I stood in the middle of the room willing my wolf to surface. This couldn’t be this hard. Sure, there’d only ever been a handful of times that they’d been late to drug me. I’d at least used them to my full extent and tried to run free. I should have learned, but I didn’t. A few beatings and more drugs at least made the time pass.
I tried to clear my mind. Tried to shake out my limbs like that was going to clear the last of everything in my system.
The floor was cold, and I was still getting nowhere. All I knew was that I never wanted to feel out of control like the drugs made me feel ever again. I hated it. I hated them, but without my wolf I was no match for them.
I growled because I wasn’t any closer to my wolf, and it had been days. It was almost as disappointing as last year on my birthday when I’d almost escaped. I should have realized then that they wouldn’t let me go.
Or worse, they would sell me off to an even worse pack. I guess that’s what they did, anyway. I sighed and moved to sit back down.
This didn’t seem to be a prison and if I could just shift maybe I could figure out what to do next. What did a half a shifter do? I should be used to being alone and on my own, but I’d convinced myself that I wasn’t. Made of dreams and waited to talk to a wolf that might have been resentful about our lot in life. I should be fine. But I wasn’t.
Nothing was changing. The wind from the open window blew across my skin. I shivered. Without my wolf I didn’t have her to keep me warmer than a human either.
Being cold and alone just made me think of Devon. He’d been so warm when he was near me. And his scent. Goddess, what was so different about him. I’d barely recognized him from all those years ago.
He was a broken promise. Years came and went and he never came for me. I was the only thing I could truly trust.
The air in the room shifted, and I looked over my shoulder as someone cleared his throat.
“I. So sorry Ms. Kiara.”
I darted for the nightshirt I’d been wearing since I’d gotten here. The difference between this life and my old one was that I’d been given a clean version this morning.
I pulled it over my head and turned around to see a red faced Colton.
“Colton right?”
He nodded.
“Yes, so sorry. I should have knocked.”
I shrugged.
“This is your pack hospital. I suppose if I cared I wouldn't be standing here naked.”
Colton’s head bobbed, but he seemed highly confused.
“Why exactly were you standing here naked?”
His question wasn’t unfair, but I didn’t want to answer it. I didn’t want to tell him my secrets, and I wasn’t just talking about the wolf.
“You’re trying to see if you’re free of the wolfsbane yet?”
The way he watched me, it wasn’t creepy like the males in the Cripple Creek Pack. The way he stayed his distance seemed to be more respectful.
“Yeah. I was just trying to see if I could shift yet.”
I could leave out the bit where the second I could shift was probably the time for me to run. It would be really naïve to think I could be safe anywhere in pack territories. I would be stupid to think that I could hide here and that this pack would adopt me and protect me. I needed a better plan.
Devon had wanted me once upon a time. He told me that I was destined to be his. My wolf hadn’t yet been awake back then, but it was the same. He’d made me feel safe.
“What brings you here? To my room?”
I waited for him to speak, but it was hard to block out the fact I had no good plans. And maybe at one point Devon had wanted me but he’d never come for me. How could he believe I’d been dead? If he truly felt something for me, shouldn’t he have tried harder?
Colton smiled and started to talk.
“I’m sorry you can’t shift, but in the meantime. Sarah and I thought you could use some clothes? And the pack house has several guest rooms. I don’t think that you need to be here anymore. It’s just going to take time for your body to heal.”