Heat flooded my cheeks as I watched Bear's furry ass disappear outside. Did I say something to upset him? I didn't think so. He just seemed like he was in a hurry to leave.
I slumped back against the wall and sighed. Just when I thought I was getting somewhere with Bear, I screwed it up. It would be nice if I knew how so I could avoid doing it again. Maybe my gushy speech turned him off.
But I meant every word of it. I hoped he knew that.
As I rewound the memories and played them back to find a clue to my misstep, I frowned. His comments about his parents were deeply disturbing. What kind of disgusting parents treated their children like they were worthless? It pissed me off. Bear was too good for them.
With nothing else to do but wait for him to return, I got up and stretched. A dull pain throbbed in my sides, but it was more annoying than debilitating, nothing compared to the original agony. I felt well enough to stand on my own feet without lurching into a wall this time.
The full body tingle of a good stretch made me groan. Fuck, that felt good.
Tentatively testing my limits, I walked to the mouth of the hollow. Birdsong floated on the breeze and the sunshine peeking through the canopy felt nice and warm on my face.
Motion fluttered above me. I raised my head to see a bluebird returning to its nest with a mouth full of worms. The ugly-cute, half-bald chicks chirped loudly for their meal, and the parent dutifully obliged. With its chicks fed, the bluebird nestled on top of them while its partner took flight, taking over hunting duty.
I smiled.
That's how parents should be,I thought.Not like the ones Bear had.
Speaking of parents, I wondered what mine were up to right now. The rest of the pack, too. They must be worried about me, given that I'd disappeared days ago without a trace.
Well... That wasn't quite true. I left a scent trail, and my alpha father Dax was a wolf. Couldn't he have just followed it to me?
The sudden realization jarred me. I rubbed my arm, feeling a slight chill. They couldn't have forgotten about me, right?
A dark thought sank its claws into me:You're just an omega. That's why they aren't coming.
I shuddered coldly. I knew that wasn't true. Nobody in the pack thought that way. I was being dramatic and moody like always.
Just like Lupa said.
She's right, isn't she? And that's why I'll never find a mate.
I hated the dark turn my mind took when I was alone. I scowled and shook my head. No more brooding.
At least that didn't happen when Bear was around. Except even he got sick me, I guess. Why else would he run off in the middle of a conversation? I probably annoyed him somehow.
"Enough," I said out loud.
With my injuries quieted down and no Bear to order me to stay put, I took a short walk through the forest. My rebellious streak sent me farther away from the hollow than I'd strayed before. I felt defiant, like I was daring Bear to come and scold me for disobeying his command.
But I heard no crashing branches or thundering paw-steps. Bear wasn't around. Wherever he'd gone, it was far. Whatever I'd said must have really bothered him.
Annoyed with myself, I picked my way towards a creek. Thirst nagged me so I knelt by the water's edge and cupped a drink in my hands. The water was cold and refreshing.
To my relief, the bending motion didn't cause my injuries to flare up. I was healing fast. Soon I might not need Bear and his healing hands anymore. Then I could go home and stop annoying him. That was for the best.
Even if the thought of leaving Bear screwed my stomach into knots.
"Drama queen," I mumbled, chiding myself.
Bear didn't owe me anything. Not his help, not his companionship. It was a stroke of bad luck that we ran into each other in the first place, both in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was too kind to ignore me, so he went out of his way to treat my wounds even though he had other business he clearly wanted to return to. I was an obstacle in his life.
I stared into the forest, back the way I'd came. My injuries were mostly healed and I felt fine. Did I even need to return to the hollow? If I went home now, without telling Bear, would he care? Maybe it would be a load off his mind if the whiny omega disrupting his life was gone.
As the idea slowly solidified, something big and tawny darted overhead, with a long tail trailing behind it.
Something that looked frighteningly like a mountain lion.
