The Winter Wolves

6. Breakfast

I approached the wooden table that was now laden with food. There was pancakes, bacon, and sunny-side up eggs dished on my blue plates. My stomach growled its demand for food as I seated myself. Ciaran took a slow, cautious seat opposite of me. His large frame paling in comparison to the old wooden chair he sat on.

"Thank you," I stated, with sincerity lacing my tone.

"It is the least I could do for you, especially after what you did for me," he replied coolly.

There it was. His words that were the metaphorical bucket of cold water splashed on my brain. The reminder that the man sitting across from me wasn't necessarily entirely a man. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words were caught in my throat. Ciaran spoke before any words could get out, "Let's just eat for right now. I'll explain after, I promise."

I nodded silently and proceeded to cut a piece of pancake and shovel it into my mouth. My taste buds ignited with a plethora of heavenly flavors of sweet and savory from the butter and the maple syrup that coated the fluffy chunk of pancake I had just consumed. Before I knew it I let out a small moan of pleasure. Ciaran's eyes shot up to meet mine and a small smile dashed across his face.

"That good?"

"Mmmmmmm," I hummed with my mouth full.

These were the best buttermilk pancakes I had ever had in my life. They were fluffy and tasted of heaven. The bacon was chewy and the saltiness balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the pancakes and syrup. I was in bliss as we ate in silence. I devoured the rest of what was on my plate and then another plateful. I hadn't eaten in twenty-four hours, my last meal had been some jerky the day before when I was hunting. Ciaran helped himself to a third plate of food. The man could eat.

I reclined back in my chair and placed my hands on my stomach.

"I think I ate too fast," I groaned out. "You can cook, I'll hand that to you."

"Was that a compliment? I never thought I would hear such sweet words coming from your mouth."

"Heyyyyy, if you would have explained everything before I would have saved all those lovely words for Angela and not for you," I retorted.

A loud laugh from Ciaran broke the silence in the air. Since the moment was light and airy I decided to shatter it.

"So, what are you?" I asked deadpanned.

Ciaran froze mid laugh and his whole demeanor changed. He straightened up right in his chair and his grey eyes darkened a shade. He was now serious and a pained expression crossed his face before he spoke in a quiet, deadly tone, "Let's get one thing straight, you can't breathe a whisper of this to a soul or I might to kill you for my family's safety. My family comes first. Are we understood?"

My eyes widened, he was serious, he would kill me. "I understand," I choked out. Goosebumps rippled across my flesh as his threat still lingered in my ears.

"Follow me," he ordered and pushed off from the table with his muscular arms. I did not dare to argue, I rose to my feet and followed on his heels swiftly. The man had a long stride and I struggled slightly to keep up.

We walked outside. Sparrow and Coal barked excitedly and rushed to Ciaran. "No jumping," I ordered and they both halted in their tracks. Ciaran leaned down and stroked them gently on their heads. Their tails eagerly thumping on the ground and excited whines escaped their lips.

"Off you go," I said and they took off back into the field.

Ciaran continued walking and went into the barn. I followed him hesitantly. The surrealness of the situation slowly sinking in.