CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR Nick ~ My wolf hated the way Rachel had looked when we finally got to her house earlier. Asher reamed into me about how I failed my Alpha by letting her get this way. I tried asking him for a clear answer on if she was Jake’s mate but he wouldn’t talk to me. Just sat in the back of my mind howling. After we had left earlier he did come out a bit to tell me I was very lucky our Alpha was so kind to Rachel and that whatever Jake had done back there would make her stronger, would help her. I conveyed the message to Jake and he just nodded. Since some dream Jake had told us about after the nap they shared the last time we were here, I had been really worried. Not only because it seemed she had to be his mate. But the color eyes he had described. In his dream his wolf led a dark gray she-wolf with silver eyes to the Goddess at a lake… He swore it was Rachel as a wolf. The eyes he described... It was similar to what Evan and I had seen in Jake’s eyes now and again w
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE: Jake ~ I knew I was really pushing it now. But I couldn’t help myself. I needed to be around her a little longer and I didn’t need my babysitters with me. I was totally captivated by her. Her joy at the tree lighting, her harmonious voice that could lead a sailor to the depths of the sea. Her radiance. She was really relaxed and in her element out here and I wasn’t ready to let go. Nick could chew me out later. I didn’t care. We walked hand in hand the whole way to the bottom of the stairs to her apartment. I was glad we were walking so slowly. It meant more time with her. She was just - everything. Everything I wanted to be part of, everything I wasn’t. Everything good in my life. All together in one wonderful package. I was such an idiot to have ever thought I could give this up - her up. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. We were standing at the bottom of the stairs when she turned to me with a very serious look on her face. “Can I try to tell you something?” “Of
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX: I dreamt about wolves. I was one too. And we ran through a forest on a dark night. Starlight all that speckled the sky above between the tops of countless trees. It was freeing and wonderful. At full run it felt like flying. I ran closest to a gray wolf with golden orbs in its eyes. It was never far from me even when I strayed a bit from the group. If I slowed, it slowed, and when I ran at top speed around stumps and tree trunks, it followed close behind. But never in front. It never led. Whether it was faster than me, I didn’t know. It never tried to run faster than me that I know of. I felt kinship with the wolves all around. They felt like family. When I woke up it was nearly 9am. I had slept through the night and felt really rested. My joints ached a bit, neck stiff. Likely from all the previous nights of sleeping terribly. But I felt warm and safe for once in a long time. I remembered the day before. The tears, the nap, the dream. The tree lighting, the wal
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN Nick ~ He was all revved up, and although it would be months before his first shift, Jake looked like he needed a good run. At least he slept last night, my wolf Asher assured me. I’m going to take him out… Evan remarked through the link. I nodded. Evan didn’t think he was very intuitive but when it came to Jake he really was. I could use the peace too. I had talked a little to Mitchell’s parents last night during our impromptu sleepover and learned that his mom actually had a diary or two from some relative of hers that was part of West Woods long ago. I was hoping to talk with her again today and see if I could look through it. Maybe we could finally catch a break. “Are you coming too?” Jake asked me on his way out the door after Evan. Mitchell was already outside. “Nah, I’m going to hang back,” I said back. He gave me a peculiar look for a minute before nodding slightly and heading out. I heard them talking for a few blocks. Jake was super excite
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT: Jake~ She hadn’t responded to my most recent text. I know I probably came off a little too flirty in that earlier message, I knew that Sean guy was still in the picture, but I knew it couldn’t last with him. I know we are supposed to be together. So what was going on? It was already 1pm, and I felt something was going wrong. Not quite the deep panic from those other times something had happened to her, but I felt a dark, cold, squirm. Something was off. “We need to go check on her,” I looked at Nick. He had been finishing some explanation about what he had found earlier in Mitchell’s family’s attic. We were at a bench in the park to get some privacy for this very sensitive conversation. Nick looked at me, slightly annoyed. I must have cut him off or something. “Something’s… off,” Evan added, “Let’s go.” I was up and after Evan with Nick close behind. We ran quickly up the streets, up the hill, and started to make our way down the stairs. Nick put a h
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE Jake~ She was on a date. With her boyfriend. I wanted to die. I wanted to rage. “LISTEN,” Evan seethed at me. “Will you let me finish?” I shook my head, trying to regain control of my thoughts and nodded. “I think her mom knows something is up. I mean not werewolf-mate stuff, and all that. But she guessed that you had been part of her life lately. She told me basically that she didn’t like that guy and always thought you guys would be good together. Okay now I needed to keep shaking my head, this was not what I wanted to hear right now. Nick mumbled to himself next to me and all I wanted to do was start a one-sided fight with this tree next to me. “WHAT THEATER?” I asked Evan. “She didn’t tell me, J,” Evan answered. Not what I wanted to hear. “We’re going,” I said decisively and turned to run towards Evan’s car. “NOW!” I commanded from a few flights ahead of them. I heard their footsteps behind me as we jogged across town. Rachel~ “Extra lar
CHAPTER SIXTY Nick~ This had to be the craziest Sunday of my life. Jake’s eyes were still going nuts. I had luckily found a pair of shades in Evan’s car, which he was now wearing as we were in the mall rushing to the movie theater. “Three tickets for the 2:30pm showing?’ Evan asked the guy behind the counter. Jake was bursting out of his skin. “It’s wrong, it’s wrong,” he muttered to me. “I know man, I know. We’re working on it,” I told him as I started guiding him to the escalator. She’s here, Asher said to me. Thank the Goddess. The first theater we went to, she was nowhere to be found. She had to be getting out of whatever movie soon. Evan caught up to us and we followed Jake as he walked up the escalator. Evan rushed past him a bit and gave our tickets to the ticket-taker who was a second away from getting his face smashed in if he took any longer. Jake was completely stiff, tensed up and ready to strike. “Door 14, all the way down to the left,” the oblivious
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE Monday morning came around and I was waiting near the end of the line to get on the bus. Sophie was there, clearly glaring at me. But I couldn’t remember why. Was she still mad about me changing schools months ago? Get a life, girl. I got on and made myself comfortable in my first seat, putting my backpack down next to me and pulling my earbuds out. Ready to drown out the world. I was exhausted. I didn’t sleep well the night before and couldn’t remember why. I have been forgetting a lot of things lately. The bus pulled away from the curb and I closed my eyes hoping to snag a few minutes of sleep. Nick~ Well my life just blew up. Jake had spoken to the Goddess, and she had confirmed Jake and Rachel were mates. Evan’s wolf, Xavier confirmed all of that, as well as the fact that Jake had something surfacing in him that wasn’t all wolf. My mind kept racing back to the hellhound-wolf hybrid from our pack’s supposed history. I had more questions than ever. But at