She should have seen it immediately: despite Shay's neat, swinging bob and feminine features, she moved the same way Zander and his Pack did, with a kind of solid grace, as if she was completely aware at all times of her body, without even having to think about it. And she had touched Zander the way he touched the guys in his Pack, easy and as if her body was almost part of his own.
He didn't touch Bonnie that way. Not that Bonnie had any complaints at all about the way Zander did touch her, which was sweet and sure and as if she was the most precious thing he'd ever held. But still, it wasn't quite the same.
There was no one there to overhear, but Shay pinned Bonnie with a glare. "Keep your voice down," she whispered fiercely.
"Sorry," Bonnie said. "I just didn't know there were girl Original werewolves."
Shay's lips curved into a smirk. "Sure," she said. "Where do you think all the little Original werewolves come from?"
"The High Wolf Council usually divides younger wolves up into Packs of either guys or girls when they send us out to keep an eye on things," Zander told Bonnie. "They think mixing together distracts us from our jobs."
"Apparently they're not considering the other ways some of us can get distracted," Shay said acidly. Her eyes were cold on Bonnie's, but Bonnie hadn't been through hell and back in the last year to let any bossy and self-important werewolf girl push her around.
Bonnie was just opening her mouth to tell Shay that she'd better lose the attitude when Zander, seeming to sense her reaction, grabbed hold of Bonnie's hand.
"Listen, Shay, I really need to get some rest," he said quickly. "We'll catch up later, okay? Call me or one of the other guys and we'll get together." Bonnie had a brief impression of Shay looking startled, and then Zander hurried Shay right out of the room and shut the door behind her.
"So . . . friend from back home?" Bonnie asked after a moment. "I don't think you've mentioned her before."
"Um," Zander said. His gorgeous long lashes brushed his cheeks as he looked down, away from Bonnie, and she might have been distracted by how sweet that made him look. Except that Zander also looked distinctly guilty.
Bonnie suddenly felt her stomach sink. "Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked. Zander shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, his cheeks flushing, and Bonnie's stomach plummeted even further. "No more secrets, remember?"
Zander sighed. "I just think this is going to sound like a bigger deal than it is," he said.
"Zander," Bonnie said.
"The High Wolf Council wanted Shay and me to be together," Zander confessed. He glanced up at her tentatively through his lashes. "They, um, I guess thought we'd be like mates? Get married, maybe, and have werewolf children together when we finished school. They thought we'd make a good team."
Bonnie blinked. Her brain felt numb, she realized. Zander and Shay had thought about getting married?
"But we couldn't get along," Zander said hurriedly. "I swear, Bonnie, we just never clicked. We fought, like, all the time. So we broke up."
"Uh," Bonnie said. She was so blindsided by this, it felt like a huge effort to even put words together. "So the High Wolf Council controls who you marry?" she asked finally, picking the most general of the questions swarming her mind.
"They try," Zander said, looking at her anxiously. "They can't . . . they can't make me do anything I don't want to do. And they wouldn't want to. They're fair." His sky-blue eyes, that heavenly tropical blue, caught hers, and he smiled tentatively, his hands warm on her shoulders. "You're the one I love, Bonnie," he said. "Believe me."
"I do believe you," Bonnie said, because she did; it was shining out of Zander's eyes. And she loved him, too. Zander flinched a little as she hugged him, and Bonnie loosened her arms, mindful of his bruises. "It's okay," she said softly.
But even as she turned her face up to Zander's kiss, Bonnie couldn't help the word that resounded in her mind, making her twitch with anxiety.
Uh-oh.
Stefan and Elena curled together on his bed, her head on his shoulder. Stefan let himself relax under her touch, feeling the softness of her hair against his cheek. It had been a seemingly endless day. But Elena was safe, for now. Just for this moment, she was in Stefan's arms and nothing would hurt her. He tightened his hold on her.
"Is Chloe going to be all right?" Elena asked.
Stefan bit back an incredulous little laugh and the corners of Elena's lips turned up in response. "What?" she said.
"You're worried about Chloe," Stefan said. "Klaus has promised to kill you, and you want to hear if Chloe, who you barely knew when she was human, is going to be all right." He should have known, though. Elena had a core of steel running through her. And nothing was more important to her than protecting her friends, her town, the world.
Maybe, Stefan thought, she's always been a Guardian.
"I haven't stopped thinking about what Klaus said," Elena told him, and Stefan felt her body shudder against his. "I'm afraid. But I can't stop caring about everyone else, either. Matt needs Chloe, so she matters to me, too. I worry that there might not be a lot of time left. We should all be with the people we love." She kissed Stefan, just a light brush of her lips on his. When she spoke again, her voice trembled. "We just found each other again, Stefan. I don't want to miss anything. All I want to do is hold on to you."
Stefan kissed her, more deeply this time. I love you, he told her silently. I will protect you with my life.