Mateless and Home Bound

Chapter 49: Together

"It's been a while since I've seen you staring off into the trees," Alistair came and sat down next to her.

"It's been a while since I've had time to," she told him. She had been busy training and going on patrol with the warriors. Now that she was on a regular sleeping schedule, it took away time that she usually spent by herself.

Eric had helped her a lot now that she finally opened up to him. She was glad that she took Bella's advice. She would have never known how peaceful it could be just sleeping in the same bed as him if she didn't. He was even there when she had nightmares, comforting her all he could as she cried through them.

But now was a tense time for the pack. All the warriors were out on patrol more so than before, and all the weak were told to stay inside. There was no telling what these hunters would do.

Eric was working more than usual. He used to always have time for her. She understood that he had a job to do, it just made her realize that she missed him. He'd be so exhausted when he went to bed that she didn't want to keep him up by talking with him more. She wished that there was a way that she could help him like he always helped her, but she didn't know how. She wasn't good at comforting. The best way she comforted her small group of rogues was through making them feel safe. Eric didn't need that. He was strong enough to not worry about feeling safe.

"Mind speaking your thoughts?" Alistair brought her back to the present. It was freezing that morning, but the albino simply wore a thin long-sleeved shirt and some jeans. She knew that he was a winter wolf, but it still amazed her that he could wear something like that without freezing to death.

She had to wear three layers on top of her dress. It was close to snowing, which was apparently rare for this time of the year here. Most of the pack was happy about it, because it meant that they would have snow for Christmas. She didn't see the excitement of it, but she didn't say anything against it. That would just be rude.

"I don't know what to do," she told him. "About Eric."

"Ah," Alistair smiled kindly at her. "Mates can be tricky sometimes. It took me quite a while to get mine."

"I'm just..."

"It's alright to want to wait," he told her. His red eyes were soft and kind. "Trying to force it isn't going to help the situation."

"Then what should I do?"

"Listen to your instincts," he said. "Just like the wind, it will guide you towards happiness."

She didn't know what her instincts were trying to tell her, though. One second, she wanted to be with her mate and be marked, and the next second she wanted to run away again and hide from the world. Lately it hadn't gotten that bad. She mainly missed being around him. She couldn't even be there to help him, because she was always pulled away by her other duties. Luna Charlie was still trying to help her learn some of the basic skills she needed. And the patrols were tripled with all the new information they had gotten the other day.

Listen to her instincts? What were her instincts telling her right then, anyway? It was telling her to run to her mate. She had no idea what she would say, but that's what it was telling her.

It was also telling her to go towards those woods that she was staring into. But Eric should be in the house. He was trying to figure out where the hunters were coming from, and where they were disappearing to. The last time she heard from him he was going to be in the library, studying the books that Sage had brought. She mainly looked at the pictures when she was given the chance to see it. They were very beautifully drawn.

She stood up, keeping her gaze locked on the woods. Something wasn't right. She could feel it in her bones. There was an uneasy feeling that she was getting in the pit of her stomach. She had gotten it plenty of times before. It was never for a good reason.