Chapter 172
Chapter 172
I run for hours.
I have no way of keeping track of time in wolf form, but eventually I can somehow sense dawn is
coming, and I’m exhausted, so I
start heading back.
James didn’t exactly try to run with me the way I thought he would, He’d come out, yes, but he’d kept Belonging to NôvelDrama.Org.
his distance and seemed more inclined to run ahead, or trot circles around me to keep guard whenever
I stopped to rest or tracked an animal, or frolicked
in the snow.
When we arrive back at the mansion, James watches me go back in through the patio doors and shift
to human form, before padding off around the outside of the house without shifting back himself.
I wonder where he’s going off to. Maybe he has patrols to do or something.
I go all the way up to my old room, even though Aaron’s room is closer and his bed is both larger and
probably more comfortable, but I still can’t think of it as anything other than Aaron’s bed, even though I
spent months there while I was in a coma.
I don’t bother dressing or putting on pjs, I simply crawl under the blankets and thankfully fall into a deep
sleep.
Several hours later, my wolf senses bring me awake when someone walks into my bedroom.
I sit up in alarm, and Adam pauses halfway across the room where he was walking toward the
nightstand carrying a tray.
Belatedly, I remember my lack of clothes as Adam’s gaze drops to my chest, but for some reason he’s
the one blushing as he looks
away.
“Adam, what are you doing here?” I demand as I pull the blankets up to cover myself.
“I came first thing this morning to give you another checkup and they told me you’d been out running
almost all night, after spending all day visiting the Leithrow pack, which you did right on top of getting
back from California.”
Adam finishes walking over and sets the tray down onto the nightstand, and I see orange juice, some
slices of fruit, and toast.
He then sits on the bed next to my hip, and I barely restrain the urge to snap at him that I didn’t give
permission for him to be so familiar with me, let alone be in my room.
It’s mostly my wolf, for some reason, she wants to bare her teeth at him.
But Adam is my oldest friend.
He was the one who was there for me through the can cer, did everything he could to help me, listened
to all of my wishes.
My wolf just needs to calm down. Apparently all that running didn’t do much to appease her.
An image of Aaron flashes through my mind-a moment from that da mn dream I had when I was in
California, of him thrusting deep and claiming my body as his own.
I silently curse my wolf, I’m sure she’s behind it.
She has no sense where our mate is concerned.
She wants him no matter what,
“Leah,” Adam is saying, gently admonishing. “You awoke from a six month coma less than a week ago.
You need to slow down.. You might have your wolf now, but it doesn’t make you invincible.”
*I’m Luna of three packs now, Adam,” I remind him, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
“What do you expect me to do? Find somewhere to hide away and manage everything remotely like
Aaron is? I won’t do that to the people who rely on me.”
Adam reaches over and takes my hand. “And I admire you for it. But can’t we make a compromise?”
I squeeze his hand and then extract my fingers from his grip. “What kind of compromise?”
“You shouldn’t be doing all this on your own, especially not when we don’t know what the long term
consequences of your unique situation might be. You died Leah. I still don’t understand how Aaron
even brought you back. I’d feel better if I knew someone was looking after you. Come home. At least
for a few weeks. Let me monitor you, and if anything goes wrong, then at least I’ll be close at hand to
help you.”
I’m not sure about going back to Roberts pack lands, not after everything that’s happened.
I don’t think I belong there.
But I also don’t really feel like I belong here at the Rathborn mansion without Aaron, either, not matter
how familiar the rooms and land beyond the house might be.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell Adam, and he nods in satisfaction. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to shower.”
Adam stands and heads toward the door.
“Make sure you eat,” he tells me before leaving.
I sit there for a few moments, using my heightened hearing to listen to him descending the stairs, as
well as other familiar noises of the mansion during the day.
I’ve felt directionless since I woke up and Aaron walked away from me.
And I’m starting to worry it’s because I’m without Aaron that I’m feeling so lost.