Page 44 of Wanted
“You had a larger role than that, I’m told. Ms. Elsie said?—”
“She talks too much,” I mumble.
I hold out my arm toward the bedroom. “This is where you’ll sleep. The bed is comfortable, and I changed the sheets and blanket before I left so everything’s ready for you to get a good night’s sleep.”
“You…you won’t be sleeping here?”
That question gets my wolf’s attention. As if he wasn’t already attentive simply by being in Emery’s presence. But warmth scorches across my lower belly. My hands tighten into fists, but I force myself to take a step back.
“I need to go for a run.”
She frowns and glances across at the clock on the kitchen wall. “At this time of night? It’s dark out.”
If I could hear her voice, I’m sure it would be laced with concern.
“My wolf,” I reply. “He needs to run.”
Run or something else, but I keep that part to myself.
“Oh.” Recognition dawns on her face.
“I do nightly checks around our commune’s perimeter.”
I take another step back and nod in the direction of the bedroom. “Get some rest. I’ll make sure not to make too much noise on my return.”
I watch for just as long as it takes her to turn and head into the bedroom. Then I pivot and exit the door I just entered. My heartbeat is beating too fast, blood rushes through my veins and my wolf is feeling antsy.
He paces back and forth inside of me, ready to come out.
I round my house to the backyard area and rip my shirt off. I barely make it out of my jeans and boxers before the tingling sensation courses through my body.
My skin prickles as my wolf’s fur springs out, and a second later, my bones bend and stretch to contort my body from a being on two legs into one on four.
After many years, the process of shifting doesn’t hurt. It only hurts the first few times, and for new pups, shifting can be scary. Which is why our pack has a Supermoon Ceremony a few times throughout the year to help the new pups as they make their first shift.
As soon as I’m on all four paws, I allow my wolf to take over. That is, after I strongly admonish him and tell him in no uncertain terms that we are not going back inside the house to watch Emery.
Once he gets that message, I let him direct us toward the woods that are about a hundred yards from the last home of our town. The woods create a natural barrier between us and other packs in the area. The mountains aid in further dividing the territories among the wolf, bear, and other types of shifter communities.
My wolf races along as I raise my snout, sniffing the air for anything strange or out of the ordinary. The typical scents pepper the air. I can tell I’m getting close to a bear shifter community when the odor changes slightly.
I divert the direction of my run to do an entire three-hundred-and-sixty-degree run around our town. Everything is as it should be.
Yet, I’m still feeling angsty.
The extra energy coursing through my limbs tells me it’s too soon to head back home.
Not while images of Emery in my bed run rampant throughout my mind. I direct my wolf to do another three-sixty around the commune and then I divert left to head toward the mountains.
Out this way is enough open space that I can allow my wolf to run for miles to tire him out.
I lose count of how long I’m in the mountains. It’s not until the scent of incoming rain makes me slowdown to take notice of the sky. Though it’s dark out, I still manage to spot the dark clouds in the distance.
A thunderstorm is on its way.
Given the darkness of the clouds, the speed of the wind picking up and the direction they’re moving, I give it about an hour to ninety minutes before the storm passes over our town.
I hesitate for a second to stare at the clouds that signal the incoming storm. A part of me should be terrified, considering this is how I lost my hearing.