Page 25 of Rejected Wolf
A door opened, but I didn’t turn my head to look. I knew who it was.
Shan’s boots crunched through the snow as he made his way over to me. “Jude, you can’t stay out here all night.”
I sighed, not bothering to answer. If it was a challenge, I would prove to him that yes, I could in fact lie right here, forever if I had to.
My Alpha crouched, lowering his voice in a way that sounded kind without being full of pity. “Your clothes are soaked through. At least take your fur if you intend to sleep in the snow.” Another long silence stretched between us. “Look, I’ve kept my opinion to myself, and I’ve even made sure the others don’t ride your ass about whatever has gotten under your skin. I haven’t asked you a single question about what happened in the city, mostly because I know you won’t talk about anything until you’re good and ready, but I want you to know that I’m here for you.We’re family; even better, we’re pack. I’m going to assume it has something to do with your mate?”
My flinch was answer enough. He nodded. “That’s what I thought. Nothing messes with an alpha like his omega.” He chuckled with affection for his mate. “You don’t have to say anything, but I want you to remember all the grief and chaos and danger Tristan and I went through to win our mates. Love does not come without a cost, but I am telling you, it is worth it, because the bliss that exists on the other side is everything. And don’t forget, whatever trouble you’re facing, you’re not alone. We’ll help you get there. All you have to do is ask.”
Shan reached down and squeezed my shoulder briefly. “Now go to bed, Jude. It’s easy to get lost in the dark, but maybe in the light of day, an answer will present itself. Tomorrow is a new day.”
I snorted at his sage bullshit, and his smile flashed in the moonlight. “Sweet dreams,” he said before standing and heading back to his cabin.
I watched him go, and when he stepped inside, I caught a glimpse of Brody waiting for him, and my heart gave a sharp pang of longing for what they had.
You had it, dipshit, my wolf cussed.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled, rolling to push myself up. Jeans were always bad, but they were doubly worse whensoaking wet, rubbing and chafing in sensitive creases. I kicked snow over the remaining coals, steam hissing as the fire was snuffed out, then wandered over to my tent. I toed off my boots and stripped off my wet clothes and left them outside, before crawling in. The canvas kept the worst of the wind out, and even though snow had fallen, the temperatures were still mild enough to sleep in my skin. My sleeping bag wasn’t comfortable anymore, though, not after I’d spent an hour in Morgan’s bed.
Nothing was as good anymore. The food, the peace and quiet; none of it meant anything to me without Morgan here to share it with. I’d never been a fan of the city—too full of humans—but I suddenly found myself yearning to return, regardless of the risk.
After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, I fell into a fitful sleep, plagued by awful dreams. And the remnants of a memory…
I cuddled into Daddy’sside, my eyelids heavy. It was too early to wake up, but I’d had another dream about the bad man. My daddy always made me feel better. He carried me to his room so I didn’t wake up my little sister, then tucked me into his narrow bed and lay beside me.He picked up the book from the bedside table. “Let’s see, where were we…” We’d been reading a book about a little girl who was so smart she taught herself to read and then learned how to do real magic.
“I wish I could be a child pro-prod-progidy,” I mumbled, yawning.
“Prodigy,” Daddy corrected.
“Yeah. I wanna be smarter than grownups. And do magic. Then I could unlock the doors and fly us far away from here.” I patted Daddy’s round belly and put my ear up against it. I always wondered if I could hear the baby inside, but Daddy said it was just his tummy gurgling.
“And if we could fly anywhere, where would you want to go?” This was a game we played sometimes. The “anywhere but here” game.
It was a hard game to play, though. Daddy had tried to describe all the places he’d been, using words like city and ocean and rainforest, but I couldn’t picture them in my head. The only thing I’d ever seen were white walls and a tiled floor… a metal table and bright lights and sharp needles that hurt…
I shivered, burying my face further into Daddy’s shoulder. “Far, far away,” I said, my voice muffled. “I wanna see the beach. Can you tell me again what it looks like?”
“Mm, good choice. The beach is covered with sand, so soft and warm on your bare feet, and it shifts under you as you walk. Closer to the water, where the waves wash up on the beach, the sand becomes firmer, and you can pack it into a bucket then turn it upside down, and it will keep its shape. You can build whole castles out of it.”
I smiled, trying to see it in my head. “Can we live in the sandcastle?” I asked wistfully.
“Sure, baby,” he said after a moment, but his voice sounded funny. I didn’t want to look up at him, because I knew he was probably crying again. It made me so angry when Daddy cried. I didn’t like that he was so sad all the time, but I was just little. What could I do to make him better?
I heard a door open and my whole body went tense. Daddy wrapped me up in his arms. The guards didn’t open the doors; they just looked through the windows. Only the bad man opened the door. I could already smell the icky smoke that stuck to his clothes and skin. I peeked over Daddy’s belly when I heard two sets of footsteps, even though I didn’t really want to look. But I couldn’tnotlook. That was scarier.
“Dr. Gray,” Daddy said when the bad man in the white coat stepped through the doorway.
The director smiled, but it didn’t look like he was happy. “Good morning, Jesse. I’ve brought a colleague of mine for my visit today. This is Dr. Taylor.”
The second man came closer and sat on the end of the bed. I lifted my head to get a better look at him. He was young, closer to my daddy’s age, with wavy blond hair and blue eyes, and he had a nice smile. He waved a finger at me when he caught me peeking. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m very excited to be working with Dr. Gray. What do you say we have a quick checkup, just so I can get better acquainted with you both, and then we’ll play some games. Do you like games?” he asked me.
“Just me. Please,” Daddy said. “Leave Jude out of it.”
Dr. Gray chuckled. “Now, now, Mr. Parr, you know we can’t do that.”
“Please,” my daddy said again, and he sounded almost angry, his eyes flashing yellow. “He doesn’t even have his wolf yet. There’s no need to do any tests until after puberty.”
Dr. Gray’s bushy eyebrows dipped low, and he opened his mouth to say something mean, but the new doctor held up a hand, and Dr. Gray stopped. “It’s fine,” Dr. Taylor said. “I don’t want to make waves today. I’m just here to introduce myself. Maybe next time I can bring some presents for Jude and Amelia.” He smiled at me again, andI found myself smiling back. He wasn’t as scary as the bad man. “You like books?” he asked, pointing at the book still sitting in my daddy’s lap.