Page 62 of Fallout

I glance over at him as we pace beside one another. “It’s hard to leave Henley.”

“Blaine is with her. He will protect her.” Will turns to look ahead as if his statement is enough to calm me down.

I know Blaine will do all he can to protect her, but Henley isn’t his mate. He can only do so much. He can’t protect her like I can.

“I don’t know how to protect her from a phoenix.” I hate admitting it out loud, but it needs to be said. I need to get it off my chest.

Will turns to face me, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ll do the best that you can. Fate chose her for you, so I know it will work out. Besides, your mate isn’t as helpless as she seems. She’s strong. I heard the dragon king himself admitted that she is very powerful.”

I nod. “He did. And she is powerful. But she doesn’t know how to use her powers. You’ve seen her at school. And that phoenix wasn’t affected at all. He knows how to use his powers.”

“Give her some credit,” Will says. “I know that you want to protect her and shield her, but you can’t. Besides, Henley isn’t the kind of girl who would enjoy being coddled. She’s agreed to the guards and homeschooling, but she did it for you. She hates being watched all the time. Your girl is an introvert—she needs her alone time.”

I run my fingers through my hair. “I can’t give that to her right now. Do you think she’ll resent me for it?”

“No. She understands.” Will smiles sadly. “You have a very good mate, Parker. She’s incredible. I’m jealous of you.”

I understand his jealousy. I think all the unmated members of my pack are jealous. Seeing that I’m only eighteen and still in high school, meeting Henley now is a rarity. Though, if the mate bond hadn’t revealed itself, I likely would’ve dated her anyway. I would’ve gone against pack rules for her. Henley is special.

“Who gets to meet their soulmate at eighteen?” Will shakes his head. “It almost seems cruel that the rest of us have to wait.”

“Fate has a way of making sure you meet your mate at the perfect time.” I pat Will on the back. “Henley needs me right now because her life is in danger. Trust me, waiting a few more years is preferable to seeing your mate in danger.”

“Yeah.” Will rubs at his chin. “I don’t know how you handle how much danger she’s in. I’d probably be twice as tyrannical as you.”

I roll my eyes at his ‘tyrannical’ comment. “I want to smother her, but she won’t let me. If she hadn’t been struggling so much with school, I don’t think she ever would’ve agreed to homeschooling. But as it was, we were skipping more than we were going.”

Will nods. “I’ve watched her suffer. Trust me, I know how hard it was on her. So many times I wanted to drag her out of class and she’s not even my mate.”

“But she’s pack.” It’s in a wolf’s nature to want to protect other pack members. The fact that Henley is the future luna only makes that instinct stronger. “I’m glad the two of you have finally made up. What were you arguing over anyway?”

He turns away and shrugs. “She read my mind.”

I narrow my eyes. “But she didn’t mean to.”

“No,” he agrees, still not meeting my gaze.

I start to question him, but another pack member comes walking down the path toward us.

It doesn’t really matter what they fought over, as long as Will never does anything like that again. I won’t allow him to be angry with Henley over her powers. It’s not her fault she can’t control them.

Henley

It takes me two hours to finish all of my schoolwork. It makes me wonder just how much time was wasted at school considering we’d be there for eight hours and I’d still bring home schoolwork to do.

Blaine finishes his schoolwork at about the same time as I do. Parker and Will are both out on patrol, so Blaine is stuck on babysitting duty for a few hours. Blaine, being a ravenous wolf shifter, decides it’s time for his third round of snacks since breakfast. It’s only ten and I honestly have no idea where he puts all that food.

I watch him, shaking my head in disbelief as he makes two burgers. “You’re not going to be hungry for lunch.”

He smirks. “That sounds like a challenge and I accept.”

I roll my eyes but smile.

Since my wings first came out, my appetite has increased, but only slightly. I sip on a late that Mrs. Thorne made me while Blaine devours his burgers. As I take a sip, I swear I can feel a twinge of emotion—uneasiness, maybe? But it makes no sense.

Blaine looks at me, raising an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”

It’s then that I notice my hand rubbing against my heart. “Yeah, I just… something weird…”