Page 75 of Rogue Wolf

The thoroughly cleaned clubhouse looked even better than before the attack, with clean carpets, fresh paint, and new curtains hung. But evidence of the massacre couldn’t be removed so easily from Tamaska’s mind.

That would take time.

She might be an outsider, but at least cleaning had given her a purpose for most of the day. Every shifter a job to do, and they went about it in a loaded silence that made her uneasy.

The others left her alone. In fact, they wouldn’t even go near her, and that suited her just fine. She had nothing to say to them, nor them to her. Ash was holed up with her laptop. She tried not to take it personally, they’d sorted out the issue, right? So Ash was researching what Tamaska had told her. But still… She wasn’t here, and Ash had been one of the few wolves she’d ever felt connected to.

She was here, not in the same room with her, though. And…the worry for Kodiak kept building.

The loneliness didn’t help. Apart from the worry and fear, Tamaska longed for him to return. To her. She felt lost without him, unsure of what to do, who to trust—even and she hated to be like this, but even within the pack— and what her future would hold. What if he never returned?

Since discovering her wolf shifter genes, she was spiraling, out of control. Her friend, who she could talk to was dead, and even those in the pack…they didn’t understand her humanity on a deep level.

Shit, she didn’t even know if Kodiak did, but she knew he’d stand by her, always.

And he wasn’t here.

He should be back by now.

As each minute ticked and her fear for him grew, she’d begun to feel less human, as if a change had initiated within her. But the change only felt partial, as if it still needed to progress into something more. She needed to speak to Kodiak about it. To see him. Hold him.

But he wasn’t there.

Tamaska pushed the newly hung thick black curtain out of the way to look out the window. There was no sign of him coming down the driveway.

“Kodiak,” she whispered. “Please be all right. Please come home to me. To your people.”

And to her. She needed him back, alive and unharmed, otherwise she didn’t know how she could go on.

Fern crouched outside, changing the plates on the car she’d used to pick up the carpet cleaners. She planned to return them before the end of the day. Onai, now in charge, had given everyone strict orders to return before sunset and prepare for any potential vampire attacks.

And because of the fact the vampires seemed to be roaming in daylight, a large number of pack members patrolled the grounds.

But under it was a terrible sense of waiting. For Kodiak.

The growing fear made her crazy, angry. And she had nothing to lash out on, and nothing to occupy her time, not since she was done with the damn cleaners.

Fuck. Tamaska hated waiting.

If only he hadn’t gone off to be a fucking hero.

She let the curtain fall back and stepped away from the window. It was better not to look outside, as it only reminded her that no one was about to let her go looking, just like no one would disobey their Alpha.

The whole thing clawed at her.

It wouldn’t be long before dark. Once night fell, she’d know for sure that something bad had happened, and she wasn’t ready to face that.

She needed something to do. Maybe pack up the damn carpet cleaner.

“How many times do I need to tell you to rest?” asked Roan as he entered the foyer. He wore loose track pants and a casual T-shirt. He’d recently showered, and the clean scent of soap lingered in the air.

“I rested in the car,” she said, wrapping the carpet cleaner’s electrical cord around its body.

“That was barely an hour. That’s not long enough,” Roan said, helping her move the machine to the front stoop, where the other cleaners already sat.

“That’s long enough for me. I can’t sleep until he’s back.”

“I get it, but you need to have all your strength if you want to be turned.”

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