No Longer Trapped

THE SOULBOUND PART TWO

I spent the next two weeks in a haze, keeping busy between training and trying to communicate with my mother. Of course, she was flat refusing to have the conversation with me, but I expected as much.

To the rest of the realms, a soulbound was a gift to be cherished for the rest of your life. I hadn't even found mine yet, and they were already just another burden.

Erin and Wendy were still trying to convince me to have this ball, but I was so scared Liam would somehow find us and everything we'd been working for would fall apart. Before I knew it, my birthday was two days away. I'd been having nightmares, a lot of them, all with a faceless stranger being killed at the hands of my father.

I was currently sitting on my cot, mentally begging Bethany to talk to me again, when someone flopped down next to me with a grunt. I looked over to tell off whoever had interrupted me, and came face to face with Josh.

"What's up?" He asked with a crooked grin. Normally, I'd have found this charming. Right now, however, I was just irritated.

"Just trying to sleep." I replied, my tone short.

"Sitting up?" He asked mockingly.

"Bite me, flea bag." I snapped. "I've got enough to worry about, I don't need someone over here pestering me."

"Hey, I told you before. I'm no flea bag, I've been checked. What's got you so worked up?" His demeanor went to serious, but I couldn't tell him. He'd tell Angelica, who'd tell Landon, who'd get himself into trouble.

"Just nervous about my birthday." I decided on a half-truth, which was better than a lie.

"Don't be. I'm sure you'll find your soulbound in no time, and they'll absolutely adore you. You deserve that and so much more, Jane." Josh wrapped an arm around me in a half-hug, trying to make me feel better.

Half-truths, half-hugs, half-Love, half-Death. Everything was cut in half for me, but it was still too much.

"We'll see." I muttered, before standing with an excuse to go check on the vampyre training again. Josh just nodded, standing himself to say he was going to go talk to Erin.

This, of course, immediately raised a red flag for me. Did Erin send him to try to get me excited about my birthday after all? Was she planning something behind my back?

Should I follow him and see what's going on? I weighed my options for about ten seconds before deciding I needed to make sure they weren't up to something.

Have you ever tried to sneak up on a werewolf before? It's hard, in case you were wondering. Several times I was sure I was caught, but Josh kept going until he found Erin.

I crouched behind some werewolves playing a game of cards, and to their credit they pretended I wasn't there. I was close enough to hear what Josh and Erin were saying, but still far enough not to be seen, at least I hoped.

"Did you talk to her?" Erin was asking.

"Sorta, she was just really irritable." Josh replied, and I felt my temper flare. They were planning something!

"Well, you've got two days to tell her yourself or she's going to find out the hard way. You heard Drew, she does not like when people keep secrets from her." Erin shook her head. They brought Drew in on this? Why didn't he stop them? He knew more than anyone how much I hated celebrating my birthday.