Page 91 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

The waiting was horrible.

I began to regret giving in and letting Clay go back to camp without me about ten seconds after he left. What if he couldn’t help himself? What if Ryland said something to him and he snapped? What if he didn’t come home?

And then there were the other worries. Was Jared held responsible for allowing Clay and me to leave without permission? Did his uncle punish him in my stead?

What about Layla and Vivian? Were they all right?

Would they ever speak to me again?

And Charity…

Sticking her neck out for me again.

Even though my limbs were heavy with exhaustion, my mind raced to cover every brutal, terrifying possibility.

I splashed cool water over my face. Over my arms and down my chest to keep the cloying grasp of panic at bay.

I took deep breaths and tried to force myself to stop pacing.

But that only made it worse it seemed, so I let myself wear a path into the hardwood between the living room and kitchen while I waited.

It was two hours before I began to hear the sounds of people approaching the cabin. Dawn had emerged in earnest now. No longer just a whisper of pink and purple on the bellies of clouds, the sun was a fat muted orange blob hanging in the sky just above the trees.

My bare feet squished into the dew-covered leaves and glass as I raced across the gravel drive and delved into the trees, following the deer path that led from the cabin to where we parked the Jeep at the tip of the trailhead.

I heard Jared’s voice before I saw them. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it was enough to allow me the first full breath since Clay left me alone to wait.

Clearing the remaining distance with my heart in my throat, I stifled the immediate urge to sob again when I found Jared, Clay, Viv, Layla, and Destiny emerge from the shadows.

Where was Quinn?

Jared’s gaze was the first to find me, and he visibly relaxed when our eyes met.

“Viv? Layla.”

They looked up, startled until they saw who it was. Vivian’s short blonde hair was clotted with dirt.

Layla’s already pale complexion was downright scary. But they were all right. They were alive and back in their human forms.

It took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to rush over to them. Layla’s gaze passed over me as though barely registering my existence. Vivian glanced at me only briefly before dipping her head to whisper something to Destiny.

Clay brought up the rear, his jaw flexing when no one answered me. There was an apology in his gaze that made my stomach turn.

“Quinn?” I pressed, a sudden, gripping terror seizing me.

Oh fuck.

Had Ryland done something to him?

It was Vivian who answered. “He’s okay. We dropped him back at home after…” her brows knitted together. “After the vampire dude did some weird shit to make him forget everything.”

A small sound escaped Layla’s lips, and she shouldered past me without another word, heading for the cabin.

Her silence cut me worse than she could’ve done with any words.

Vivian dropped her gaze.

“Can we…can we talk?” I hedged, wringing my hands in the hem of one of Clay’s baggy t-shirts I threw on when we got back. “I wanted to—”

“No,” Vivian said. “I just want to go to sleep.”

“But—”

“I said no Allie.” She sighed, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Just…not right now. Okay?”

The finality in her words stung.

“Let’s get you to bed,” Destiny whispered, rubbing her arm and leading her past me to follow Layla.

“Take my room,” I called after them. “It’s the last one on the right.”

“Mine, too,” Jared added, coming to stand next to me. A hand pressed against my back in an attempt to comfort me. “It’s across from Allie’s. We’ll take the couch.”

Yeah, right. As if I was going to be able to fucking sleep.

Clay’s slow footfalls approached until he was on my other side. He brushed his knuckles against mine. I glanced up at him gratefully. He brought them back just like he promised he would.

But…

Then why didn’t I feel any better?

“They just need time,” Jared told me in a low voice and there was something in his tone that I’d never heard there before. I craned my neck to look up at him, finding his expression hard and unreadable.

I was almost afraid to ask, but I needed to know. “Is everything okay? Did Ryland…” I trailed off, not really sure what I had planned to ask.

Did he punish you? Get Charity into trouble? Did something else happen while we were gone?

Jared blinked as though coming out of a trance and gave my waist a little squeeze. “No. Nothing like that. He actually passed out about an hour after you left.”

