Freed Wolf

11 Haunted

Chris POV

"Fuck them, you're hurting her plenty," Jason snaps before he turns away and heads to the house.

It took everything to not snap his scrawny neck on the spot. The worst part is, he's right. The look in her eyes, fuck!

The stress has gotten to me and my tempers out of control. Things with Jess just keep getting worse, not better and it all stems from me not being with her for her first shift.

A month ago, things were perfect, better than perfect. She was embracing her role as Luna, standing up for and leading our pack with me. Hell, she even accepted my proposal, fucking happiest day of my life.

The whole night was perfect, from the moment she surprised me at the ball, to dancing for hours and everything. So many years I have suffered through this alone, and for once I had my mate at my side, everything just felt right.

Even afterwards, the sex was amazing like always, but there was something...more. The feeling when she took our mark is indescribable, but that's when things turned to shit.

Finding out she was a wolf was actually not only a relief, but exciting. I love Jess, Cyrus does too, but we would never have had the chance to run wild with her, or to bear her mark. This would have changed everything, and it did, but not for the better, because I wasn't there.

'We can still have those things,' Cyrus pipes up.

'How? She won't even acknowledge us as her mate? It's been almost a month now, she doesn't even smell like us anymore,' I snap back.

He had no retort for that, he knew it was true. Her scent was still as intoxicating as ever, cinnamon and black cherry blossoms. I could pick it up at a distance, so it was always around. But my scent no longer lingered on her. My mark was fading by the day too, another couple weeks and it wouldn't even exist anymore.

I needed to go for a run to burn off some of this energy, clear my mind before I fuck things up any more. At the forest edge I stripped down and shifted. It was easy and second nature to me now.

Jess wasn't so lucky. I can't imagine how bad it was for her, but if it was anything like what came back through the bond, I don't know how she endured it.

I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, every inch of my body felt like it was on fire. When her first bone broke it felt like I got hit by a led pipe. Her screams still haunt my dreams, but I couldn't get to her. I sent Jace ahead to help where I couldn't. The second bone breaking was just as bad, the whole thing was excruciating.

By the time it finally subsided I was left on the ground panting and shaking. How she found the energy to fight off Kane and start running again, I have no idea.

The forest gave me some relief as I ran down the overgrown paths, lost in my thoughts. It's always been the answer growing up. Mad at your brother, go run and cool off. Parents stressing you out? Go for a run. Need to get away from life and responsibilities for a while? The forest is waiting for you.

Things changed with Jess though. Now when I'm stressed out all I want is her; drag her to bed and bathe in her scent, let her touch wash away my stress, caress away my worries.

She hates mornings but I love them. I wake up wrapped up with her and she just snuggles in close any time I move. In that moment life is easy, we're just lovers. I'm not an Alpha, there's no responsibilities or expectations, I'm just a man, her man.

As I pass alongside the stream I stop for a drink, black fur and brown eyes look back at me in the reflection. The run has helped soothe my temper, now there's just the longing.