Mateless and Home Bound

Chapter 22: Under Cloudy Skies

Why did this always have to happen to her? No matter how hard she tried, she could never seem to get any sleep. Her insomnia drew her outside to sit under the stars every night. And the daytime was so full of action that she just didn't have time to close her eyes. There was too much to do, no matter what time of day. Even when the halls were empty and the wind was still, her mind was a blur of memories and thoughts.

Some of those thoughts were useful. They analyzed what had happen the past few days. There was a lot of strange things happening in this once peaceful forest. She could tell that Eric was upset about it. He had been patrolling a lot more now. His eyes seemed like her thoughts sometimes: always analyzing the information they had over and over again. She liked that side of him. It was nice talking to him about certain theories that they both had about the forest. She enjoyed working with him, too. They made a good team.

Most of her thoughts, however, were the reason why she kept so far away from everyone, including Eric. They were memories of all the things that had happened before she came here. She didn't know how Eric could stay so patient with her. If she were him, she would have just forced the mark and make things official already. That's why she had been so afraid to talk to him at first. The stories about werewolves raping their mates when they first find them wasn't a fairy tale. She had seen that with her very own eyes. That was why she was glad that she hadn't found her mate. She wanted to at least get herself all sorted out before she found one.

She guessed that she shouldn't be too upset that she found her mate so soon. Knowing her luck, she would have never figured herself out. That, or it would have taken until she was already too old.

She was happy that her mate was someone that was an old friend; one who would be patient with her and let her get comfortable in this completely new state of living. But she was also very afraid of this whole thing. She wasn't even sure if she would make a good mate, let alone all the responsibilities that came with being Eric's mate. Everyone told her not to worry about it at the moment, but she didn't know how. This was all so much to take in and she wasn't sure how to handle all of it.

Life always had to be complicated.

"So, you guys actually took him down?" a male voice came from just outside the door. It was daylight now. The sun was struggling to wake up and shine through the many clouds that were there. They had even hidden the moon that night, along with all the stars. It was sad whenever that happened, but she enjoyed seeing the clouds separate and take on different shapes and forms. It reminded her of cotton candy, how they tore apart.

"Oh, that's got to be the craziest story," a female voice said. She looked over to the pack house to see Madelyn shaking her head. "It was actually Alpha Max that took him down. I just helped track him. That forest is an absolute maze, even nowadays."

"I'm just glad we could get some justice," Pete said. He was the one who was standing next to her.

Jane stayed where she was, hidden ever so slightly by some trees that were scattered in the backyard. Pete was one of the ones that came with her when she found this pack. He wasn't the oldest out of all of them, but he was pretty wise. She had learned how to track from him. Of course, her dad helped to teach her many things as well.

"I couldn't believe it when we found out that they were the ones that had taken your pack down," Madelyn said. "That's how we found Eric."

"I wish I could have convinced Jane's father to come this way," Pete sighed. "It would have been ten times better than all the places we got caught up in."

"It wasn't as easy to get into this pack back then as it is now," Madelyn chuckled. "Herb, Jackie and I had to prove ourselves quite a lot before we got accepted in. And Jackie was pregnant that whole time."