Shards of Sanity (Book 6, Forgotten Series)

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next day

I was on the edge, unable to help myself as I continually looked out the window towards the main drive way every couple of minutes. The last time I had spoken to my mum she said they would be arriving onto Fortis in about half and hour. That was forty minutes ago and I felt like I was crawling out of my skin as my excitement mixed with worry. Ezekiel watched me pace in the large foyer as he gave a wide yawn and rested his head on his paws.

We had all gone for a run last night. It had been a hefty one too. We had run out to our old pack's grounds and then patrolled the furthest reaches of Fortis territory high on the mountain. It had been... it had been needed. I had felt so settled and comfortable in the familiar motions that I wondered why the hell we had stopped doing it. It had relaxed me and settled my wolf. I could see it had helped Luka as well. He had been in his element as his wolf and him guided us through the motions, giving us subtle orders with his movements as we patrolled. He had been just as relaxed as I had been when we had returned to the pack house.

Shey, Heidi, and Lilith had been waiting for us on the front steps by the time we had come home. Luka had greeted Shey and Heidi with a happy enthusiasm that made me smile deep inside. My wolf had refused to allow me to shift back as he came to Lilith. He pushed against her, rubbing her legs as he paced around and around, rumbling low and happy tones in his chest at her presence as he marked her with his scent. I had allowed him the time with her as she giggled, pressing her face into her fur and stroking his face.

Ezekiel and his wolf had sent me teasing images about me being nothing more than a mooning pup for her but both my wolf and I had ignored them. We had nothing to be ashamed of, my wolf adored his new female and he would show it every chance he could. I would as well, however I just wished that I was more like my wolf and that the guilt would leave me. As it was it got worse every time I thought about it. I did my best to not think about it at all but in the quiet moments between it would strike out at me viciously, tearing into my stomach. She needed a better male than me, one who would give her everything, and I hated myself that she would never get one and that I wasn't strong enough.

"You know, repeatedly checking the window isn't going to get them here faster." At Shey's light teasing I paused in my rather repetitive pacing, a slight flush crawling up my neck.

"Sorry." I glanced at her and she crossed her arms over her chest, her black hair was up in a messy bun and she had one of Luka's old button ups on, the shirt was tied at her waist and she paired with dirty jeans. I could guess that she was out gardening in Lily's garden. That was usually her place she liked to go when she started feeling a bit overwhelmed. She said the gardening calmed her down.

She gave me a faint smirk and gestured to me. "No, keep going. I want to see how much of the marble you can wear away by the time you are done." At the teasing Ezekiel made a noise that sounded suspiciously like he was laughing at me as he shoved images of me being waist deep into the marble floor as I paced.

"It's just they are late." Worry crawled around my spine and dug into me. I didn't do well with people travelling and them being late because of some reason. All I could remember was Catherine never making it to her parents and the devastation of the accident. I didn't want to think so negatively but the accident was at the forefront of my mind.

"And you are worrying about it. I get it, Mike, but making yourself sick over this isn't going to help any." Her voice was slightly sharp but I knew she had nothing but good intentions. Shey had never really gotten the hang of soft comforting and I doubted she ever would. It was part of her charm.

"I can't help it." I was crawling out of my skin with nervous energy and I knew both Shey and Ezekiel could feel it radiating off of me but I couldn't exactly get it to stop. I was worried about my family and it was only getting worse the later they were. I knew it was only fifteen minutes but I couldn't help myself.