Chapter 2

I sat on my bed in shock. How could this have happened? How long had Eddy been stringing me along? He had been distant for a couple of weeks. Even his normally high sex drive had been almost completely diminished.

Did the whole pack know?

I put my head in my hands. If the whole pack knew, then how was I ever going to show my face again? Of course they'd side with Eddy. He was actually a part of their pack. I was just a human. It didn't matter that I had grown up around these people. Pack was pack. I was human and therefore unable to become pack.

When the door to my room opened, I didn't look over. There would only be two people who would come into my room now. My dad or Nikki.

The lack of noise that came with my father told me that it was Nikki who had come in. She sat on my bed and wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you what was happening."

If it hadn't been for the door squeak as it opened, I might not have known she came into the room. She was always sneaky, even when we were kids. But now that she was a werewolf, she could move around without making a sound.

I huffed. "It doesn't matter anyway. If he loved me he wouldn't have left me, no matter what."

She sighed, "I'm still sorry."

I nodded once and rested my head against her arm. It was nice to be comforted by someone. Dad wasn't good with sad feelings. He locked himself away from everything when he was sad, so he avoided people when they were sad. He just didn't know how to deal.

"How long ago was this all arranged?"

"It's almost been a month. It was really hush-hush until two weeks ago when everything was arranged and agreed to."

"Eddy should have told me a month ago. I had a right to know." I huffed in anger. "I don't appreciate being left in the dark for so long."

She smiled and nodded. "I know."

"Why didn't you tell me something was going on?" I wasn't mad at her. I had a pretty good feeling that if she could have told me, she would have. Probably as soon as she found out.

"I was bound under alpha’s orders."

I nodded. I knew what that meant. Even if she wanted to, even if she tried to, she had been bound by the alpha’s order to keep her mouth shut. It had been Eddy's job to tell me the news and the jerk had waited until he was leaving to get his new woman!

I sighed and laid down. "I'll be fine Nikki. I just need some rest."

She smiled weakly. "Alright. Just call me if you need me. I'll be right over."

I nodded and hugged my friend one last time. "Thanks Nikki. You're a great friend."

She nodded and left my room as quietly as she came.

The next few days all seemed to blend together. I don’t know how long I laid in bed. I know that my dad tried to get me to eat with little success. If I ate more than a bowl I was running to the bathroom to throw up.

I didn’t bother turning on my phone. Nicole came over a few times after I didn’t answer her calls. She’d check on me, watch TV in my room and go home when it started getting dark. I felt bad that I was ignoring her; I just couldn’t muster the energy to get out of bed.

Then one day the boulder of depression that was stuck on me, lifted. I woke up about 10am and I felt better. I was still depressed, but I had the energy to at least get up and fix myself something to eat. Dad watched me walk into the open kitchen from his favorite chair. He watched me cautiously as I got out things to make a sandwich. I must have really had him worried. He didn’t take his eyes off of me. I was sure if I disappeared into the pantry for longer than a minute, he’d follow me in to make sure I was still there.

“So how long have I been in bed?” I asked, not bothering to look at him. I knew he was paying attention, waiting for me to say something.

“Three weeks.” He said carefully.

That was surprising.  It didn’t feel like three weeks. It felt more like 4 or 5 days. My depression had been worse than I thought.

“So that means Eddy and his new woman are back in town.” I said, trying to stay neutral.

I could see him slowly nod in my peripheral vision. “They’ve been back for a week.”

Eddy really left without saying anything else to me. I didn’t believe he had ever really loved me if he could just forget about me so quickly.

“Are they going to have a big gathering with the two packs?” I knew the rituals. Anytime someone joined the pack, or left to join a mate in another pack, there was a gathering.

He hesitated. He didn’t want to tell me. “Yes, in a couple of days.”

“Am I invited?”

He sighed. “You aren’t technically pack, but you can be my plus one.”

“Would it make things tense?” That idea made me smile. I would love to watch some of those wolves, who took pride in their control, squirm.

He got out of his chair. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. The last thing I want to do is have you back in that bed for a month. When you see them it might make it worse.”

I shook my head and concentrated on my sandwich. “I won’t do anything. I’m numb to all of this now. I want to meet the woman who’s taken the place I wanted to be in.”

He stared at me as I put things back where they belong. “I want you to think about this before you decide you want to go.”

I nodded and took a bite out of my sandwich.

It was time to change the subject. “Is Nikki with Mike?” They were always together.

He nodded. “Probably.”

“Alright. I’m going to give her a call and hook up with her for a while.”

He nodded and cautiously watched me walk to my room. I had a feeling he was going to be watching me very closely for a while.

I turned my phone on and waited for it to load all the text messages that had piled up in the past three weeks. They were all from Nikki. I didn’t bother reading them. I just deleted the whole inbox and sent folders.

She picked up her phone on the second ring.

“Emily!? Is that you?” She sounded excited.

“Yep. Just turned my phone on.”

“How are you? It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve talked.”

“Yeah, I know.” I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like a huge mess. “What are you doing right now?”

“It’s Saturday,” she said like I was dumb. Every Saturday the pack went to the lake and had fun.

“Would it be weird if I showed up?”

“It’s weirder that you’re not here. Mike’s on his way to here. Do you want him to swing by and pick you up?” Her chipper tone made me feel better about going.

“Sure, that’d be great.” Then we hung up.

With his super werewolf hearing, my dad probably heard the entire conversation.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea Emily?” Dad said from around the corner.

“It’s a trial run. If I can’t handle this, I’m just going to have to stay away from wherever they are.”

He nodded. “Alright. A test run. If you need me to come pick you up, just call and I’ll be right over.”

I smiled slightly at him. “Alright. Can I have some privacy while I get ready?”

He nodded and went back into the living room.