Under A Latent Moon (A Werewolf Tale)

Chapter 17

Will

"This is ridiculous!" Will's fist met the wall with a resounding thud. Icy hot pain shot up from his knuckles to his arm.

Surprised, Natalie's knife hit the counter with a clatter. Across the room, Cam shook his head and crossed his arms, leaning against the sink. "Nice going, killer."

Will dusted off the plaster sticking to his knuckles. He couldn't unclench his fists. The rage and frustration built and built and he was wound too tight. Even putting a fist sized hole in the wall didn't help.

Natalie sighed. "I wish you'd have done that somewhere else."

Cam smothered a laugh in a cough. "Guess we've got some HGTV shit to do." He stood up. "I'll go get the spackle."

"Will, go sit in that chair," Natalie ordered, "while I find the first aid kit."

"I'm fine."

He shouldn't have lost it like that, especially not in front of Natalie. If he had rage problems, he should have gone outside and ran it off like he usually did. Not let it fester and bubble.

"You are not fine." She dug around under the kitchen sink, then pulled out a slim white container. "If you were, you wouldn't have punched a hole in Alpha Mark's wall."

Not like he was the first person to put a hole through the wall. Wolves often worked off their emotions and as such, the pack house was in a constant state of renovation.

"I'm sorry, Natalie." His leg bobbed up and down. "I shouldn't have done that."

Natalie opened the kit and took out a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a cotton ball. She began dabbing at the small cuts along his knuckles. "Everyone is entitled to get angry now and again."

"It's just..." Will's jaw was still too tight, "I've failed twice now. I'm not used to having this much difficulty."

"If it were an easy job, everyone would do it."

Cam walked in, the container of spackle in his hand. "I think I can build my own home from scratch by now."

"I'll get it."

"Na," Cam popped the lid off. "I needed something to do anyway."

Natalie peered at Will, taking in his features. "When's the last time you got a good night of sleep?"

Will snorted.

"Well no wonder you lost the trail on this rogue--you're not at 100%." Natalie wrapped his knuckles with gauze and tsked. "I told Oliver he needs to look into another hunter. You can't keep going like this, Will."

"I can't let this wolf get away." Harley's face appeared in his mind. "You didn't see the way Harley looked."

The corner of Natalie's cheek came up. "Harley will understand. We looked, we did what we could, but sometimes rogues are hard to catch."

"She told me to go right away. I told her I wanted to let the trail settle."

"And it did."

"But I didn't think he'd go into the city!" Wolves hated the city. Too much noise, and nowhere to run. "That damn pollution messed the trail up."

Natalie put the first aid kit back and continued chopping carrots. "You're worried about what she thinks of you."

"Mathias would've--"