I keep my eyes down, waiting for my two best friends to react.
“That bad, huh?” Owen mutters.
“Worse,” Shane says.
I sigh again, trying to shift the weight on my chest. My earlier thought about the council wanting Sadie’s head suddenly dominates my mind, and adrenaline floods through every cell, filling me with fear.
“Hey,” Owen says, clapping his hand down on my shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” I retort, shaking my head as I look up at him. “Things are happening between Sadie and me. It’s wrong, I know it is, but—”
“Something’s there,” Shane finishes for me. “And it might be something real.”
“It can’t be,” I say, shaking my head. “It can’t be real. If it were, my pack would be getting better. I’m just confused, maybe even a bit selfish—”
“Or trying to protect the mother of your child,” Owen says. “None of us would blame you for that.”
“The council would,” I mutter.
“That’s true,” Shane says. “But we’ve got your back, okay?”
“No matter how this goes, we’re with you,” Owen says. “We just have to do something, and soon. Or none of us will even have a pack.”
I nod, taking another big gulp of beer. I have no answers for my friends, and as much as I appreciate their support, it can’t possibly solve the conflict between the two sides of my heart.
That I want Sadie—desperately, completely, with every fiber of my being—but that I can’t ever have her. That a human being is beneath me and forbidden to wolves, and as alpha, I have to abide by and enforce this rule.
Chapter 12 - Sadie
As the days go by, Rhys and I settle into a comfortable routine. Cassie enjoys her time at the preschool with Jean so much, I don’t feel guilty about leaving her, and I even start to look forward to the nightly routine of cooking dinner with Rhys.
I still feel like something’s not right, I think as I carefully shelve a few very old, thin books.Like there’s a sleeping giant right under my feet, ready to awaken at any moment.
“Hey, Sadie!” Trina calls, almost making me jump out of my skin. “You coming out for coffee?”
“Sure,” I answer, my breath short after the little scare.
“Are you okay?” Trina laughs. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I was just drifting off in my own thoughts,” I say, shaking my head. “Being up to my elbows in old books and covered with dust made me feel like I was underground, I guess.”
“This is the oldest part of the museum,” Trina explains. “These texts aren’t for the public, but Fern puts them on display sometimes.”
“Interesting,” I say, putting another one on the shelf with great care. “I haven’t really looked inside, just done an inventory of them.”
“Some of them are fragile and irreplaceable,” Trina replies. “I hate working back here.”
“Because of the value of the artifacts?”
“Well, yes,” Trina says. “But also, it’s kind of creepy.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” I reply as I walk up to join Trina. “It just seems nice and quiet to me.”
“Yeah, like a grave!” Trina scoffs. “If you like it back here, then you can have it.”
I want to ask her more about it, but we arrive at the break room, and the conversation quickly turns to donuts, coffee, and plans for the week, so I decide to leave the question alone until Lacey stumbles right back into it.
“Having fun in the tomb?” Lacey asks.
