Maybe it's the company. Hard to feel completely vulnerable when you're flanked by two alphas who've sworn they'll protect you with their lives.
More importantly, I actually think I believe them.
Chapter
Forty-Six
WRAITH
Ican't fucking sit still.
My body moves in restless patterns through the pack house. Kitchen to living room. Living room to kitchen. Up the stairs. Down the stairs. The new furniture still smells wrong. Chemical. Fake. Not like home.
Nothing feels like home without her.
My phone burns in my pocket. Haven't heard from Ivy in two hours. Two hours, thirty-seven minutes, twelve seconds. Not that I'm counting.
Except I am.
Always counting.
Time between her messages. Time since she left. Time until she can come back.
Ifshe comes back.
The thought makes my chest seize. Of course she'll come back. She has to. But what if Whiskey and Plague are better? What ifbeing away from the monster makes her realize she doesn't want this?
Doesn't wantme.
"Wraith."
Thane's voice cuts through the red haze. I turn to find him watching me from the kitchen doorway. Dark circles under his eyes. Jaw still bruised from our fight.
My fault.
Everything is my fault.
He gestures toward the living room. Away from the kitchen. Away from where Valek might overhear.
I follow.
Thane settles on the new couch. I remain standing. Can't sit. Can't be still. Energy crawls under my skin like insects.
"You need to calm down," Thane says quietly.
I shake my head. Point upward. Where she should be. Where she isn't.
"I know." His voice drops lower. "But you pacing holes in the floor isn't helping anyone."
My hands move before I can stop them.
W-H-E-R-E... I-S... H-E?
"Valek?" Thane glances toward the stairs. "In his room. Has been for the last hour."
T-O-O... Q-U-I-E-T.
"Yeah." Thane rubs his temple. "I don't like it either."
