“Five?” Tyler exclaims sassily. “I’m eight.”
I release a soft chuckle. “Oh, you’ve grown so quickly.”
“Dad said I’m going to be the tallest out of all of us.”
My mouth curls at his words as I glance at Carson. “I don’t doubt it with your parents' genes.”
“We’re going to be late,” Esther says as she checks her watch. “We'd better get going.”
Carson places his hand on his son’s shoulder, and I can see the gratitude in his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Caleb.”
“Enjoy,” I say as I wave them off.
When I turn around, I hear laughter coming from the living room. I pause for a second, and allow my eyes to fall between the door and the wall. Felix and Zara are wrapped up together, both with the biggest grins on their faces.
A deep breath leaves me as Felix leans in to kiss his wife. I don’t know why I stand and watch, but I’m drawn to them and the love they have for one another.
Most wolves want what they have. It’s raw and real, and it’s never made me envious until now…because I know what I could have.
Flashbacks of Evan's body firmly between my bedroom wall and my chest appear in my mind without permission. The memory leaves my skin heating, his scent somehow coming back to me like a dream. Goddess, I’m barely hanging on by a thread.
My wolf claws at my insides to have him back in that close proximity again, and breathe him in until we’re both drowning in each other.
It’s stupid to have these thoughts when I’ve been so adamant to keep him at arm’s length. Icannotlose sight of what’s important, and in this case, it’s him.
14
EVAN
Ilost count of how many times I poured out my pot of rice and prayed to the Moon Goddess. I did it so often that the skin on my knees started to split, making me bleed.
But I deserved it.
We’ve been training non-stop, and it’s been a struggle, not because of my weakness, but because of my weeping wolf. He’s sluggish and low on morale. We both are.
But instead of letting it drag me down, I use training to distract myself from the pain. Even Jaxon recognises my efforts, and usually his praise would light up something inside me, but it makes the weight on my shoulders feel heavier.
What is wrong with me?
The last thing I wanted to do today was go over to Caleb’s pack, but I still have duties to complete, and I don’t want Jaxon on my case. So I have no choice but to suck it up and deal with it.
What happened in Caleb’s bedroom still plays on in my mind, but I refuse to let the embarrassment keep me in a chokehold for a second more. I’m not here for Caleb. I’ve never come here for Caleb, and it’ll stay that way.
When I’m asked by a couple of teenage boys to help build a treehouse, I nearly burst out laughing. I’ve never built anything in my entire life, yet I still agree. I watch them carefully as they rummage through a rusty toolbox before pulling out a hammer and a couple of nails.
They’re currently assessing how much space to put between the planks of wood that will make up the ladder on the trunk of the tree. When they’ve got it figured out, they attempt to hammer it in, only to bend the nail a few seconds later.
“Goddess,” the youngest boy hisses. “Why is this so hard?”
He hooks the other side of the hammer beneath the nail and yanks it out.
I huff a breath and hold out my hand. “Let me try.”
As soon as the hammer is in my grip, I realise I am definitely not cut out for this, but there’s no harm in trying. I hold the nail between my fingers before gripping onto the plank of wood.
“Hold this still,” I say.
They both lunge forward to hold the wood in place as I line up the nail with my fingers, and hold the hammer shakily with my other hand. I suck in a breath and decide to go for it.
