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I don’t tell him that, though. I just shrug and keep on walking. Besides, we’re quickly passing the more crowded district square, heading out toward the private cabins built along the edge of the territory. I can already see my borrowed cabin in the distance.
I notice he doesn’t offer to stop by the late dinner spread. He must know he was right. I really did lose my appetite.
I just want to bury my head under a pillow and hide for a few minutes. That’s all.
And then Theo says, “He’s really not a bad guy, you know,” and I actually stop for a second so that I can stare at him in disbelief.
“Are you kidding me? When I saw you a couple of hours ago, it looked like someone had sharpened their claws on your cheekbones. He did that. Good guys don’t do that.”
The skin might have already closed over the wound. Doesn’t matter. Just from the depths of the ridges and how long it was taking for the alpha wolf to heal was a huge clue that it wasn’t a surface swipe. Someone had cut him down to his freaking skull.
And I should know, too. When Shane went for my cheek the night I refused to accept him as my mate, it took almost an hour before I stopped bleeding. Another two before I could talk without ripping open the scabs. By morning, there wasn’t a single sign of his vicious attack, but the ache lingered the rest of the day.
Theo still has a mark. And, sure, I’m an alpha. I heal quicker than a lot of wolves just because of my rank. But isn’t Theo also an alpha? It also doesn’t change the fact that Walker blatantly confessed to cutting Theo open earlier because he felt like Theo “betrayed” him, and now Theo is defending him.
I have to remember that. No matter how nice Theo seems, he’s part of the Western Pack. His loyalty is to his Alpha, not me, and no matter how he tries to sway me to his side, I can’t fall for it.
Twenty-two more days. I only have twenty-two more days.
I move ahead of him, closing the gap between me and the cabin. Then, with my hand on the doorknob, I glance behind me.
He opens his mouth.
I let my wolf peek through my eyes.
His mouth closes with a soft click.
“Take care of yourself, Theo.”
“Good night, Gemma.”
“Night.”
* * *
Elizabeth never returnsto the cabin.
The cabin seems so empty without her, and it takes me a couple of days before I realize why that bothers my wolf. I grew up a beloved member of the Lakeview Pack. Between being the Alpha’s adopted daughter and presenting myself as an omega, there was always someone nearby to keep me company. It was the same when I moved to Accalia as Ryker’s intended. That first month, Ryker might have kept his distance, but I was definitely a curiosity—and that’s not even counting how Shane was always around.
Probably should’ve realized something was up then, now that I think about it. But I didn’t, mainly because I was so focused on trying to figure out why Ryker was ignoring me. Something else the manipulative Shane had a paw in.
Dickhead.
Even when I was a lone wolf in Muncie, I wasn’t exactly alone. I met Aleks my first night in the Fang City when he saved me from becoming vampire chow. He invited me to move in as his roommate right away. Apart from the weeks when Aleks left the apartment when he needed space, I’ve never really been on my own.
And now I am.
It’s so weird. The morning after Aleks’s fight, I found a new wolf standing guard under the same tree where I saw Theo the day before. It was so obvious that he was watching me, though he doesn’t do anything to stop me when I walked out of the door to finally fetch some breakfast in the square.
Good. The mood I was in, I might have bitten his head off instead.
Elizabeth was there, eating by herself. She waved when she saw me approach, then invited me to take a seat opposite her while I scarfed down some of the community pancakes and bacon. But when I asked her what was up with her not returning to the cabin, she was quick to change the subject before admitting that Walker decided I deserved my own cabin. Instead of finding me an empty one, I got Elizabeth’s, and she got moved to a different one closer to where the Alpha lives.
Of course, I didn’t think that was fair. Not only because I hate watching my bio-dad tug on her leash like that, but because I was fine sharing her space. We had a lot in common—both of us hating Walker for one—and I liked being able to ask her her insight on the inner workings of the Western Pack.
I offered to see if I could change his mind, maybe try to get Elizabeth to move back in with me for the rest of the time I’m in the Wolf District. But, see, that’s the really weird part. Her silver eyes darkened to a deep metal grey as she hurriedly shook her head. Then, glancing behind her to make sure no one was paying any attention to our conversation, she muttered under her breath for me to please let it go.
So I do. It goes against every instinct my wolf has, especially since I can sense how distraught she was, but I let it go. I tell her I’ll see her around, and then I spend most of my time in the cabin, hoping to avoid Jack Walker.
