Pride, Mates, and Past Mistakes

Lesson #1 of The Life Of A Secret Agent: Handkerchiefs Are Weapons

*Sierra*

“You have to slide it slower,” An annoyed Casey told Nolan as he slid the hotel card into the slot for our room.

Nolan silently obeyed, sliding the hotel card slower, as Casey had instructed, and the green button lit up. There was a small, almost undetectable click, signaling that the bolt had unlocked.

I opened the door, and everyone else crowded into the room wordlessly.

The hotel room was large, spacious, and circular, with six doors spread out along the wall.

James walked around, opening doors and poking his head in each.

“Okay,” he said after poking his head into the last door, “That room right there is the kitchen.” He pointed to the door on the most left. “The rest are bedrooms—and there are five.” He glanced at all of us. “But there are six of us. Unless someone wants the couch, two of us will have to share.”

I glanced around at everyone, who were also glancing at the other. Nolan was giving me and Casey a glance, like he expected us to room together—which made sense. Casey and I shared all the time back at the pack house.

I glanced at Casey, wondering if I could share with her, but Casey was staring straight forward, her face expressionless. She looked determined not to make eye contact with anyone.

Ever since Nolan and she started to have more communication between them, something about her seemed…off.

We may be best friends, but I knew that even she would need her space tonight.

“Doreen, do you want to share a room?”

Doreen looked at me in surprise, but thankfully, being the bubbly, happy person she was, she didn’t look upset. “Sure,” she answered cheerfully.

Casey turned her head just slightly, locking her eyes with mine and shooting me a grateful look.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Now that that’s settled, I think we should all get some sleep. We have a lot to cover tomorrow.”

Nolan, James, and Casey headed into their rooms, and Doreen headed into ours.

With a start, I realized Cody and I were the only ones left in the room. A painful pang shot through my chest and I winced inaudibly.

Vaguely, I wondered if he felt the pain too. Maybe it was a femme wolf thing?

For a minute, we both stared at our feet awkwardly, not knowing what to do nor say.

Then he cleared his throat and opened his mouth, obviously about to say something.

Suddenly, I was nervous. My wolf was purring in my chest, excitedly encouraging me to go talk to him, but that was the last thing I wanted.

 I had enough complications to deal with—along with saving the world— and I did not have space for teenage drama scenes in my life at the moment.

“Um, I—have a good night!” I blurted quickly, cutting off whatever he was going to say. I yanked my bags up and off the floor and hurried into my room, avoiding his startled expression.

I shut the door quickly, and leaned back against it and closed my eyes.

How on earth was I supposed to lead this mission with him with me every day?

“Tired much?”

My eyes flew open. Doreen was standing by the bed, her eyebrows raised, already changed into a tank top and red pajama pants. I had completely forgotten we were sharing rooms.