I lifted a brow, finding that hard to imagine. After how pissed off Ryland was, how could he just go and pass out? I rationed that he had been drinking pretty heavily earlier in the night and that maybe the drinks had just caught up with him, but it seemed a bit suspicious.

“You look exhausted,” Jared said, worry in his eyes. “Let’s go try to get some sleep. We’ll figure out what comes next in the morning.”

I didn’t point out that it was already morning, instead letting my body wilt under the force of my exhaustion. I still didn’t think I’d be able to sleep any time soon, but resting my eyes didn’t sound like a terrible idea. They burned from lack of sleep and the remnants of salt from my tears.

“You coming?” Jared asked Clay when he began to tow me toward the cabin.

I peered back to glance at Clay. He stood unmoving amid the gently swaying naked branches. “No,” he said plainly. “Someone should keep watch.”

Jared stiffened, but didn’t attempt to argue the point.

I was reminded of something Clay had told me once before, when I learned that their cabin was hidden from view by some form of magic.

Magic that apparently didn’t work on me, just like the alchemist’s healing spell hadn’t.

I asked him why he stayed with me. Wasn’t I safe if wolves from other packs couldn’t find the cabin?

Some enemies hide in plain sight, disguised as people you trust.

“I can stay up with you,” I offered, knowing sleep wasn’t an option for me, either.

Clay solemnly shook his head. “No. Jared’s right, Allie. You need to rest.”

I didn’t have the energy to argue with him either, it seemed, because I found myself nodding and submitting to the gentle pull on my waist from Jared.

“Check her arm,” Clay called after us before we could completely vanish from view. “Make sure it’s healing properly before you pass out.”

“I will.”

The cabin was already silent when we entered. The only evidence that my friends were inside were their muddy shoes at the door and the faintest scent of Layla’s jasmine perfume clinging to the air.

“You can take Clay’s bed if you want,” Jared offered as he pulled a woolen blanket and a pillow from an ottoman I hadn’t known doubled as storage.

Tempting as it was to lie enveloped in Clay’s scent and snuggle into his pillow, I didn’t think I could take being alone yet.

The panic was still there, swimming beneath the surface, ready to boil over if prodded.

The only way I was going to be able to lie still and give my body the rest it would need to be able to face tomorrow—or today?

—was if I had at least one of my mates close by.

One day, I wouldn’t need their strength to support me. But for now, it was the only thing holding me together.

I swallowed hard and shoved strands of dirty hair from my face. “I think the couch is big enough for both of us.”

Jared smirked, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I think you’re right.”

He finished unfolding the blanket and fluffed up the pillow at one end of the sofa and sat down, beckoning me to join him.

“Let me see your arm.”

His fingers reached up to untie the knot at the back of my neck, releasing the sling. The pain was no more than a dull, pulsing ache now. That terrible feeling of bone knitting back together had subsided nearly an hour ago, but still, I winced when he folded the cloth back to inspect the damage.

His eyes darkened at the dried blood still marring my arm as he brushed his fingers over where the break had been. “Does this hurt?” he asked, his voice a dangerous whisper.

I stole the cloth back and did my best to knot it again with my one available hand. “It’s fine,” I replied. “Seriously. I think it’s almost healed.”

I didn’t like the way he was looking at it. At me. His cheekbones flared and his hands curled into fists as he drew them back. “I don’t know what to do,” he said so quietly I barely heard him.

“What do you mean?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, and his clenched fists relaxed. “Nothing.”

“Jar—”

“Let’s get some sleep.”

He lay back, scooching as close to the inside of the couch as he could. He opened his arms and the invitation was too welcoming to ignore. I fell into his arms, let him tuck me tightly into his side, and lifted my injured arm so it could lie safely against this chest.

I breathed in his scent, nearly moaning at the comfort it brought.

Cedar and birch with an undercurrent of musk.

Like my own personal forest. The safe kind.

Where there were no monsters lurking in the shadows and no storms could destroy my shelter.

I relaxed into him, and even though I hadn’t thought it possible, within minutes, his steady breaths lulled me into a deep and dreamless sleep.