“Who hasn’t seen who?” Clarissa asks walking into the room.
“Toshi,” I say. “Where the hell is he?”
“You don’t know where Toshi is?” Clarissa asks.
“Is it my job to keep up with the furball?” I ask.
“It’s our job to look out for one another, yes. And for someone who constantly proposes a want to protect us, you do a damn fine job of losing track of us.”
“Then maybe you shouldn't go wandering off, Clarissa.”
“What? Jealous?”
“We have to find Toshi,” Theo says. “When was the last time someone saw him?”
“He relieved me from my watch shift yesterday,” Vlad says.
“What?” I growl.
“He came out there and said he was taking a watch shift. Morphed. Ran off. Figured you’d sent him out here so you could keep an eye on Clarissa like you wanted.”
“Wait, why were you keeping an eye on me?” Clarissa asks.
“Can we put all of that aside for a second?” Theo says. “Who was supposed to relieve Toshi from watch?”
“No one. He was supposed to come back at sunrise. That’s what he told me he was doing anyway,” Vlad says.
“And no one has seen him since then?” Theo bellows.
“Guys! Guys! It’s happening. They’re coming.” Joel bursts through the door and snow barrels into the cottage.
“What?” Josie asks.
“The Council. They’ve started their march. They’re coming for us,” Joel says. “So much for your idiotic plan.”
I growl at him standing in the doorway.
“What are we going to do about Toshi?” Clarissa asks.
“We can’t do anything right now. Our watches didn’t bring us any intel on them moving. There’s a good chance Toshi figured it out and was captured,” I say.
“Then we have to go after him. We have to get Toshi, Sebastian!”
“We can’t!” I rumble. “He knew the risks when he took that watch without telling me about it. I didn’t even know he was going out there. Vlad was supposed to come back before someone took his place. Toshi made his choice.”
“I’m not leaving him in the hands of the Council to die!” Clarissa yells.
“Enough!” Theo bellows.
The entire cottage goes silent as he steps up to the plate.
“We have no more time to worry. War is on our doorstep. We have to go. The Council has found us, and this village that we said wouldn’t get hurt is now in their crosshairs. We all have to go,” Theo says.
I see Clarissa leaning into Vlad, and his arm is around her. I feel jealousy bubbling in my veins, but it’s draining me of so much energy. I’m tired of being jealous. I’m tired of thinking she’s mine before she turns around and claims another man I know she loves. I see the way she looks at Toshi. At Theo. Even now, at Vlad. I see the care in her eyes. The tenderness she shares with them. She’s pulling away from me because I’m trying so hard to make her solely mine when I know that isn’t how Alpha wolves operate.
We take. But we don’t claim.
Rarely do we ever claim.