Page 13 of Awakened
“Ah, good ole Seth.” Sarah winked at me, and I rolled my eyes. Like most of the girls in the pack, she had tried and failed to, as she said, “get a piece” of Seth. She always said it was unfair that I spent so much time with him, as well as having the future alpha all to myself.
Wanting to avoid the Seth topic, I said, “I need to unpack today, and I think I’ll go for a run in Forest Park later. I haven’t shifted in three or four days.”
“Sounds good. Do you need any help?”
“Nah, you go ahead and carry on as normal. I need to be alone and sort some shit out. Get my head on straight before my interview tomorrow.”
“All right, you know where to find me if you need me—on the couch!” she sang the last part as she walked into the living room.
I followed her into the apartment and went upstairs. The first night, I only got my bed put together, so I still had a lot of work to do. While I put my clothes away, I let my mind wander to the shittiness of fate.
How was it that my fiancé found his mate? Mates were a thing of the past. Generations ago, every wolf had one, but with the world’s current population, it was highly unlikely you’d find your true mate.
And yet . . .
Maybe I could’ve dealt with everything better if he hadn’t told me he still loved me. Goddess, I wished the mate bond would’ve stopped him from loving me. While our love was based on ourhearts and intellect, his mate bond was based on some bizarre biology. It fucking sucked that our decade together couldn’t stand up to genetic nonsense.
I opened a box and came across a stack of our pictures that I hadn’t gotten rid of yet. How do you throw out pictures from every milestone? On top of the pile of frames was a photo from a few summers ago when I became gamma of the pack. After the ceremony and celebration, we drove out to Thousand Hills to camp. Emily took the picture of us sitting by the fire. Aiden’s arms were wrapped around my waist. He stared down at me with a big, goofy smile, and my head was thrown back in a laugh. That was one of the best days of my life. I tried to shake off the sadness, shoved the pictures under my bed, and started on a less offensive box.
I filled two bookshelves with my prized special editions, but there was still a box of some of my dad’s old journals and books left. I had no more space, so I stored them in my closet until I could get more shelving.
Eventually, all the boxes were empty, and the room had come to life with my belongings. When I got downstairs, I found Sarah asleep on the couch with some teen drama on TV. I whipped up a quick dinner, wishing I’d gone grocery shopping because Sarah kept a pretty sparse kitchen.
While I ate, I checked my phone for the first time all day.
Seth Collins
Hey, I hope you got settled in all right. Let me know if you need anything. Emily’s getting a group together to visit in a couple of weeks. I’m trying to clear my schedule.
Brandon
I got home okay. Emily was at my place and spent a whole minute smelling my shirt. She misses you.
Where did you say the extra key to the house was? In the kitchen at the pack house? I don’t remember.
Never mind, Seth had it.
Asshole
Call me. We need to discuss when you’re coming back for the pack meeting. I need to talk to you about the Luna Ceremony.
Fuck. They were going to do the Luna Ceremony at the next pack meeting? I knew then and there that I would need to go rogue as soon as possible. There was no way I was going to watch that bullshit.
I responded to Seth and Brandon’s texts and cleared my dishes. Checking on Sarah one more time, I walked out the door and into the night, ready to let my wolf out. The park was a quick run from Sarah’s. Behind a cluster of trees and bushes, I stripped out of my clothes and allowed myself to go wolf.
Running through the empty park, I felt more free than I had in weeks. The pack didn’t buzz through my mind because we were too far apart to link, which also meant I was free to allow my mind to wander through all my pain without fear that they would hear everything.
The park was a unique experience. Amongst the museums and landmarks was a giant zoo. The smells were dizzying, and I had to fight my nature to stay away. There was no way I wanted to end up all over the local news as the werewolf that broke into the St. Louis Zoo.
After running for what must have been hours, I headed back to the tree where I had hidden my clothes. As I approached the clearing, I heard a low growl. Turning around, I found a snarling wolf with glowing blue eyes that was easily double my size. The silver fur down their spine stood straight up. Based on the authority that radiated off them, they were an alpha.
Theywere also female.
I didn’t recall there being a female alpha in this area, but I was admittedly not as familiar with the pack politics of St. Louis as I should be—an oversight I was starting to seriously regret. The longer we stood stuck in a staring contest, the more my straight-up fear turned to awe. I wasn’t sure if I was scared or impressed by this amazing wolf.
Well, that is until they lunged in my direction.
Scared.
