Page 11 of Echo Of A Wolf

Ever.

Heat spread through my chest, and my raven went wild. She wanted me to go after Dean, to explain myself to him, to let him know that I’d fought against the mind control like the rest of them, but I knew he wouldn’t believe me.

Dean Voss was the type of man who only believed what he wanted, and nothing anyone did could change his mind.

He might be a wolf shifter, but he was stubborn as a damn ox.

6

DEAN

Frustration pulsed through me because I couldn’t get Astrid out of my damn head for the past two days. I kept seeing how hurt she’d looked by what I had said. It had me wondering if I’d been wrong to say she seemed compliant with the things that happened with Lucius and about her not fighting back.

My wolf grumbled, but I blocked him out, choosing to focus instead on the rhythmic sound of the ground rushing to meet my shoes as I jogged through the woods near my place.

He’d had his turn.

I’d set him free last night. If he was still feeling crabby, that was on him. It was my turn to destress.

I pushed myself harder, hoping physical exertion would steady my mind and wolf for the day. Hoping to get Astrid out of my head.

It didn’t work.

Her warning about Xander being different now and there being a coldness to him that wasn’t there before, a darkness, surfaced again half a heartbeat later.

For the millionth time, I wondered what she’d meant by that.

What about him had changed? And what cold darkness was she talking about?

While it was true that I’d felt something while in his presence—and so had my wolf—I also didn’t know him well enough to know if I was right.

I should have asked Astrid to elaborate.

Instead, I’d been so hung up on thinking she was stalking me and getting a dig in at her that I hadn’t cared about what she’d said.

I cared now.

I couldn’t get her words out of my head any more than I could get out how hurt she’d looked by what I’d said.

Shit.

I’d threatened her. She had every right to keep her distance from me now, which she seemed to be doing because I hadn’t seen her since.

If only I knew how to reach her.

I realized then that everything I knew about her could fit on one hand—she was a raven shifter, Xander’s younger sister, and she sometimes enjoyed having an Americano from The Caffeinated Fox.

Knowing that last tidbit about her was why I’d frequented the coffee shop more in the last two days than I ever had. I’d hoped to run into her there, but if she came through, our paths never crossed.

Honestly, it felt as though the woman had vanished.

My wolf released a howl. It was a panicked and desperate sound that grated my nerves. He was acting stranger than usual lately and I couldn’t pinpoint why. All I knew was that now was not the time for him to be giving me more crap about anything. He needed to stand down so I could figure some things out.

I started back home. It was time to shower and get to the diner for my shift.

The drive to work cleared my head more than any run I’d been on lately as myself or my wolf had, but only because some asshat switched lanes without looking and nearly clipped the front end of my truck. I probably should have thanked him for distracting me, but instead I’d flipped him off.

Once I parked, I made my way through the alley to the back door of the diner. My thoughts shifted from the shitty driver, who’d almost clipped me, to Astrid faster than I thought possible. It was maddening.

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