Seethe: First Draft

Seethe: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I sigh in frustration, throwing down what I'm holding. "This isn't getting us anywhere!"

We'd been trying to discern a timeline for the past week and hadn't gotten anywhere. All the progress we'd made had happened in the first day, and it seemed like the more time that passed, the more Sarah forgot. It didn't help that we heard nothing from the Siren, which was the entire reason I was here.

I run a hand through my hair. I hadn't bothered to tie it up today, I'd been too tired to try and force my hands to stay up long enough to rebraid it after I'd undone it all trying to pull the twigs out of my hair. I'd made it a habit to run around with some pack wolves every night, it exhausted me and felt freeing all at once. I'd yet to find another naked Werewolf in my bed, which was good but the initial incident still left me reeling and losing sleep at every little snap of a twig outside the cottage. I had caught a few 'wolves trying to sneak into the house while I was showering but they'd run off faster than I'd ever seen a Werewolf run the moment they realized they'd been caught.

I hadn't seen Xavier since our little moment in his office and it seems like we're both going somewhat out of our ways to avoid the other. Even now, it was only Thomas and I quietly looking over things in Xavier's office, not that there was really anything left to look over. We'd exhausted pretty much every direction we could think to go in. I was close to just dressing up and going club hopping until I managed to find some guy stupid enough to believe I'm a member of She-Wolves Gone Wild.

"Where the hell is he?"

I look at Thomas as he huffs, standing from the chair he'd swiped from somewhere and had pulled up to Xavier's desk. He looks at me, his eyes angry. "He should be here."

I shrug halfheartedly, not really in the mood to argue whether or not Xavier should be here. It's not like his being here would somehow open a door we hadn't explored. I stare at the papers strewn across the desk before sighing and turning toward the bookshelf. I walk toward it, my eyes focused on an old looking book whose title has long worn away. I'm about to pull it off the shelf when Thomas talking causes me to jump. I'd assumed he'd stormed out of the room to find Xavier, as he usually does whenever he has his outburst about Xavier being here.

"That's all about Werewolf mates. It's kind of a depressing read."

I frown, glancing back at him as I pull the book off the shelf and turn it over in my hands. It's a hardcover book bound in red fabric that's worn a darker red in some areas. It's so old that I can almost feel the other hands that have held this book. "What makes it depressing?"

I can hear the shrug when he talks. "Maybe depressing isn't the right word to use. It's just one of those books that packs pass from generation to generation detailing the different ways Werewolves have found their mates and how it felt for all of them."

I turn to see Thomas sitting down, his feet propped up on Xavier's desk. He's got his hands over his face, though the action doesn't seem to muffle his words at all.

As if feeling my eyes on him, he brings a hand down to look at me. His eyes are sad and I start to wonder why someone like Thomas would be so sad over the thought of a mate. "It's depressing because a Werewolf can go their entire life without ever meeting their mate. Some 'wolves find theirs young and some find theirs old."

There's a breath of silence before I can find the courage to break. "And the 'wolves that never find their mate?"

"Glad to see you two are hard at work."

As though his presence had brought a chill with it, the entire room seems to have dropped at least ten degrees with Xavier's arrival. He's standing in the doorway wearing a cold look that matches the icy blue long sleeve shirt he's wearing. Like everything he wears, the fabric seems to hug every contour of his body.