Finding Course

10

Zane.

There was no way I was going to make it through the blood bond. My wolf was clawing at me from the inside in a way I'd never experienced. When I became the Alpha, I went through a change. Certain traits I'd already possessed intensified. My eyes changed color. My instincts were heightened. My temper grew slightly shorter, but nothing like what I experienced during the run. Seeing Ethan that close to her, sensing her obvious discomfort, I just about lost it. It took everything in me to keep my cool. What's worse is that Katherine wasn't even close to understanding what it was like. She had no idea the restraint it took. To her, I probably just seemed like some over protective asshole that wanted to get in the middle of everything.

I was grateful she took my mind off it. Going for a run and having a few short moments to be carefree felt wonderful. I couldn't even remember the last time I ran for fun like that. Of course, it was short lived once I saw and smelled her blood all over the floor back at the house. With the full moon, blood bond in full force, it was almost too much. My wolf couldn't comprehend everything at first, until I saw she was alive and unharmed. It felt archaic to have such strongly driven instincts, but I couldn't help it.

Once she left with Charlie and Sophia I sat at the kitchen island with a glass of whiskey. Jack stood on the other side of the island, pouring himself a drink. "What's the latest, boss?"

"Don't pull that bullshit with me."

"What?"

"You know what. How the fuck am I supposed to make this work? I'm blood bonded to her. It's driving me crazy. Listening to myself is driving me crazy."

"Dude," Jack took a drink and set the glass down. "I hate to say it, but you don't really have a choice. I mean, seriously, what else can you do? You have to make it work. It's either that or you could, like, dump her in the swamp or something. I don't know," he teased, smirking down at me.

"See? That right there! I know you're kidding but it has my wolf flipping out over you talking about dumping her in the swamp." I knew I sounded exasperated, frustrated, lost...vulnerable. It was why I made the others leave.

"Well, the way I see it you've got a few choices. You could ignore her," he began to say.

"That makes it worse. That's what I've been doing since that night and it's not working. I'm at war with myself, internally." I mumbled in irritation.

"Or you could bite your tongue, hold the attitude, and hope the bond wears off quickly. Option three, you could embrace the bond, have a good time in the sack maybe, set a little mood music, finally take a mate." I could feel my eyes flash red at his words. I wasn't sure if it was anger of him thinking something sexual with her, or the attractive idea of being with her. "Or lastly, the swamp idea." I scoffed at him and drained the rest of my glass.

"Maybe whiskey will flush the bond out," I muttered and refilled my glass.

Whiskey did not flush the bond out, despite my best efforts. Thankfully, the following days I was busy with the elders for council about the hunter situation. Jack stepped in and accompanied me to a handful of discussions, but again I felt like I was spinning my wheels. The council wanted to act on more reserved grounds, while I was rallying for action - within reason.

More hunter scouts had been spotted near our northern borders. What was interesting was the newly established environmental protection conservation that set up shop further north. It was an odd, remote place to build a conservation business. Too remote. I tried voicing my suspicions that they had something to do with the hunters, but the council didn't want to risk our exposure. We were working on finding a compromise for action. To say it was slow going was an understatement.