Land of Wolves

Chapter 29

I'm pretty sure I've fried my brain.

I sit on my living room rug with paperwork scattered all around me, each page marked up so much that the original text is practically impossible to read. My back aches from being hunched over all afternoon, and I stand and lean back until I feel it cracks.

Momentary relief fills me, but the pain is back a second later.

Two whole days spent studying everything I could find about mate bonds, and not one piece of helpful information was to be found. A waste of fucking time.

Rubbing my eyes, I turn and look around my apartment.

I've been making a pointed effort to keep it clean after Caleb's visit the other day, minus the mess that's become the living room floor, and I suck in a deep breath before bundling up all the papers and setting them on the coffee table in a neat pile.

I need to take a break before I lose my mind, but I haven't the slightest idea of what to do.

With Caleb, my days were spent either keeping the house or wreaking havoc around his office, and my evenings were almost always spent cuddling on the couch in his arms. I loved it, and I don't know what to do with my time when Caleb's not around to fill it. I didn't have any hobbies back in the HPAW facility, either. Most of my time was spent either training or researching the wolves.

I walk into my kitchen and peek inside my fridge.

I'm running out of food.

Caleb stocked the kitchen for me before I moved in, and I'm very quickly working through everything in here. The thought of going to the grocery store makes me shiver, though, and I've been avoiding it like the plague.

There's only one within the pack, and Caleb always insisted he go with me. I don't want to know what it feels like to go alone.

I'm also terrified of the looks I'm sure to receive. Word of the real reason Caleb and I have split has most certainly spread to the entire pack by now. Will any other wolves lose control when they see me? I'm pretty sure the librarian would have if it weren't for Cole's interference.

Fuck.

My life has become a giant mess.

I scan my fridge one last time before shutting the door and meandering back into my living room. I don't want to read through this paperwork again. I've already gone through them three times in the desperate hope of finding anything that will help me fix the blackening of my damn bond.

Caleb wasn't kidding when he said this isn't something that happens with the wolves. It's so incredibly rare that a bond gets to this point of ruin and even rarer that the pair then decides to try and repair what's been broken.

I resist the urge to scream. I'm full of pent-up energy, and it's making me restless and angsty.

It's frigid out today, but there's no new snow and the sidewalks are relatively clear of ice. I could go for a run. HPAW supplied me with an expansive indoor gym that I frequently used when feeling this way, and running has always been my favorite activity.

I wonder what my life would be like if HPAW had never found me. They captured me right before I reached the wolves' territory, and I'm pretty sure the wolves would've taken me directly to Caleb once they saw the mark on my hand.

I know he was looking for me.

The wolves sent out notices that they were searching for a female with my mark. A sketch of Caleb's hand had been made and distributed, and I knew immediately that I was his other half.

Would Caleb have been disappointed if I'd managed to find him during my daring escape? He was seventeen at the time, but I was only eleven. He probably would've been annoyed to have a mate so much younger than him.