Whispers of the Wolf

His Frustration

Alaric

I squeezed my best friend in my arms, feeling his shoulders shake once more. Holding on to him, I sent a silent prayer to Selene, asking her to watch over him, over us all. To give us the strength to weather whatever storm came next.

It seemed as though it was one hurricane after another. In quick successions. And I couldn't rest. It felt as though the second there was a lull, something else would come along and uproot us all, toss us into the wind, send us into a spin.

Selene better have a good reason for doing this to us.

Lifting my eyes upwards, I gritted my teeth.

Just watch over my best friend. Please.

Leo came through the door of the sitting room, dragging his feet. He looked ... tired. Worn out. Just like the rest of us.

Fuck.

I pulled back and held Enzo at arms' length. He lifted tearful eyes to meet mine and offered me a small smile.

"Go get some rest," I ordered him. "We'll talk tomorrow."

He nodded, then turned on his heel and trudged over towards his father. Leo wrapped an arm around his son's shoulder, nodded once in my direction, then guided Enzo out of the room.

Dad then walked through the door and Mom threw herself at him, sobbing loudly, her shoulders shaking. My father wrapped her in his strong arms and nuzzled her neck, both of them needing each other.

I glanced over at Radley. He was standing, his arms wrapped around his waist, his eyes on the floor. I could see him shivering and my wolf whimpered.

He'd probably suffered the most out of all of us. For him, today had just been one shock after another.

It just hadn't stopped for him.

Just when we'd thought we'd heard it all, gotten all the pieces of the puzzle together ... another pile of shit was dumped, messing everything up.

With Radley right at the centre of it.

I walked over to him, wrapped him in my arms, and sighed when he snuggled into my chest.

My mate.

My wolf's tail was wagging and he brushed against the sides of my mind, wanting to get closer to his mate.

Since seeing Radley in wolf form, I had felt my own wolf urging me to shift, so that he could get to know Radley's wolf.

And I knew exactly what he planned on doing.

The dirty dog.

This really wasn't the time for ... that.

"You need something to eat," I muttered into Radley's hair. When was the last meal he'd had? Had we even had breakfast? I couldn't remember. Today had just been one long shit storm.

"I'm not hungry," he whispered, his head resting on my shoulder. "I just ... I just want to go to sleep."

I glanced over at my parents, and felt a sting in my chest. They were clinging to each other, sobbing openly. They needed each other.

Just as Radley needed me.

And I needed him.

Sighing, I grabbed Radley's hand and guided him out of the sitting room and along the hallway towards the kitchen.

He yanked on my hand, stopping me mid-stride. Glancing over my shoulder, I felt my heart soften as Radley stared at me, his lips in a pout, a slight frown on his face.