Beyond The River

3

Ryker did not return home until the next morning. He linked Evelyn shortly after she and Grant had cleaned up after dinner, apologizing that he could not be home more that day. He asked her to see if Grant would be willing to spend the night at the cabin, if not for her sake, then for his.

Grant reluctantly agreed and spent the night keeping watch inside the cabin in case there really was an intruder like Evelyn feared. He slept at most a few hours while the pups slept, and Evelyn spent many of those nightly hours awake with him. They kept each other company and talked about the last six months they had missed from each other.

"You should sleep, Ev." Grant eventually tried to convince her to sleep, but she refused, shaking her head as she reasoned, "I'd only toss and turn in my own bed with worry if I did. If I fall asleep, I'd rather it be near someone I trust and not alone in my own room."

Grant didn't like her anxiety, but didn't push further on the subject. Evelyn eventually fell asleep on the couch, leaning her head on his shoulder like she did when they were younger. When Grant was seventeen and Evelyn was fifteen they had hung out a lot, as their fathers were close. They wound up dating on and off until Evelyn's mother passed. They never did anything beyond kissing, which Evelyn had set that boundary early on in their relationship. She wanted to explore, but was not ready for anything beyond kissing until she was mated.

Grant understood, and was willing to wait for her until she was ready. Now that she was old enough and he knew they weren't mates, however, he didn't know what he wanted anymore.

Should I wait for my own mate still? Is it worth waiting after the one I've been waiting for isn't even supposed to be mine?

He spent the remaining hours of the night contemplating these things until Ryker made it back to the cabin in the early morning hours.

Unfortunately, both were woken up by a startled scream coming from upstairs. It was around two fifteen in the morning, and the scream had both startled in alarm for a possible intruder. Grant and Evelyn were upstairs in a flash, Grant quickly opening up the door to Micah's room. He scanned the dark room, seeing nothing unusual except for a small boy huddled on his bed. His arms were wrapped around his legs, and tears were streaming down his face.

Evelyn moved passed Grant when his form relaxed and quickly wrapped her arms around her brother. She whispered comforting words to him as he cried and cried some more. Grant stood in the doorway, a silent guardian in case anything really was amiss. Fortunately, and unfortunately, Micah was simply awoken by a nightmare. One about his mother, apparently. Grant couldn't help feeling pity for the boy, and for his sister. The trauma the two had suffered from the loss was awful, they were too young to experience that kind of loss. After some time, Micah had fallen back asleep, and Evelyn left the room with her temporary sentry, both returning to the living room to hopefully get a little sleep.

~~~

When Ryker returned, he found two forms seated and sleeping on his couch; Evelyn had her head in Grants lap, and Grant leaned into the couch, his eyes closed, and arms draped around Evelyn.

Ryker sighed at the sight. He had been stuck at Martins side since leaving the cabin the morning before. Those damned Joplin twins had shown up with a force to be reckoned with, asking for a damned alliance between the territories and the pack. Martin spent the entire day appeasing them and trying to steer them away from anything other than pleasantries. Martin, Ryker, and Olive spent the day showing the twins the pack grounds, the training grounds, the schools, recreation center, forest grounds, the whole pack!

When the group had reached the pack house to discuss the alliance, Evelyn had linked him with news of a potential intruder near the cabin. He hung back outside of the pack house to arrange a patrol unit, which happened to include Tito and his son, to check out the property and the grounds across from the river, where Evelyn had said she spotted the intruder. He was too far away to get to the cabin at the moment and had planned to go back as soon as he could.