small, bright reception area, the smells of coffee, bleach, and various breeds of shifter swirled around her.
Having so many different kinds of shifter in one place wasn’t easy, and it sometimes led to trouble. It was rare that residents were ejected from the facility, but it happened occasionally.
They rarely received problems from outsiders. A witch had embedded protective wards into the walls, keeping anyone who meant harm out of the building unless they were invited inside. That didn’t mean the place was invulnerable. In fact, an Alpha wolf once had a witch bypass such wards to allow him and his pack inside. A massive fight had occurred, during which Makenna had almost died. Madisyn was still pissed at her for that, which was irrational, but whatever.
“You know the rules, Harrison,” said Shaun, the cheetah shifter manning the desk, who worked there in return for being allowed to stay permanently. “I can’t let you in if you’ve been drinking.”