Hidden Wolf

47 Morning After

I woke up alone and groggy. My eyes hurt as did my head. Great another headache. I groaned as I got out of bed, making my way to the ensuite. Memories from yesterday filtered back.

They drugged me... I begged them not to but they did it anyways. I know I was out of control, but it felt like a betrayal. I wasn't ready to face them yet so I took a long hot shower instead.

The clock read 10:30am, we'd be leaving this godforsaken place in hours and it couldn't come fast enough. I spotted the trunks sitting there ready to pack, so I set to filling them to keep myself occupied. It didn't take long enough, even packing up all of Chris's stuff.

A soft knock sounded before Claire peaked in. She looked startled to see me up and around. 

"Come in," I answered her unasked question.

"I brought you some lunch for when you woke up but I can see I'm a bit late," she says, setting a plate down next to me. "How long have you been up?"

"A while," I mumbled, taking the sandwich. I didn't realize just how hungry I was until the food was available. I devoured it like I hadn't eaten in days.

"So I see," she says looking at the trunks and rack. "Chris and Jace are at the pack house wrapping up for our departure. I'll get someone to grab this and load it up if you're done with it?"

"Sure," I said with a shrug.

"I'm sorry Jess, this isn't the way any of this is supposed to go," she said sitting next to me as she gave my hand a sympathetic squeeze. 

"So are you my babysitter today," I mumble, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"It's not like that Jess," she defended. 

"Isn't it?" I ask, eyes locked on hers, the guilt in hers spoke volumes.

"We'll be leaving soon, then we can put this all behind us," she says with a smile. "Did you want something else to eat?"

"Yeah, I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was," I say embarrassed. 

"Let's go, I'll make you whatever you'd like." Nurturing Claire is in full swing, she's going to be a great mother.

I couldn't help but notice the lack of people, only Jude was there. They are handling me with kid gloves and I can't blame them. Mid way through, Ethan joined us.

"Can we go to the range?" He asks, golden eyes full of hope.

"Sorry kid, I'm grounded," I mumbled annoyed.

"You're not grounded," Jude defended.

"So I can?" I ask, raising a brow. "Actually it is what I would do at home to destress."

Jude looked far away as he no doubt linked Chris. Shockingly enough he actually nodded.

I wasn't about to give him a chance to change his mind and quickly grabbed my bow and quiver before practically dragging Ethan out of the house.

Once we made it to the range it was like a weight was lifted. Archery was my happy place, teaching brought me joy.

Ethan has quickly become my favourite pupil, he's sharp, focused and talented. In a couple short months he's gone from never having shot a bow to being able to hold his own. The day's not long off where he will be able to outshoot me.

"Don't get cocky," I chide as he rushes his shot and it's sloppy.

"It's breezy," he mumbles as he collects his arrows.

"Hmm," I tease as I square up and aim from the second line, further back. In a fluid breath in, I draw and aim, releasing on exhale and repeat. The simple action brings me such peace as I focus on the task at hand blocking everything else out.