Chapter 121 - Schoolhouse

August hadn't been kidding about her stepdad having money. Graeme stood outside of the restored old schoolhouse that was now her family home in Maiden Rock.

The town itself was beautiful. It drew visitors for its quaint, historic charm and for the fact that it ran along the Mississippi while being only a short distance away from Minneapolis-St.Paul in neighboring Minnesota.

Alan and Susan Smith. Her parents had such common, average names—you could almost expect to find them in every city in the U.S. Alan worked as a pharmacist in St. Paul, which was convenient at the moment seeing as how he wasn't currently at home.

"Isn't it beautiful?" a female voice asked behind Graeme. He turned slowly with his hands in his pockets and saw a young attractive woman smiling at him.

"Yes, it is," he agreed.

"You don't look familiar," she observed, and he didn't miss the way her eyes slowly slid down his body before returning to his face with a flirtatious smile.

A flare of irritation lit behind his eyes when he scented her arousal, and the putter of a growl wanted to sound in his throat, but he clenched his hands instead. Why was he reacting to this female this way? It had never happened before.

Graeme definitely wasn't a stranger to attention, but he usually just ignored it. He had learned to maintain a low profile to keep out of the humans' awareness for the most part, but today he had ended up in a very small town standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring at August's childhood home—he looked down at the clothes he was wearing—in a fitted white v-neck.

He should have thrown something else on. For some reason, these simple t-shirts seemed to get a lot of attention.

"You must be someone who appreciates beauty," the female said while allowing her eyes to run over his chest. "Architectural beauty, I mean," and she giggled unnecessarily.

"More like history. Do you know much about this building?" He asked politely.

"Of course," she replied. "This was a schoolhouse built in the 1800s. It was restored in the 80s and converted into a bed and breakfast for several years before the current owners bought it. Now, it's a private residence."

"You know a lot about it," he observed.

She shrugged. "Well, I grew up here. In such a small town you tend to know everyone and everything there is to know about a place. That's why it's nice when we get visitors."

Graeme thought over what she said. That meant she knew August. He was so curious to ask if that was the case, but the last thing he could do was reveal that he knew her.

"So a family lives here?" he asked.

"Just a married couple," she replied.

Graeme frowned. This was the right house. Maybe she responded that way because August had left for college.

"Well, thank you for the information. I better be off," he smiled and started walking toward his car next to the curb.

This unknown female reached for his arm, and as soon as she brushed it, he went rigid. "Already? Don't you want to look around a bit more? I could show you more of the hidden gems of Maiden Rock," she suggested while drawing herself closer.

"I don't think so," he tried to maintain the polite smile as he left her there on the sidewalk without snapping her arm in two like he wanted.

He got back in the car and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Why was he reacting so strongly to another female's attention? It must have something to do with his mate. He had heard of possessive lycan mates before, but he couldn't remember ever hearing about mate partners reacting like he did when approached by the opposite sex.

Perhaps it had to do with the mark that August had given him the night of the full moon. A crooked smile bloomed on his face as he ran over the spot with his hand—the only scar he had ever gotten. She left a permanent mark on him. She was so innocent and unsure at the time, but her bite was fierce and possessive. At the time, he could feel her coursing through him so completely, it was as if they were one being at that moment.

And now he had to go days without her. He groaned in frustration, because his body was already reacting to that memory with her. Suddenly he understood the value of photographs that August had talked about in the sunflower field. He would give anything to be able to look at her face right now even if she wasn't there to hold.

He glanced at her home through the car window and decided he would, in fact, stay for just a little awhile. But no one else had to be aware of it.

Graeme ditched his car near one of the town's bluffs and shifted into wolf form to move more discretely through the woods before coming up behind the old schoolhouse. The building was surrounded by woods on this side, so there was no one in the vicinity who would see him enter from through the rear.

He shifted back to his human form and slid in through one of the kitchen windows that was unlocked. Apparently break-ins weren't a concern in this small, close-knit town.

The interior was on the small side for a schoolhouse but incredibly large for a private residence. All of the floors appeared to be the original wood, and the walls were all brick.

With the furnishings and spotless appearance, it would seem that Alan and Susan valued at least the appearance of perfection. Graeme wondered if August had felt comfortable here or if, like him, she had the feeling that this house was mostly for looking at rather than living in.

Curious as to whether her room would reveal more of the young girl who had grown up her, Graeme followed the long hallway through the middle of the home and up the curved staircase.. The wood creaked under his feet, and it wasn't difficult to imagine it doing the same for countless kids who studied here.