The look on Aubree's face when she watched the mother and daughter together cut Stone deep. After writing their little letters from some scrap paper she had in her purse, and slipping them in the door of the elf house, they continued their walk around the lake in silence, hand in hand.
Stone's mind was in a dozen different places at once, and judging from Aubree's tenderness toward him, she could only pick up one, maybe two of them—his love for his family and the pain of his loss.
She didn't need to know the other things on his mind. Not yet, anyway.
In the middle of the afternoon, they returned to the pack house. Gwen was up and welcomed them back with a hug, sensing that there was some kind of emotional tension between them. She didn't press and instead gave them both a big smile to try and lift their spirits.
"Looks like you two had a good time. You didn't kill each other."
[Not yet,] Stone said in her head.
She fired a hard look at him before the smile was back and she took Aubree's hands in hers.
Aubree's lips tugged upward a bit. "Yeah. He took me to a rose garden."
It was fleeting, but Stone didn't miss the pain that flickered in Gwen's eyes before it was gone.
Aubree continued, her smile growing wider. "Then we found the elf house."
Gwen's brows knitted together. "Elf house?"
She glanced up to see Stone give a little shrug. [A human gimmick.]
"Yeah," Aubree said, growing more excited by the second. "It was so cute! It's this little door in the bottom of a tree and you write notes to the elf that lives there and he supposedly writes back. We should all go there sometime."
[There was a human female with her young offspring there when we arrived,] Stone mentally added. He swallowed and looked away. [You should have seen Aubree's face.]
Gwen's expression softened and a hint of salt filled Stone's nose before she blinked. [Oh, Papa...]
She smiled sadly at Aubree. "That sounds great."
"I'm going to go out for a run," he said. "I'll be back before we set out for the night."
Gwen nodded, while Aubree's forehead creased a little.
He gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. You won't be alone in the house tonight. Gawain, Hector, and Rosemary will be here to keep you safe. They are trustworthy."
He nodded to Gwen before walking out of the house and pulling his clothes off when he reached the forest. He folded them in half and hung them on a tree branch six feet off of the ground before shifting into his wolf.
Hector and Rosemary had been helping them every day the past week with the simple task of patrolling their borders to ensure the safety of their territory while he, Gwen, Gavin, Alistair, and Gunner took turns hunting in the city. They covered the southern end of the twin cities while the North Fang Pack covered the northern end of the metropolis. The vampire slayers took the days off to rest and covered the downtown core during the nights. They used a high-pitched whistle that only the werewolves and lycans could hear to call upon them if they needed extra assistance.
Stone tended to hunt as close to the downtown core as he could. He wanted to be the one to catch and take out Carina, and no one dared to argue with him on that.
Throwing his head back, he howled out to Hector and Rosemary for their positions. Rosemary responded from the city limits in the northeast, while Hector was at the southwestern border. He turned and headed west to meet him as the pair ran clockwise around the territory.
YOU ARE READING
Heart of Stone (Parts I & II)
Werewolf[COMPLETE] Some bonds can't be broken, even in death. -- He couldn't endure another heartbreak. "Accepting her would be a mistake," he said. "She's a human. I can't afford to have her blood on my hands." Gwen looked away, and he knew she saw the ima...
