To Walk Alone

- impatient -

- Sif -

She paced the kitchen nervously the next morning. Nick still hadn't called her back but that wasn't unusual for him to take his time. After all, he was a busy wolf.

Well, that busy wolf would have twenty missed calls lighting up his phone, fourteen voicemails, and at least a dozen texts. She didn't know anymore. She lost count.

Tapping the phone in her hand, she eventually tossed it on the couch and turned away, glancing out the windows for the hundredth time that morning. It was muggy from the rain last night, but the cooler air blew through the open windows and across her skin. Any bumps or scrapes she acquired last night were long gone; healed completely by themselves during the night while she rested.

Her wolf paced in time with Sif's steps, but the phone remained silent.

She touched the bracelet on her wrist once more. She changed out the vervain for fresh leaves she snipped from the small potted bush on the porch. Being who she was, the vervain worked strongly to her advantage. She was determined to hide herself as much as possible by anyone that might pass her by. Perhaps she was going overboard with the vervain, but she couldn't take a chance someone might find her. Maybe her body was becoming immune to it.

Maybe her magic was slowly fading...

She needed to move. Last night she came way too close to being caught. Maybe she was just being paranoid, after all, her mate had said he only wanted to talk.

'Mate.'

Her wolf's sorrowful tone hit Sif like a punch in the gut. How could they just turn away from their mate so easily?

Sif almost laughed out loud. His face haunted every step she'd taken since escaping from his clutches. Her body reacted each time she pictured his face, but so did her wolf. Lord was he gorgeous, if a man could be described as that. He made her mouth water and her skin flush with heat. For crying out loud, his abs had abs, and that sexy little dip before...

"Knock it off Sif," she snarled at herself. She could not afford the distraction right now.

She needed a plan. If Nick didn't call her back today, she needed to move her butt out of here promptly. No doubt the Alpha would have mentioned a lone she-wolf was hiding out in the area to someone and she couldn't risk them finding her. For all she knew, they could be searching the town right now.

She spared a glance at the maps that were spread out on the kitchen table. Groaning, she ran upstairs and snatched her bags from under the bed while she waited for his call.

o.O.o

- Jake -

"Umm," breathed the blond-haired girl behind the counter. "Yeah, I think I know who you're talking about, but she's just a human girl."

Jake raised his eyebrows behind his dark sunglasses. "That wasn't what I asked," he said heavily. "I just want to know who she is."

The she-wolf behind the counter shifted uncomfortably as the two Alpha's stared her down. She was a member of Johnny's pack but worked at the gas station part time in the human town. The Starlight Pack resided closer to the town than the Greyback's, so it was more common for Johnny's pack members to hang out in town.

Johnny leaned over the counter. "Do you know her name?"

Jake had a good feeling this conversation would have been over a long time ago, if the she-wolf had stopped ogling him from the moment he stepped inside the store and focused on the questions they were aiming at her. She batted her eyelashes at him unashamedly at first, but he'd quickly put a stop to that nonsense. Two hours of searching town, asking questions, and checking out her forgotten four-wheeler hadn't given them nearly the amount of info they expected.