Chapter Five

The cold air blew past the curtains. "Arghhhhh." I groaned, rubbing my hands against my eyes. I must have left the window open last night.

I sat upright on my bed and turned to my side and there he was. My sweet Eli. I almost teared up looking at him. He was still sleeping, and he was sleeping peacefully. He didn't know what was coming.

I glanced at the clock. 5am.

"Oh shit." I had woken up earlier than I planned to. I let out a deep sigh.

And suddenly the thoughts started clouding my head. My hands started fidgeting.

"Are you really going to do this?" A voice said.

“You know you can't leave your dad. He needs you." Another voice said.

"SHHUTT IITT," I said out loud. Loud enough to wake the neighbourhood. I got myself up and turned to see if Eli had woken up.

He hadn't.

I got up, slipped into my running shoes, and left the house.

I couldn't stop thinking about my dad, or my fate once I got home. I couldn't stop overthinking what exactly would happen when I arrived. I was about to leave everything I'd built behind. My job, my apartment furnished to my taste, this lovely city.

I reached the park and stopped running. I sat down on a bench to catch my breath and reflect.

I did miss home. And I couldn't allow my dad to be terribly sick without me there. This wasn't something I was supposed to think about.

I got home and Eli was still sleeping. I brought out two bags and started packing. All of a sudden I stopped, sitting back.

“Call your dad and tell him you can't make it," one voice said sharply.

“That's your home, not here. No matter how you try to make it," Another voice said in a low tone.

It was right. This wasn't my home. It would never be my home. I let out a deep sigh and continued.

This was the hardest decision I would ever make. I finished packing and went to freshen up.

"Eli," I said, tapping his head.

"Mum…" he said, voice thick with sleep.

"Get up. We're going somewhere." I said slowly.

"Where?" He grumbled, stretching. "Today is Saturday."

"You'll know soon," I said, leading him to the bathroom to freshen up.

Finally, it was time to go. I hesitated.

Should I do this?

I had no choice.

I took the bags and Eli outside. I breathed in a lungful of air, taking in the city one last time before I disappeared from it completely or maybe forever.

I was really doing this. I was… I felt my heart tear a little.

"Where are we going, Mum?" Eli asked, cuddled up against me.

"Home." I said, and then choked on my own spit.

"All aboard." The train stopped. I took a peek through the window I'd been avoiding. I could see the forest. It looked like there was nothing behind it, but there was a whole world back there.

We got down, and suddenly my body went stiff. I was here. There was no going back.

I carried my bags in one hand and held Eli's hand in the other.

"Mum! This doesn't look like our home." Eli's eyes were wide with fear.

"It is. And you're with me."

I crossed into the territory and then I felt a sharp, searing pain shoot through my chest.

I gasped and stumbled, my knees nearly buckling. Eli's hand tightened around mine.

"Mum? Mum, are you okay?"

I couldn't answer. The pain spread, hot and alive, clawing its way up my throat. It was like something inside me had been asleep for years and had just been shaken violently awake.

The bond.

I hadn't felt it since the night of the ceremony. Since he stood in front of everyone and rejected me like I was nothing. I had told myself it was gone, severed, dead. But it wasn't dead. It had only been waiting.

I pressed a hand to my chest and forced myself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

"I'm fine, baby," I lied, straightening up. "Just tired from the trip."

Eli didn't look convinced, but he let it go.

I looked up. The trees swallowed the last of the afternoon light. Ashwood territory hadn't changed.

The same towering pines. The same damp earth smell. The same quiet that wasn't really quiet at all.

I could feel it now. The hum of a hundred wolves going about their lives just beyond the tree line.

Soon, everyone would see me and the little boy I'd brought back with me. There would be snickers. I wasn't ready for any of this.

Another pulse of pain hit me, duller this time, like an echo. I wondered if he felt it too. If somewhere in that pack house, Caelum Voss had just felt something shift in his chest and didn't know why.

Or maybe even worse. If he knew exactly why.

I forced my legs to move. One foot in front of the other. That was all I had to do. Just get to Aiden's. Just get to my father and everything else could wait.

"Is this really it?" Eli asked, looking around with wide eyes. "This is where you grew up?"

"Yes," I said softly. "This is home."

The word felt strange in my mouth. Home. I hadn't called it that in three years.

Then I heard a howl through the trees. It sent the birds scattering from the branches to a startled flock.

Maybe he felt it. I thought.

We walked deeper into the territory, gravel crunching beneath our shoes. I kept my eyes forward, refusing to let myself search the trees for shadows that might or might not be watching.

I suddenly went cold despite the warm ambient air. I felt a chill down my spine. The unmistakable sense of being seen.

Someone knew I was here, watching me waiting for the perfect time to spring out on me. The leaves rustled behind the trees. This person was careful enough to stay out of my sight.

I picked Eli up to protect him. No matter what was going to happen to me, I wasn't going to allow anyone to harm the one person who has brought me joy these past years.

A thought suddenly flashed through my head. Did my brother set me up?

But it vanished before I could think about it.

I continued hearing the trees rumble, low and close and my chest wouldn't stop aching.

I soon had a terrible feeling it wasn't just anyone.