And There Were Wolves

twenty nine | don't put me in the basement

/ don't put me in the basement / when I want the penthouse of your heart /

EROS

The second my phone made that loud annoying noise, I knew Xyrra had texted me. I purposely changed her ringtone so I could hear it even when I was on the pack run. 'I need to go back,' I told Young Seb through the mind link.

Seb's wolf turned to me and shook its head. 'Again?' He had been like that for the last couple of hours and, to be honest, I couldn't really blame him. If we had been on a patrol and he kept shifting back to his human form just to check his phone every now and then, I would be pretty annoyed at him too.

'Shut up,' I replied then quickly ran back to where I had placed my phone along with my clothes. I shifted back to human form once I was close enough. Sure enough, it was a text from Xyrra.

'I did but I'm fine. Er, do you remember that key with G.A. engraved on its stem?'

I growled in annoyance. How could she reply to me this easily? How could she even think of that stupid key when she was going through so much danger here? I speedily typed my reply and hit the send button. 'You nearly drove me crazy. And yeah, I remember. What's up?'

More than remember, without even checking my pants which lay on the ground, I knew the key was there. I sorta touched it when I was pulling my phone out of the pocket of my jeans. I continued to stare at my screen, waiting for her reply. Just like me, she probably was staring at her phone screen too. Her reply came soon after.

'I am sorry. The key is not in the drawer. It's missing. Do you know where it is?'

I stared at Xyrra's text and fought the urge to call her and explain to her to a great length how crazy she had made me feel. I couldn't even focus this whole day when she hadn't replied to any of my texts. I nearly had gotten beat up by Evan. Evan out of all people, for god's sake!

Letting out a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down. I always knew she would go to the East region and I knew she would bring someone with her in order to not break her promise to me. And I could guess who she would bring. It was a toss between the Russian Warlord Beta and the Russian Warlord Beta's cousin. Depending on which one was easier to be persuaded. My wager would be on Russian Warlord Beta's cousin. Alpha Ryker was obviously out of the question considering he would never condone this kind of behavior. If any of those Easterners got angry, they could bring trouble to the North. There was no way Ryker Cromwell as an Alpha would let that happen, he would not risk it. He would never risk his pack.

I tossed my phone on top of the pile of clothes and shifted back. I didn't even bother replying to her because I was enraged and I knew if I typed my response now, I would be telling her about all kinds of things that I might regret later. No, right now, I needed to get some air. I needed to run freely without thinking about Xyrra or any of this.

'Just let me out,' said Ares, and I did. I shifted into a wolf again and let my mind drift off along with wherever Ares decided to take me.

I could hear Young Seb calling me in the back of my mind but I blocked him out, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. My mind was filled with chaotic thoughts. A part of me was calling myself a coward for not being brave enough to admit to Xyrra that I'd stolen her mother's key. Another part of me argued that I was doing a good thing by stealing that key and getting it far away from her because I was just protecting her from the magical things. Then another part vouched for that previous one, saying that if I told Xy, she would feel betrayed. I let my thoughts battle with one another.

About half an hour later, I came forward and Ares let me. I shifted back to human form and picked up my clothes off the ground. I was putting on my shirt when I heard Young Seb approaching. Judging from his grunt and sigh, I could tell that he was pissed at me. We were supposed to do a patrol together and yet I had kept on coming back to check my phone every now and then, and then I had abandoned him altogether. I had muted him and had not given him a chance to speak.