Chapter 12: WhAT DANE RESENTS
DANE’S POV
"ㅡ third marker was moved again. Same northeast stretch."
"You’re sure it wasn’t the wind?" Fen asked.
I stared at him blankly. Seriously?
He cleared his throat. "Right. Sorry."
I looked back down at the report. Three weeks of the same pattern on the same stretch, it wasn’t the wind and it wasn’t a coincidence. Whoever was doing it knew our schedule well enough to work around it. That was the part that bothered me.
"Document it separately from the general log." I told him. "I want a clean record if this gets worse."
"Got it." He scribbled something. "Do you think it’s Duskfen?"
"Doesn’t matter who it is until they give us a reason for it to matter." I replied. "Eyes open, rotation stays tight, I do not need this escalating."
He nodded and went back to his notes while I sat there reading the same line in the report for the seventh time because the bond had decided that right now, in the middle of a briefing, was a great time to send me a warm pulse from across the pack.
Ares, my wolf, stirred. "She’s in the office."
I knew that. I knew it so fucking much that it undid me from the inside. And I wanted to stop knowing. Fuck.
I turned the page. "Wrap it up." I said to Fen. "I’ll finish the log tonight."
He looked up. "Tonight? It’s alreadyㅡ"
"I’m serious"
He shut his mouth.
Good.
That was the system for me. Work late, sleep badly and repeat. It wasn’t pretty but it was the only routine I had right now and I was sticking to it.
Ares made a sound in the back of my mind that I didn’t appreciate so I ignored him.
The briefing wrapped and I sent Fen off to re-document the patrol timestamps and gathered my things, told myself I was fine and went back to work.
Then I went to verify the eastern trail markers.
I found the third one just before midday, crouching beside it with my log open, noting the exact shift in position.
Interesting. Could be overlooked if it weren’t for keen eyes. The person who did this was someone who knew exactly what they were doing. I was halfway through writing the coordinates when I heard voices coming up the trail and I looked up slowly.
Keisha had her hands tucked into her coat, eyes drifting out toward the ridge, a smile on her face. Orin was beside her talking with his hands the way he always did and she was listening with her head tilted slightly.
Then she laughed and I stiffened.
Ares went quiet inside me.
I stood there for four seconds, my jaw tight, then I closed my log and turned around and walked back the other way.
How interesting.
I walked faster and spent the rest of the afternoon in a terrible mood. My spiralling thoughts wouldn’t stop their nagging and I felt like I was going to go crazy.
What was she doing with him? What could have been so funny anyways? Oh please—
After a while I picked up the scout report and headed to Callum’s study. The light was on under the door and I knocked once.
"Come in."
He was at his desk, reading something. He looked up and nodded at the chair across from him.
I sat and dropped the report between us. "Third marker on the northeast stretch." I said. "Same pattern which means someone knows our rotation."
He frowned at the report. "Not random."
"No."
We went through it the way we always did and he pinched his brows. "Thank you. We should just keep a close eye right now."
With that, I stood to leave and was almost at the door when I paused, suddenly deciding to tell him. "Orin’s been spending time with her." I said. My voice was calm, like this was just an observation about a random pack member.
Silence.
I glanced back. Callum had looked up from the report and his face had gone very still.
"I noticed." He said finally.
At that, I turned to look at him fully. "They seem to be getting along just fine. Should we leave them to it?"
He pinched his brow. "What else?"
Send Orin to another part of the territory?
But I didn’t say that out. Because I knew that doing something like that would be too irrational.
But seriously, I wasn’t comfortable with the way the boy was slowly easing his way into her life.
Right.
With a nod, I walked out. I stood in the hallway for a moment, hands in my pockets and thought about the trail again.
What was I even doing?
I had two options. Go back to my quarters, stare at the border logs, sleep badly, repeat the whole thing again tomorrow. Or stop pretending.
My heart raced in my chest as I looked down the path to the one place I shouldn’t be.
Fuck it.
I changed direction, walking fast. Her light was on when I got there.
My feet dragged along the path, as though that would delay my arrival at her porch.
The bond was humming in the background, intensifying the need to meet her, hold her, taste her again.
Oh goddess help me.
Finally, I got to her porch, a growl escaping me because at this proximity, the bond was pounding with an energy all too familiar.
I raised my hand to knock and then stopped with my knuckles an inch from the door because I hadn’t figured out what I was going to say yet.
What could I say? Hey, I was really restless and had to come meet you? No, that sounded really weird and I could only imagine the look of disgust on her face. A sharp contrast to the grin on hers when she was talking to Orin.
The thought made my blood boil and my fists clenched.
Ares huffed. "Just knock."
My palms felt sweaty and I contemplated leaving. But no, I was already here.
So, I knocked.
