By the Light of the Silver Moon

Chapter 21 Fox

"Are you hungry?" I asked Marigold after giving her a tour of the packhouse. She nodded, biting her lip shyly. This woman was going to be the death of me. One second she was playful and confident, and the next she was bashful and shy. I loved both sides of her and she was too damn cute either way, but her moods were beginning to give me motion sickness.

"Do you want to go down to the dining hall or should I have something sent up to your room?" I asked, wrapping my arm around her waist. I was thankful that she was, at least, letting me be close to her.

"I'm not sure." She shrugged hesitantly. I checked my watch,

"It's after eight on a school night, most of the pack is at home for the evening." I assured her, assuming that she was nervous about the crowds.

"Okay." She finally said and we rode the elevator back down to the ground floor.

"You said during the tour that there were classrooms here, is the pack homeschool?" Marigold asked.

"It's up to each family. We have a couple of pack teachers to offer tuTorring or homeschooling. But, they're also free to go to the public school nearby." I explained. Marigold nodded but said nothing.

Admittedly, she was taking all of this really well. She was asking all the right questions and was staying pretty calm, all things considered.

I took Marigold to the dining hall and led the way to the buffet. There were so many food preferences and dietary needs in the pack that having buffet style food was so much easier than a catered lunch or cafeteria style service.

"What would you like, love?" I asked, picking up a plate from the end.

Marigold looked over all of the food options with wide eyes. I could practically see her salivating. My guess was, it had been a while since she had so many delicious choices for dinner. I didn't want to imagine what she was fed as a servant, and I was fairly certain she wasn't out sampling gourmet restaurants over the last few weeks on her own.

She ended up picking a little bit of everything and we took two plates full of food to the tables. I sat the plates in between us and she picked off both of them.

"Can I ask you something?" I said after a while of silence. Marigold nodded with her mouth full.

"I was just wondering where you've been?" I asked carefully. Marigold finished her food and sat down her fork,

"You really don't know?" She asked.

"Why would I?"

"You had access to the phone and the money," she shrugged,

"I assumed you would have checked in on it at some point."

"I told you I wouldn't." I was a little offended that she had so little faith or trust in me, but I had to put myself in her shoes. She wasn't used to men being honest and trustworthy.

"I was in California. Laguna Beach." She answered.

"Did you like it there?" I asked.

"I liked the beach." She shrugged, taking another bite of her food.

"What did you do?"

"I worked at a bookstore." She replied casually. I was surprised that she had a job. I had given her more than enough money, she didn't have to worry about working.

"Really?"

"It was something to do and I enjoyed it." She said, sending my curiosity. I made a mental note of that.

We spent the rest of the evening either in silence or casually talking. Around ten we went back upstairs and said goodnight.

Her sleeping so close to me and not being able to see or touch her was agonizing. I started the night off in my bed, but a little after midnight, I couldn't take it anymore. I went out in the hall and sat against her door. I could hear her delicate heartbeat and little snores from outside the room. It gave me enough peace to rest.