Land of Wolves

Chapter 27

What's the point of getting out of bed? I lay in a ball under my sheets, wishing for nothing more than to disappear. I have no mission, nothing to do, and no fucking friends.

My comforter is thick, and my warm breath fans over my knees as I let out a long sigh and curl up into a ball. My smell is becoming overbearing, too. I can handle a lot, thanks to my time with HPAW, and if it's too much for me to be around, that means it's bad.

I slide my hand around until I find my phone.

The battery is low, but I still have a few hours of entertainment before it dies. My movements are slow as I navigate my way to my photos. They're almost all of Caleb, usually ones he didn't realize were being taken, and the rest are of the two of us.

I debate texting him, a battle I've been having with myself since he brought me to this apartment three days ago, but I resist. He needs space. I need space.

Instead, I torture myself by looking through my photos and reliving our memories. This probably isn't healthy, but I've never exactly been known for my great decisions.

My poor choices are what got us here in the first place.

I'm going to fix this, I just don't know how. Caleb mentioned a while ago that there's a library here with a dedicated wolf section. I asked about a thousand times to go to it, but he blew me off every time.

It's probably because there's important information there.

Will he think I'm still trying to capture information for HPAW if I go there? It would look suspicious.

I purse my lips and glare at my phone. I could always just call and tell him my plan. I could ask if it's okay for me to go there and read up on mate bonds. Caleb already knows I intend to find a way to fix my mark, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I want to learn more about them.

My pulse races as I navigate to his contact and make the call.

Is he even going to answer?

The phone rings, and I hold my breath as I bring it to my ear. Two rings come and go before the line connects.

"Evelyn?" Caleb's voice runs through me like honey.

Going days without hearing from or seeing him has been challenging, and I didn't realize how badly I've been aching until now. Muscles I didn't even know I was tensing relax, and my eyes slip shut as a tear leaks out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey!" My voice cracks, embarrassing, and I clear my throat before continuing. "I wanted to ask if it's okay for me to go to the library and read through the wolf books you told me were there. I want to see if I can find anything regarding my mark and how to lighten it."

I spit the words out as quickly as possible, eager to speak them into existence before I get scared and chicken out.

My request is met with silence, and my palms grow sweaty as I wait. Is he going to say no?

"I don't want you to have access to our books," Caleb admits. "But I can let the librarian know you're coming around and have her scan any pages on markings. You can read those."

"Thank—"

Caleb interrupts me. "How do you plan to get there?"

That's a good question. The wolves don't exactly have a bus system. Everybody shifts into their animal form and runs to where they need to be.

"I'll walk," I say.

Caleb grunts, the noise full of displeasure. I never thought the day would come when I could read somebody's mood by a curt grunt. I was so fucking stupid ever to try and kill Caleb.