Page 24 of Claimed By the Wolf
Retrieving my garments, I continue packing my bag without answering, but I give him a quick bob of my head, so he knows I’m acknowledging him.
“I’m heading out for guard duty,” Brax informs me.
It’s the third time he told me he’s doing one this evening.
“Okay.”
He doesn’t leave. “I’ll be gone all night.”
“That’s generally how night guard duty works, Brax.”
He ambles into the bedroom and stands in front of me. “What are you going to do tonight?”
I wave at the suitcases. “You’re looking at it.”
“You know, it’s not a sure thing that you’re staying tomorrow.”
“I know!” I snap. “Nothing is a sure thing. My entire life is in limbo right now, isn’t it?”
Brax stares at me, dumbfounded by my outburst, and I bite on my lower lip, turning away. “Sorry… I’m just… It’s fine. I get it.”
“Do you want to come out with us tonight?” he suggests after a moment.
I laugh humorlessly and toss another shirt into the open suitcase. The idea of running through the territory with the pack, with Nox, when I can’t touch him or be with him, is vile. I’d rather spend the night on my own, imagining what might have been.
“No,” I answer simply.
“Are you just going to stay in?”
I grunt and spin around defensively. “What if I go out? Will that be okay with you? Should I check in? Do you want to put a tracker on me?”
My brother holds up his hands. “Whoa, calm down,” he growls. “I’m just asking, Brynn.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do tonight, all right? I told you. I’m packing, and maybe I’ll go say bye to some of my friends. Would that be acceptable?”
He exhales. “It’s not goodbye.”
I groan in exasperation. “I don’t need a damn pep talk. Can you please just… just go with the pack. Go be withyourpeople.”
Slowly, my brother backs out of the room, but his hooded hazel eyes speak volumes about his concern for me. “I’ll check in on you later.”
“Of course you will,” I mutter sarcastically, resuming my task.
He leaves the door partially open, and I slam the lid of the first suitcase closed. His voice carries softly through the thin walls of the house a minute later.
“…tonight, Nox. She’s not in a good place…”
My neck stiffens as I realize he’s on the phone with the Alpha, and I hurry toward the door. Without entering the hall, I strain to listen to his side of the conversation.
“No, nothing like that,” Brax mumbles, clearly trying to keep his voice low, but I enact my lioness hearing for sensitivity. “But she’s struggling. She’s snapping at me…”
Silence falls over the house for a moment.
“Fine,” Brax sighs. “I’m coming, but maybe I could leave early and get back to keep an eye on her… Okay, we’ll see how it goes. See you soon.”
My mouth tucks inward, and I move back to the bed, hauling the full suitcase off onto the floor.
The front door opens and closes, and I inherently feel the emptiness of the house in my brother’s absence. Sadness creeps up on me as I slump onto the mattress and look up at the ceiling.
