Page 50 of The Awakened Wolf

For film school.

I thought you’d want me to forget that.

I’ve got what I wanted. You do you.

A chill slid down my spine, drawing both hands to the cold pit in my stomach.

You don’t mean…

My wolf chuffed with her version of laughter. Relax. I only meant Sebastian. You’re not getting a break from me yet.

Oh. My hands dropped to my knees as I doubled over with relief. You couldn’t have said something sooner?

If he wasn’t coming back, I was holding out hope…

I rolled my eyes as I straightened up, but deep down, I understood. The same way I supposed my mother must have understood when she met my father and broke Mateo’s heart. It had to be him. A smile flitted across my lips as I ran my thumb around the smooth gold band on my finger, from one side of the diamond to the other. We were going to be more than fated mates though; we were going to be husband and wife. And whenever I announced it was time to come down here, the waiting room would be empty. Sebastian would be with me on the other side of that forbidden door.

The soft squeal of a door snapped me out of this unexpected daydream, but the hallway remained empty. A moment later, the muffled sound of voices pricked my inner wolf ears, and I charged ahead, ready to get this over with and get out of here. It shouldn’t have been quiet enough for me to hear anyone speaking so softly. Since this was the closest thing our pack had to a hospital, all mothers and pups had been sent back to their own apartments days ago so they wouldn’t come in contact with any of the shifters showing signs of infection. The shifters Cerys said my sister had come down here to visit. It seemed there’d been fewer than I thought.

I came to a wide-open door and stepped inside the waiting room, pretending not to have seen the little smear of blood on the knob that I definitely saw. The door to the den was shut enough for no one on the other side to see me but not enough to keep their conversation from escaping.

“Why have the others stopped howling, Alpha Kiana?” Jesmyn’s voice, tired but still respectfully formal, stopped me in my tracks.

There had been others.

And they’d been howling.

My skin crawled as the silence around me gelled into a presence of its own.

“I was told their infection has progressed past the point of treatment, so I did what I had to. I put them out of their misery.”

I winced. So nice of Kiana to sugarcoat it.

“Will you do that to me if the treatment doesn’t work?”

I bit the inside of my cheek as tears pricked in my eyes. Thank Leto Jesmyn hadn’t shown any symptoms and qualified for the treatment. I could only keep praying that it worked. Because I knew Kiana’s answer before she gave it.

“Yes, Jesmyn. An Alpha never lets those in her pack suffer.” Her tone was firm, though tinged with sadness.

“Thank you,” Jesmyn sighed. “That’s a great relief.”

I bristled, wanting to barge in and confront my sister, the pack-culler and pup-threatener, but I didn’t. Because she was right. It wasn’t her job to be nice or please everyone. That was impossible. I’d finally seen enough to learn what every day of her Alpha training taught her. It was an Alpha’s job to be strong when they needed someone to make the tough decisions. And having seen Max at the end? I could agree that being put down was a kindness at that point.I was glad Jesmyn hadn’t seen him, because her next question broke my heart.

“Do you think my father is still alive?”

“Of course ,” Kiana said, sounding very self-assured. “The humans want him alive for study, but he’ll be back with us. Very soon.”

He would? My mind spun. How could Kiana be so sure? Sebastian hadn’t told me anything about rescue plans for Blaze. Was I being left out of the loop for the billionth time? But Kiana wouldn’t lie to Jesmyn to spare her feelings. Otherwise, she would’ve lied to her about killing the others.

“That’s wonderful news,” Jesmyn replied, her voice softening to barely a whisper. “Could you wait to kill me until I’ve seen him?”

Now I was pissed. It was possible the treatment wouldn’t work, but Jayla said the vaccines were proven to prevent the rabies from taking over a person’s brain as long as they hadn’t reached it yet, and she would be showing physical symptoms if they had. Why didn’t Kiana just tell her that?I slid forward a half step closer to where I could see Jesmyn’s profile through the crack. A light sheen of sweat gleamed on her pale brow.

“Do you think…” Jesmyn picked at a thread of her blanket, avoiding Kiana’s eyes. “I’ll see my mother again when I die?”

“I know you will.” My sister’s voice uncharacteristically soft. “She’ll be waiting for you in the Yonder Fields.”

Jesmyn looked up, eyes wide. “How can you be so sure?”

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