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At some point I’m probably going to have to go back for my Jeep.
I’m not so worried about my car right now. It’s probably safer in Accalia than I ever was, and once Ryker gets past the worst of the moon’s pull, I have no doubt in my mind that he’ll arrange for it to get back to me. For now, it can hang out in pack territory.
Me? I just want my bed.
I had to use another alpha howl to convince the four wolves—Jace, Dorian, Bobby, and… oops, I forgot to ask—to stay behind in Accalia. If I wanted a retinue of bodyguards at my back as I head home, I could’ve chased Shane’s car into Muncie.
No. I need them on the mountain. Someone has to spread word about Shane’s deal with Wicked Wolf Walker, and maybe I’m wimping out, but I don’t want to be there when Ryker finds out that his Beta betrayed him.
It’s about the pack, I tell myself. To any Alpha, the pack has to come first. And, sure, I know Ryker’s gonna have something to say about me being the reason why Shane turned on him, but I’m way too tired to deal with that right now.
The sun’s coming up as I slink my way up the fire escape. I was careful on my return trip to the apartment. From a distance, the humans might see my blonde wolf and think I’m just a suped-up dog or something. Vampires will know, of course, and without Aleks’s fang to shield me, they’ll think it’s open season on me for daring to stalk through a notable Fang City in my fur.
Better to be cautious, even if it takes longer.
And if I’m hoping that maybe Aleks turned in for the day and I can avoid discussing anything about last night, well… yeah. I totally am.
Claws crossed.
I throw my shoulder into the balcony door. For a moment, I’m a little frantic. The door doesn’t give and all I can think is that Aleks saw that I hadn’t come home last night. Instead of leaving me a way inside in either form, he locked the door and—
The door pops inward on my second shove.
Oh. I just didn’t push hard enough.
Phew.
Tiptoe. Tiptoe.
I navigate the living room, heading toward the hallway. Though my stomach is grumbling, I ignore the kitchen. I want my bed. Well, no. First, I want a quick shower. Then I want my bed.
Tiptoe—
Aleks’s bedroom door opens right before I can sneak past it and hide in mine.
Ugh. So close!
Like the other night, he sees me padding down the hall, but it’s obvious that this is no walk of shame. His curls are tousled, flat on one side; if he hadn’t been sleeping, he was at least laying down. He’s barefoot, but he’s still wearing street clothes. Waiting up for me then?
Probably.
As a vamp, no doubt he can smell the blood on me, too. Most of my wounds have healed, but I didn’t think to find a stream or a puddle to try to wash off the streaks of blood that stain my blonde fur. It’s mostly mine since I was still bleeding when I shifted, and that’s not taking in account all of the mud and shit I’ve got covering my paws.
Good thing I tried to wipe as much of it off as I could before I came inside. Last thing I need right now is to track that all over Aleks’s floor.
Actually. No. The last thing I needed was for Aleks to catch me sneaking in when I was planning on taking the next couple of hours to wash up, get some rest, and make sense of… of everything.
I let out a soft whine. It’s the most I can do while I’m in wolf form, and while I had no problem being naked in front of the Mountainside wolves, it’s not the same with Aleks these days and we both know it.
He nods, like he understands. And, honestly, he probably does.
“I’ll put a kettle on,” he tells me.
Aleks and his tea. With a soft yip, I continue to my room.
Once inside, I shift back to my skin. A quick cursory look reveals that I was right: I’m coated in blood, but apart from a few faded scratches and a nasty bruise on my ass from where I hit the tree hard, I’m okay.
Physically, at least.
