Lone Wolf (The Wulf Pack Book 1)

Crunch!

Rage didn’t make a sound as he pulled his fist from the plaster wall. He didn’t care about the bleeding as he leaned his head on the wall, forearms taking the brunt of his weight.

He didn’t care that the blood from his knuckles was dripping down his arm, swirling and twisting as it left spots on the white wall and dripped onto the cream carpet.

He didn’t care that the people left in the room, the ones that had not fled at the feral growl he produced upon hearing the news.

The same news that had been reported for the last four weeks: nothing.

How was it that nothing changed? How could they be so organized that not a thing has changed in six weeks?

“Rage,” Wrath’s hand clapped his shoulder, an unusual, comforting, gesture from his tough-skinned brother, “maybe you should relax, get some sleep,” Rage turned, taking in the sight of his younger brother’s emotionless face. His eyes skimmed over the empty room before returning to his brother, frowning.

“And how can I do that? We are getting nowhere,” the growl rumbled through the room didn’t faze Wrath, he knew that despite his brother’s frustration, he wasn’t going to do anything.

“You are scaring the shit out of people and punching holes in walls is not helping either,” releasing a huff, he gripped his hair in both fists, knuckles bleeding anew.

“When was the last time you slept more than a few hours?” Rage only shook his head, he didn’t know, probably back at the castle, “Brother, how... you can’t...”

Wrath couldn’t find the words, so many thoughts, too any to count.

“When was the last time you spoke with Willow?” He finally asked, deciding it best to not try to tell his brother what to do.

“Two days ago, maybe three,”

“Maybe you should call her, eat something and maybe take a nap,” With another pat on the shoulder, Wrath left him standing in the empty room, fingers fisted in his hair.

She picked up on the first ring and he smiled.

“Rage, is everything okay?” She breathed from the other side of the phone. His heart clenched at her words.

“Rage?” She seemed cautious when he didn’t respond instantaneously, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, just tired,” he doubted he could fight the smile creeping over him.

“Rage, it’s six in the morning, get some sleep,” his eyes darted to the flashing green numbers on the dresser: eight fifteen.

“I forgot about the time difference,” she laughed softly stating it was alright. He leaned back against the headboard, closing his eyes.

“You still haven’t been sleeping well, have you?” His no had her tisking, “maybe you should comeback for a few days, rest up, you can’t function on only a few hours of sleep,”

“You know I can’t, not until this is over,” she only sighed, he told her this every time she suggested he come home.

“Has there been any progress since we last talked?” frowning he knew she wouldn’t like the answer, maybe upset her.

“It’s only been a few days...” her scoff cut him off.

“Rage, it has been over a week since we last talked,” there was no way.

“We just talked...”

“The Friday before last,” his shocked brain tried to focus, had it really been ten days?

“Willow...”

“It’s fine Rage, but you need to get some sleep, if I have to come down there...” a smirk graced his lips.

“If you come here neither of us will be getting any sleep,”

“I’m serious, Rage,” he brushed his fingers through his curls and then down his face.

“I know, and you know I don’t want you in such a dangerous place,” he could have sworn he heard her sniffle, but her voice was as steady as before.

“I wish you would come home, get some rest...”

“You just want me to fu*k you,” the words slipped past his smirk achieving exactly what he intended.

“Rage!” her voice high enough to hurt his ears only made him smile. A small growl came from the phone when he chuckled.

“I know, Little Wolf, you miss me, I will be home soon, I promise,” the shuttered breath she took sent warning bells through his mind, “Is everything okay there?” her shaky breaths only made him worry.

“I’m fine,” her voice cracked. He surged from his reclined position, his chest tightened, she was not fine.

“No, you’re not,” the shaky chuckle sounded forced, fake, “Tell me what’s wrong,”

“Everything is fine, Rage...” she paused to take a breath, seeming to calm her, “I just wish you were here,”

Something told Rage there was something she wasn’t telling him, there was something bothering her and not just that she missed him.

“Get some rest, and come home soon, okay?” her voice cracked again, and he felt the urge to leave, to go to her, to protect her and fix whatever it was upsetting her.

“I promise, my little wolf, I will be home soon,” with a soft bye she hung up.

He sat in place for a while, trying to figure out what could be bothering her. His brain was fogged and made him wonder if it was also playing tricks on him, making him think that there was more to the conversation than there was.

He needed sleep, his mind couldn’t come to any conclusion at all. And even though his mind still swirled with thoughts and their fogged answers, it didn’t take him long to fall asleep.

Willow let the phone drop into her lap.

She couldn’t tell him. She wanted to, but she couldn’t, not with everything going on.

Silent tears fell as she sat in bed, the sound surrounding her only brought more tears as she held her knees to her chest.

The sound haunted her, like a ghost only she knew was there, but she knew soon enough everyone would know. There was only one thing the noise could mean, and she did not want to be alone when others started to hear it too.