This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,59
to say than, “I’ll go get my things. I’ll be in the garden in half an hour.”
I stride from the room with my heart in my throat.
I’m not sure if I just handed myself to the devil or took my first step on my path to revenge against Baxter Griffin.
Perhaps both.
Chapter Fifteen
On my way to my room, I find Iyana and Danika in the library.
They hurry toward me.
“It’s time,” I say. “I’m leaving tonight. In half an hour.”
“Then we need to pack quickly,” Danika says.
My forehead creases with worry. “You’re sure about coming with me?”
“Deadly certain,” Iyana replies. “I might need a moment to source some vials of mercury from Helen, but I’ll make sure to bring enough for another year. Where should we meet you?”
“In the garden,” I say.
Danika squeezes my shoulder. “Fuck alpha shifters, yes?”
“Fuck ’em,” I say.
I hurry to my room but slow myself before I barge in. I don’t want to upset Ella.
As soon as I open the door, her humming calms me.
“Blue treasure… pink ocean… orange grass…” She stops as soon as I step into the room. “Domination.”
I hold my breath for a moment, hoping that my emotions haven’t upset her rhythm.
Her brown eyes widen. She pauses where she sits on the edge of her armchair, crushing a silver flower in her fist, spreading glittering dust over the floor. Her head is tilted to the side, a string of flowers in her hair. One of them drops to the moss at our feet when she shivers.
I’ve suspected for a while now that Ella has strong empathic tendencies. She demonstrated them to me on my first morning here when she asked if I was wolf or human. Her empathy would make exposure to violence even more devastating for her. It also means I have to regulate my emotions around her or I can negatively affect her with my mood.
I focus on breathing normally, regaining my calm. “Orange grass,” I say, keeping my voice low, a lull that matches the sighing breeze in the trees around us. “Blue treasure, pink ocean, violet sunrise—”
“Yellow forest, blue treasure…” She exhales. The tension leaves her shoulders. She curls up in her chair, pulls her knees to her chest, and closes her eyes, humming to herself again.
The corners of my lips twitch upward into a smile.
She’s the sweetest woman I’ve ever met. Even when she breaks down, her tears only highlight the honeyed flecks in her eyes and the paleness of her hair. Over time, I’ve figured out that she’s the same age as me—twenty-three. I feel like she’s the sister I never had.
Leaving her is hard.
Without thinking, I lean over and plant a kiss on her cheek.
Realizing it could distress her, I pull back, ready to calm her down again, but she relaxes against the seat.
“Cobalt treasure.” She exhales before her breathing deepens. She’s fast asleep within minutes.
I choose to believe that she means my wolf’s energy, that she’s trying to tell me she knows I’m her friend and that I don’t have to be afraid.
“Sleep well, sweetheart,” I murmur. “I will come back one day. I promise.”
Quickly pulling clothes from my closet, I fold them into a bag I find in the bottom of the closet. It makes me wonder if there’s a bag hiding in every woman’s closet, waiting like a promise of a new life. In my case, it’s a promise of life-threatening danger, but as I pack my things, I discover that I’m ready for it.
I’m ready to go back out into the world.
I raid my bathroom for toiletries since I’m not sure what the amenities will be like where I’m going, check my reflection in the mirror, and retie my hair, and then I exit my room and stride down the corridor, meeting Danika halfway along.
She’s carrying a duffel bag that’s bulging as fully as mine. She’s wearing her favorite ripped jeans with black calf-height boots and a sleeveless V-neck T-shirt, and her hair is tied up. Unlike me, she’s comfortable showing off her curves.
I tug at the base of my loose flannel shirt. “Ready?”
“Iyana’s just gone to collect a case of mercury vials,” she says. “She’ll meet us in the garden.”
Iyana’s waiting for us when we get there, her arms folded across her chest. She’s wearing tight black jeans, knee-high black boots, a low-cut blue-gray T-shirt that brings out the color of her eyes, along with a victorious grin.
A silver hard case sits on the floor beside her along with a full-to-the-brim duffel bag.