us to know, and I had to take comfort from that, even if it made me sad to think he was out there with Sabina, doing his duty to a new member of his pack, all while something was eating at him as he dealt with his grief.
When my ham sandwich was made, I didn’t bother cleaning up. Ethan was as much of a slob as me and, undoubtedly, he’d be down for some food later. Though we’d intended on stuffing our faces at the carnival, that hadn’t exactly happened, had it?
Traipsing into my room, I switched on the TV and flicked through the channels until I found a Seahawks’ game. I didn’t hate them, and it was better than just sitting in silence.
Once I toed off my boots, I left them by the door, then climbed onto my bed. I had a little seating area over by the TV, and I even had a desk, but I felt like lying down. Council parties could last for hours, and I was actually tired, so I considered taking a nap before we had to head out to Eli’s.
As I ate, and even when I fell asleep, the sounds of Eli’s howling haunted me.
I didn’t think about why that was more so than usual. Why would I?
I didn’t know what had happened tonight.
Didn’t understand the ramifications.
But I would soon.
Sabina
I felt weak, weaker than usual. My body always ached now, and the fibromyalgia made some days a nightmare just to get through, but this weakness was different than how I usually felt.
Some mornings, just getting out of bed made me want to cry, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. My life didn’t come with any kind of grants or federal aid. How could it when I was a ghost? When I’d been that way for twelve years?
So every morning, when the pain made me want to weep, I just had to suck it up, and trust me, it was easier to give birth than it was to suck it up—and I’d know. Labor was on par with the constant pain in my bones, so when I woke up and I felt just weak, it was kind of nice.
After all, weak was better than childbirth.
When I opened my eyes, I recognized that I wasn’t in my trailer back at the fairground. In fact…
I blinked and slowly sat up as I registered where the hell I was.
For a second, I could do nothing but gape at the wolf who was sitting before me, proud and tall and straight, his black fur gleaming in the early morning sunlight, and then I took in the fact that I was in the woods.
I wasn’t sure which made less sense.
The fact that I was in a forest or the fact that a massive wolf was standing close to me. Like, within touching distance close.
Fear tried to filter through my system, but even as I felt it, it swarmed away, replaced with a warmth that couldn’t be denied. But why would looking at him make me feel warm?
I always felt cold. Always. So this warmth was enough to make me feel sleepy, and the longer I looked at him, the better I felt!
The beast’s bright green eyes glimmered in the light too, making them sparkle like emeralds as he stared at me. When I sat up, he tipped his head to the side before he tilted it back and released the most piercing, mournful howl that I’d ever heard.
It was crazy that, until today, I’d never realized just how much emotion was in a howl, and yet, here? I could tell the creature was hurting. I just didn’t know why. And I really wanted to.
I also needed to pee, was hungry as hell, and wanted to know why I was in the woods with him watching over me.
In no particular order.
After he released that howl, he began to approach me. At first, I reared back, scrabbled away even, unsure where to go or if I could even outrun the beast. I mean, it wasn’t like I’d been a sprinter back when I’d been in the peak of health, so now? Yeah, there was no way I could outrun a wolf that looked to be in the prime of his life. So I stayed put, kept as still as I could, and prayed that he wouldn’t rip me to shreds.
My heart pounded in my chest, my lungs bellowed with fear, and then, as he approached, instead of expiring from