“I’m not tired.” I stood and raised my hands overhead, stretching. I didn’t tell her that the thought of going back to sleep frightened me a little. The dream that woke me up still haunted me. The memory was still too fresh in my head.
“Are you sure?” She looked me up and down.
“Yup,” I answered, wondering why she seemed so concerned. “Besides, there’s something I want to do.”
Ms. Elsie still observed me for the remainder of breakfast. I practically had to push her out the door so that she could make it to her senior yoga class. I knew she meant well, for whatever reason, but I wanted to run an errand on my own.
Once alone, I sighed in relief. I decided during breakfast to go over to Christophe’s. It bothered me how he rarely showed up for meals like most other packmates. From what I’d observed, he was isolated from the pack.
I knew what it felt like to be ostracized from others and thought maybe there was something I could do to help. As the alpha queen of the pack, that felt like a role I should take on, though no one ever mentioned any specific expectations of me. Least of all, Chael.
* * *
My phone buzzedas soon as I exited the house. It was a text from Chael, telling me that he’d arrived at the commune in Arizona, safe and sound.
I laughed when he reminded me not to take my ass anywhere and that he still had a tracker in my phone. He didn’t have to worry about that. I wasn’t about to leave the commune or run off as I had with Sera a few months earlier.
Speaking of which, I paused at the road’s edge and peered down the long road. My eyes landed on Sera’s empty home. She’d been gone for close to a month. She hadn’t left word of where she went or how long she intended to be gone. I stuck my hand in the pocket of the jeans I wore and rubbed my fingers over the smooth side of the silver arrowhead she gifted me. I carried it everywhere with me since the night of the supermoon.
I missed her. I hoped she found whatever it was she sought.
Speaking of people missing in action…
I turned away from the direction of Sera’s home and started in the opposite direction. Christophe had only shown up at the Supermoon Ceremony for a short while. I watched him shift with the others. In their wolf forms, many of the males had roughhoused and play fought. When I asked Chael about it days later, he mentioned it was customary on full moon nights to do that sort of thing, to blow off steam. The supermoons were reserved for the first shifts of the pack youth, but the same play fighting always ensued.
“He often leaves early,”Chael had said of his brother when I mentioned Christophe hadn’t hung around for long. But he hadn’t appeared concerned about it.
But I was.
I had been so welcomed into the fold here in New Mexico. And at first, it took some getting used to, having so many people around so often. I felt embraced for more than being the mate of their alpha. It felt like a family, and the thought of Christophe not being a part of that unsettled me.
I noticed that Christophe’s car sat in the driveway, so I assumed he was home. There wasn’t any movement that I could see in the windows, but I knocked anyway.
“Christophe, it’s me, Reese!” I shouted through the closed door. Not the classiest move, but I believed he was home. And something drove me not to let the door go unanswered.
“Uh, just a minute,” he shouted from inside the house.
I took the opportunity to glance around. A few pack members threw up their hands and waved. I returned a wave just as Christophe answered.
“Hi,” I greeted.
The smile he gave me wavered a bit as he adjusted his glasses. He blinked before standing up straight. He wore a dark polo shirt and light-colored jeans, one hand shoved deep inside his pocket. I looked him over, noting how his hazel eyes never reached mine, his Adam’s Apple bobbed up and down as he visibly swallowed.
Christophe was handsome but shy. Or maybe he had social anxiety.
“Hi,” he said, his gaze still not catching mine.
“I hope this isn’t an intrusion, but I haven’t seen you in a while, and…” I shrugged and looked around, searching for the right words. Finally, I pointed inside his home. “Do you mind if I come in?”
He glanced over his shoulder and then back in my direction. “Um…”
“It’ll just take a minute. I promise. I know you’re working and busy.”
He pushed out a breath and then nodded before stepping aside. I entered and looked around. A prickling feeling started at the back of my neck and crawled up the base of my skull.
“How are you?” I decided to start with an easy question after shaking off that odd sensation. It was probably residual anxiousness from that morning’s dream.
“I’m fine,” he replied, almost hesitantly. “How are you, Alpha Queen?”
