He opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a bottle of mouthwash and handed it to me. I swished it in my mouth and spit it into the sink, turning on the water to get it all down the drain.
We went back downstairs, and Blake led me into the woods. He began stripping as soon as we stepped a few yards in. I turned my back to him, and he laughed. “It’s cute how you pretend we haven’t seen each other completely naked already.” When I didn’t turn around, he said, “I’ve turned around. I won’t peek.”
I turned my head to see that his back was to me. I then pulled off all my clothes and shifted into my wolf. I turned back around to see that he was already in his wolf form. I walked next to him. He glanced at me for a moment and then launched into a sprint. I quickly followed.
We ran together for at least an hour. It was nice not being confined to the territory. It was also nice having Blake to run with. Something about being in his presence made me feel calm and lessened the pain. When we came to a hill, Blake got down and rolled down it in his wolf form. I followed, feeling like a little kid. I stopped at the bottom on my back and Blake stood over me licking my face. It was at that moment that I could finally imagine a future without pain.
We ran back to the packhouse, and Blake turned around so I could shift back and get dressed. He then walked me to my car. Right before I got in, he pulled me against him and kissed me on my head. “See you tomorrow, six o’clock atyourhouse. Hopefully that was clear enough this time.”
“Bye,” I replied, smiling, and got into my car. He watched as I drove away. When I got home, I pulled all the groceries out of the car, thankful that it was freezing that day. For the first time in over a week, I finally cooked dinner, a smile on my face.
Chapter 62
Blake
OnFridayafternoon,Luke,my father, Alpha Antoine, and his mate, Luna Marie, were positioned around my desk as we all looked toward the conference phone. Luke gathered everyone and dialed his father’s number.
“Hello? Dad?” Luke shouted into the phone.
“Hi, Luke. Who else is there?”
“We have Alpha Blake, Alpha James, Alpha Antoine, and Luna Marie.”
“Ok, good. I have some unfortunate news to share. Thank you for calling me back immediately. My men have spotted a mass movement from Alpha Édouard’s pack. At this point, I would advise everyone to take position. I think it’s clear that they’ve decided to proceed with the attack, and they’re definitely heading in your direction.”
Alpha Antoine chimed in, “I am looking at my phone and I’m receiving the same information from my beta now.”
“Let’s load up the borders, and I’ll call the Autumn Moon Pack in.” My dad stood up.
“I’ll mindlink all of the seniors now,” I said.
“I’ll get an email out to the pack informing them to stay home to avoid the conflict,” Luke said, stationing himself in front of his laptop.
“Good luck, everyone. I’ll stand by here and text you if anything changes,” Alfred said as we hung up.
After I was done mindlinking, I looked down at my phone sadly and quickly typed a text message to Jasmine to let her know I’d have to take a rain check on the date. Luke and I began assigning warriors to be stationed a few miles out from the northern border in groups of two, to keep lookout in shifts. That way, they could mindlink us with a warning before the enemy packs reached us, giving everyone time to make it to the battle before the enemies began attacking. Hopefully we could keep the impending battle outside the pack territory, so it wouldn’t affect our civilians. The Bois Sombre Pack was about four hours away by car, but it wasn’t clear if they would proceed directly to our pack, or how far away they might park before shifting into their wolf forms to run the rest of the way.
Luke and I sat down at our desks and my father returned to the office. “I’ve got Alpha Marc on standby.”
“Thank you, Alpha James,” Luke said from his desk. My father then looked at me. I looked back at him, wondering why he was staring at me. After some time of us staring at each other, he finally shook his head and walked out. Once we heard the front door open and shut, Luke said, “Your dad hasn’t been as bad lately.”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“How’s Jasmine doing? Is she okay?” Luke looked at me.
“She’ll be fine.”
“I heard you took her to your birthday thing.”
“Yeah.”
Luke then stood up and walked over to my desk, looking down at me. “I know I don’t have the right to say anything, but please, Blake, don’t hurt her. She’s a good girl.”
“You’re right, you don’t have the right to say anything, so don’t.” I narrowed my eyes at him and pursed my lips. He nodded and walked out of the room.
I spent the rest of the day doing my rounds between patrol stations, making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to and that they understood all the instructions. I got home close to midnight and reheated some lasagna that Connie had left in the fridge. After I ate it, I passed out in my bed, leaving my phone on the charger at full volume.
I woke to it ringing just as dawn was breaking. I looked out my window as I answered, seeing snowflakes falling. “Yeah.”