Shifting Boundaries

Chapter Two

Everett

Fifty minutes later I had packed my bags and gotten permission from the alpha of my pack, Neil, to work remotely for the next couple of weeks. If I needed more time away, we would have another discussion. I found Meleri in the dining hall with a mostly-full cup of lemonade in front of her. She was talking on her phone when I approached, but offered me a smile and a wave.

I grabbed myself a prepackaged sandwich and a bottled water for the road, then met Meleri at the door. She had hung up the phone and was looking at me expectantly.

"I really appreciate this," she said as she held open the door for me. I had to twist a bit to fit through with my duffel bag and my laptop bag, but we managed without much trouble.

"Don't thank me," I said. "I'm glad to help. Can you tell me more about her, though? What happened?"

"Can we talk about this later? It's a long story and we need to hit the road. Did you want to take your own car or ride with me?"

I considered this. I knew vaguely where the Lakota pack's territory was, but I had never actually been there. Then again, I hated not being self-sufficient, transportation-wise. Begging for rides had been awful as a teenager and I never wanted to live like that again. "I'll follow you. I'll meet you at the visitor's lot exit?"

Meleri agreed and we split up. Pack members parked in the garage instead of the lot out front. I hurried my steps, not wanting to make Meleri – or my mate – wait any longer than necessary.

The car ride took almost two hours and my nerves escalated the longer I drove. My mind reeled with the knowledge that I was on my way to my mate's hospital bed. Even knowing where she was would have been huge news, but her mysterious injury was terrifying. My mother had always described the mating bond as the source of her highest highs and lowest lows. I didn't even know my mate and already I felt sick at the idea of losing her. The faded second-hand scent I had picked up from her shirt filled my mind and drove me to act completely out of character.

I wasn't that man, the one who could change plans at a moment's notice. I liked plans and changing them last-minute usually left me out of sorts for hours. I wasn't feeling grumpy now, though. I was just scared... and exhilarated.

Meleri got me through the checkpoint into Lakota without any trouble. I followed her to a small parking lot tucked away in the woods, where we both left our cars.

"We don't do visitor lots here. You just park where you find a spot," she explained when I nervously asked whether I was allowed to park with her.

I left the duffel bag that had my clothes, toothbrush, etc. and brought my laptop bag. My mate would need me with her, would need some kind of skin contact with me to help speed the healing process. As long as I held her hand or made sure our arms touched, I could still do my work. I had to look into a potential property investment by tomorrow morning and had barely started doing any research into it, so unfortunately, work would be a requirement.

Meleri talked as she led me down a paved path to the pack's hospital, not letting me get a word in. I didn't mind. In fact, it was nice to not have to find anything to say to this woman I'd just met. She would be like a sister to me, I thought as I let her words wash over me. Meleri was telling me about her younger brother, who was on his way back to Lakota, too. He had apparently also been out hunting for me.

When we got into the hospital, Meleri stopped talking. The atmosphere was more welcoming than I was used to for a hospital, but I kind of liked it. The lights were warm instead of being a cold, glaring white. The furniture was made from dark wood and the walls were full of windows that let in dappled light from the forest and a beautiful view of the trees around us.