LOGINBack at the Pack House...Lyall's POV"You know her better than anyone. Where would she go?" my dad asks, breaking the heavy silence hanging over the room.I rake both hands through my hair for what has to be the hundredth time today."How am I supposed to know?" I snap."She has never wanted to leave the pack before. We've never talked about it. Not once. She has always loved it here."Or...At least I thought she did.The thought twists like a knife in my chest.Apparently I never knew Rowan as well as I believed."Apparently she wasn't happy here," my mother says quietly. "There has to be a reason she left."I let out a bitter laugh."You think I don't know that?"She reaches toward me, trying to rub my back like she did when I was little.I step away before she can touch me.Right now, comfort feels wrong.Rowan is out there somewhere.Alone.Pregnant.Probably terrified.While I'm standing here doing absolutely nothing.I continue pacing.Every few steps I stop, trying to force m
First, we traveled east for a full day. We only stopped to eat, use the restroom, and fuel up. Other than that, Raven drove almost nonstop.Every mile that put more distance between me and the pack made my chest ache a little more.I tried not to think about what Lyall was doing right now.Whether River had started crying yet.Whether Mel was angry.Whether Troy blamed himself again.Most of all, I tried not to imagine Lyall walking into the room I was supposed to be sleeping in and finding nothing but an empty wheelchair.The thought alone made my eyes sting.I turned my face toward the passenger window before Raven could notice."I told you not to think too much," Raven said quietly, never taking her eyes off the road."I wasn't."She gave me a knowing look."You were."I sighed."I miss them already.""I know."Neither of us spoke again until we pulled into a small gas station nearly two hundred miles from home.As soon as I tried climbing out of the car, my legs trembled violently
"So, where are we going then?" I ask after a while.Raven smirks at me before holding up a coin for me to see."I thought that we would let fate decide." She says."Are you serious right now? We are going to choose where we are going based on a coin flip?" I ask incredulously."Of course. You wanted to be untraceable. This is going to be the trick. Once we get farther away we can start making our own decisions again." She tells me with that same smirk. She does have a fair point there. With Lyall knowing me as well as he does, it would be too easy for him to find me this close to the pack. I will just have to let her do her thing and hope that it works out for us."Can you promise me, no snow though?" I ask with a shudder.Personally, I have never seen snow before but I know that as a wolf, we love the sunshine. Laying in the sun is one of the most relaxing feelings ever. If I have to go somewhere cold, I do not know how well I will adapt."Hey, fate is deciding. If you have a proble
We drive in silence for the first hour.Neither of us seems to know what to say.Every few miles I glance in the side mirror, half expecting to see a familiar truck barreling down the highway after us.Lyall's truck.Even though I know he cannot possibly have found me this quickly, I still cannot stop looking.My heart jumps every time another vehicle appears behind us before slowly settling again as it passes.Somewhere behind us, my pack is beginning to realize I am gone.I wonder who found my empty room first.Was it Lyall?Did he rush back after dropping Raven off at the hospital?Did he knock on the bedroom door before letting himself inside?Did he smile, expecting to wake me...Only to find an empty bed?The thought twists painfully inside my chest.I'm sorry, Lyall.I hope someday you'll understand why I had to leave.Honestly, we probably would have kept going if the car hadn't desperately needed gas. The farther away we get from the pack, the easier it is to breathe. Every m
Rushing through the woods toward our designated meeting place is easier than I expected.The ball cap shades enough of my face that I no longer feel the need to duck behind every tree. I still avoid the main trails whenever possible, but being alone in the woods isn't unusual for a werewolf. We hunt here. Train here. Think here.No one gives a lone wolf a second glance.Every step carries me farther away from everything I have ever known.I refuse to think about that.Instead, I focus on Raven.On the plan.On putting one foot in front of the other.If I allow myself to think about what I'm leaving behind, I know I'll turn around before I ever reach the edge of the territory.Eventually the trees begin to thin, revealing the narrow road where Raven promised to meet me.Right on cue, I spot her old car sitting on the shoulder with the hood raised.I can't help smiling.A young warrior from the pack is standing beside her, scratching the back of his neck while staring helplessly into th
When I see that the path is clear, I climb out the window and press myself against the outer wall of the pack house.One careful step at a time.I know the patrol schedules, but the pack house is different. There are always wolves coming and going—warriors changing shifts, mothers picking up children, elders stopping in to gossip, omegas bringing supplies. At any second someone could round a corner and everything would be over before I even made it home.Keeping my breathing slow, I slip around the first corner.Nothing.Another few steps.Still nothing.A tiny smile tugs at my lips as I disappear into the tree line surrounding the pack house.That was the hardest part.At least...I hope it was.Now all I have to do is get home, grab my emergency cash, and leave before anyone realizes I was never sleeping.Raven's part of the plan is just as important.She is buying me time.The blood sample is only an excuse. She admitted there is still enough of the drug in my bloodstream for her to
Flashes.That was all I had.Flashes of light.Flashes of voices.Flashes of movement just beyond my reach.Every time I tried to grasp one of the memories, it slipped away like water through my fingers.My head pounded.It felt as though someone had taken a hammer to my skull and then left the pie
Troy looked far too pleased with himself as we sat around sipping our drinks and talking about all the trouble we'd inevitably get into at college.I still couldn't believe everyone had decided to go.When Lyall and I first made our plans, I'd imagined the two of us facing a new world together. Som
"On a more serious note," Mel said, lifting his empty glass, "one of us has to go get the next round, don't we?"A collective groan went around the table.We all laughed at Mel's expression.His family was ridiculously wealthy. Not spoiled exactly, but definitely accustomed to convenience. If there
Knowing I wouldn't be allowed to leave until I promised to be careful, I gave my parents the reassurance they wanted before retreating to my room to finish getting ready.Most of my friends were guys, and I usually blended right in with them. Every now and then, though, I enjoyed reminding them tha







