She glances up and her hands go to her hips. “Matthew, Cole, Heather, Katarina… You’re not supposed to be climbing trees, not until you’ve mastered control of your shifts. If you shift while you’re up there…” Sadie Lynn’s voice trails off. She’s standing there, frantic and unsure what to do.
“There’s a nest up here. I want to reach it before it falls,” one of the boys answers.
“Seeking places for decorations,” one of the girls calls out.
“Finding a good path to put the angel up,” the second boy says.
“Cole’s racing Matthew to the top to show off to Katarina,” the second girl shouts as she drops down to the ground. Finally, some honesty, but it doesn’t change the facts. Sadie Lynn’s right. They don’t belong up there until they master their shifts.
“Get your asses down here before I come up there and show you kids precisely what it means to fall,” I shout up at them.
“Are you threatening a bunch of kids?” Sadie Lynn asks, the disbelief in her voice like a slap in the face.
Am I threatening them? My wolf bites me, making it clear I am. This is why I don’t belong where other shifters are. I’m toxic, which is what Damien was tryingnotto say.
“Sorry.”
“You’ve been saying’ a lot of that lately,” Frank says behind me. I didn’t even notice him approaching. Let my guard down because I’m back in pack territory, which is a huge reason Marla died. I got comfortable, didn’t question what was going on until it was too late.
“What do you want, Frank?”
“I’m here to escort you home.”
“Fucking fabulous.” Looks like Damien’s not as easy to fool as when we were kids. “Call it what it is. House arrest.”
“Hardly. You can go anywhere you want, as long as you stay on pack territory.” He puts a hand on my shoulder, and points to the kids climbing down from the tree. “You’re out of sorts, Garrett, like those teens. They’re trying to figure out their wolves, shifting, everything. Until they do, they need guidance, so they don’t do something stupid.”
I shove his hand off as I march away from Sadie Lynn and the kids, without taking the time to apologize in earnest. Frank falls into step behind me.
My own personal guard. And not any guard. The head guard. Damien assigned him to babysit me personally.
“You need to relax. I have some good mystery books in my cabin. I could lend you a few.”
I keep walking without answering. The more I think about that farce of a meeting in Damien’s house, I’m convinced he and his team had a much more honest, deeper conversation once I left... and they’ve concluded that Angelina is as guilty as the WSSO.
They’re not going to rescue her. In fact, she’ll be in danger if they find her.
And Frank’s the guard making sure I stay out of their way…
CHAPTER FOUR
GARRETT
My cabin’s small, far enough from camp that I don’t hear the Christmas carols the kids were singing yesterday when I headed to the dining hall.
I’ve gone from pacing inside to circling outside, wearing a path into the ground. Sutton sits on the felled log by my firepit, tracking my every move. Frank returned to his cabin yesterday. Probably couldn’t stand being away from his mate any longer. That’s a drive I never had with Marla. Just an overwhelming sense of loss.
Sutton’s still single, which means he’s not going anywhere.
After the fifteenth lap around my cabin, I grind to a halt.
“Tire your wolf out yet?”
My wolf’s as agitated as I am, probably more. We both know what we have to do. The question is how.
I strip down, open my front door, and toss my clothing in. When I turn around, Sutton’s standing there, his shirt neatly folded on the log.
“I’m going for a run. Alone.”
