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Curious, I followed her out of the tent. We hurried past the common area and ducked into the woods. My heart beat faster as we approached Alec’s house but thankfully, we didn’t slow down.
When we reached the lake, Sheila started to take off her shoes. “The kids will be gone any minute and we’ll have the whole place to ourselves.”
She sat down on the sand and leaned her head back, her eyes closed. “Isn’t the sun marvelous today?”
I didn’t see how this was going to make me feel better, but I joined her. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back. The warmth of the sun did feel amazing on my skin.
“You know, Alec is my best friend. But he can be a real dick sometimes,” she said. “But he’ll stick to his word. Whatever you two have planned, he’ll follow through. Even if things don’t work out romantically.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I still wanted that bond broken, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to face Alec.
The sky was streaked with pink and the heat of the day made the cold lake water feel blissful. I’d let Sheila talk me into a swim and we’d spent the last ten minutes floating in the water. It was dinner time for most people and the kids playing at shore had run off shortly after we arrived.
It was peaceful and calm. I was starting to understand why Sheila was so happy here. It was a good place to at least figure out where you wanted to go next as Anja had mentioned. I wasn’t sure what my next steps would be. Especially after the way Alec and I left things.
I didn’t want to talk to him, but I had to know what was going on. The unknown about our next steps with the plan were getting to me. Would we still be going to remove my mating bond? Or had he decided he no longer wanted to help me at all?
I turned so my legs touched the bottom of the lake. We were in chest deep water, my head barely above the surface. “We should probably head back now. I need to find Alec and figure out if I still have plans for tomorrow.”
The last thing I wanted to do was talk to him again, but the need to break the bond and get even the slightest revenge on Wolf Creek was pulsing through me. I had to follow through with this. Returning home and facing my past, instead of running, was important. I was starting to wonder if it was exactly the step I needed to finally connect with my inner wolf.
“Your return to Wolf Creek?” she asked.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, not sure how to respond. Alec had made it clear he didn’t want me to tell anyone about me looking for information about the toxin, but I wasn’t sure what he’d told people.
“I know what’s going on,” she said. “Alec doesn’t keep much from me.”
“You were here all week while he was out doing who knows what,” I said.
“Someone has to stick around here sometimes when he’s out. Especially if we’ve got trackers from Wolf Creek on the prowl,” she said.
I scrunched up my face, guilt making me feel like shit for bringing threats anywhere near this blissful community. While I was confident my old pack knew nothing about the mark, Tyler and I had that bond intact. I winced at the memory of kissing him before I was tossed in the cave. I’d wanted him to miss me, but I hadn’t wanted him to come looking for me. Why didn’t I think of that possibility?
“Don’t worry,” she said. “Alec has a plan to take care of it. It’s all going to be fine.”
“You really trust him, don’t you?” I asked.
“He takes care of his friends,” she said. “Come on, let’s head back.”
A weight settled in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t sure where I stood with him in that regard. We were friends? After what just went down, I had no idea. The part that bothered me the most was that I wasn’t quite sure what I was hoping for. I wasn’t great with relationships. I’d never had an actual friend before let alone a lover. While I was pissed at how he’d reacted, I had no idea where to go from here.
We swam to shore and shook off the water as best as we could before slipping back into our clothes. My shorts and tee were soaked, making my shirt completely transparent. I guess a perk of going back to my mom’s trailer was that I could pack a bag of clothes. I’d lost my best clothes wherever I’d dropped my bag, but I would give just about anything for some clean underwear.
Our walk back took us past Alec’s place. I paused, wondering if he was there right now. All the windows were dark and I figured there was a good chance he wasn’t there so I continued on. Sheila either didn’t notice my distraction, or she kept quiet.
I was shivering by the time we reached the common area. “Any chance you have another shirt that might fit me?”
“I got you,” she said.
Sheila turned on a lantern when we reached her tent. My heart sank when I saw that the cot was back to normal. Alec had either had it fixed or found a replacement. Was that his attempt at an apology or was he simply fulfilling his role as the leader of the feral shifters?
“You’ll want to get some sleep tonight,” Sheila said. “I don’t know all the details, but I think tomorrow will be a big day for you.”
“If it’s still happening,” I said.
“You had a fight. It happens. But we never let disagreements take us away from our plans. We have to be careful out here to survive,” she said.
I swallowed down the guilt again. I shouldn’t be here. I’d put them all at risk. Alec knew it from the beginning, yet he let me stay. I should have taken my chances walking to town and found a job. Stuck to my plan. Moved on with my life as a human. My wolf seemed to growl at the notion.
