I looked away before I did something stupid and concentrated on the pine needles and old leaves beneath my paws. “I’d like to meet her,” I said before I could really think it through.
Wyatt was quiet for so long that I risked glancing at him again. It was harder to read him in that form, but he looked uncomfortable for some reason. Had I said something wrong? Was there a reason he didn’t want his mom to meet me?
“Yeah. We’ll have to do that one day,” he choked out.
Part of me wondered at his curious behavior, but the rest was back in that clearing with the dead woman who’d lost her life to a werewolf like me. For the first time in my life, it made me ashamed of who I was.
Sure, we had several physical advantages over humans, but we never took them. And it was true that most wolves didn’t care for humans, but werewolves were by nature peaceful and only wanted to live their lives without fear of discovery. The fact that one of us had gone so bad they’d become a serial killer didn’t sit well with me
To make matters worse, it had to be a wolf we were familiar with. Someone from a neighboring pack that one or all of us knew. Otherwise, why mask their scent? And if it was a wolf from a neighboring pack, did the fact they were leaving bodies in our woods mean they held a grudge against us? And why?
“Can we run?” Wyatt asked, breaking into my dark thoughts. “I feel like I need to get some of this energy out of me.”
“That actually sounds great.”
Our eyes met once more, and I gave myself a moment to get lost in them before I shook my head and leapt into a sprint.
“Callie! I’m supposed to be escorting you back to the lodge!”
“Then I guess you’ll have to catch up!”
The run back seemed shorter, but isn’t that how it always is? Before long, the familiar scents of my pack filled the woods and then we were in the clearing behind the lodge. There were wolves scattered around the field in various activities, but I was looking for two in particular. Soon I found Del and Evey by themselves near the tree line, which was good because I had a lot to tell them and didn’t want anyone else involved for now.
I turned to Wyatt. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”
“I guess so.”
The awkwardness seeped into the space between us until it felt like I was suffocating. Part of me didn’t want to leave his side, but that didn’t make sense and I hated when things didn’t make sense.
“Okay. Bye,” I said awkwardly before turning around and walking away. He didn’t respond, but I could feel him watching me as I crossed the distance to my sisters.
Just before I reached them, I turned around to find him just where I’d left him, those light brown eyes trained on me like I knew they’d be. I shook out my fur and tried to forget him. I had bigger things to deal with right then.
After I filled my sisters in on what happened in the woods, we spent the rest of the night speculating about the murders and complaining that Abey had kept us in the dark. Even though most of my brain was centered on my sisters and what we’d found out, that didn’t stop a small part of me from keeping tabs on Wyatt.
Despite my best efforts to push thoughts of him aside, I watched him like a hawk for the rest of the night. It was easier when he began sparring with an enforcer named Jason as it gave me a reason to watch him. Other pack members circled the two wolves to observe their match, but I knew no one watched as closely as I did.
Wyatt was magnificent. He was fast and agile. Quick and smart. He won round after round as I tried to keep my tongue in my mouth and not let it drag on the ground.
Worst of all, it seemed like he was watching me too. Over and over his eyes would meet mine, and every time, there was a sadness in his. A resignation that I didn’t understand. His gaze would trace my body up and down before gritting his teeth and looking away. I wished I knew him better so I could have a chance at understanding, but I had no one to blame but myself for the distance between us.
Now, for the first time, I wondered if that was the right choice.
As the night wound down, my packmates began to curl up in groups to sleep off the rest of the full moon. I’d wandered away from my sisters a while ago and found myself walking the perimeter of the field. I didn’t want to be alone, but I also didn’t want to be with my sisters right then.
My mind was full of thoughts of the woman in the woods, of Abey’s secret-keeping, but most of all, Wyatt. He’d disappeared into the forest a while ago and I hadn’t seen him since. I knew he wasn’t far though, because that feeling in the pit of my stomach was still so acute.
When I’d fully worn myself out, I circled a small patch of lush grass beneath an elm tree and curled into a ball. Tonight had been emotionally and physically draining,
