Chapter 95 ELDER TORIN
SEBASTIAN’S POV
I don’t remember how long I’ve been walking.
The forest swallowed me hours ago and yet my feet keep moving forward like they belong to someone else.
Branches scrape against my sleeves forming permanent stains and damp leaves crunch beneath my boots.
It is cold in the forest, even for a werewolf but I can barely feel it.
My mind is too loud for that.
Dax’s voice keeps echoing inside my head whether I want it to or not.
You think this is a coincidence? That I found you by pure luck? Others are already searching and when Ragnar’s enemies realize what you are and who you are to him… they won’t come for him first.
My jaw tightens.
“They’ll come for you.”
I kick a loose stone off the path, watching it disappear into the dark underbrush.
“Fantastic,” I mutter under my breath.
Just fantastic.
Apparently I’ve gone from insignificant omega to walking target overnight and nobody thought to inform me.
My chest tightens at that thought.
Ragnar knew.
Maybe not everything, but enough to at least warn me.
So that's why he's so close to me all of a sudden.
It wasn't because of the mate bond.
It was just so he'll be able to watch me closely like I was some kind of unstable weapon waiting to explode.
“You don’t get to decide what I can handle anymore.”
The words I shouted at him earlier replay in my mind and I rub my face tiredly.
Oh goddess.
Everything feels like it’s collapsing in on itself and that bastard Alisander is still quiet in the back of my head.
That silence is starting to feel heavy and nauseous to me.
Usually he has something to say about my bad decisions or my emotional spirals, calling me funny names but comforting me in the end.
But all of it changed since the lightning incident in Ragnar's office.
He's now just so full of doom and gloom.
“You’re awfully quiet,” I mutter.
But still nothing from him.
My chest tightens again but this time the feeling is different. I'm feeling uneasy.
“Don’t tell me you’re sulking,” I add on, trying to force some humor into my voice or into this situation.
Silence answers me as he's still quiet.
I exhale sharply, that petulant bastard.
“Fine. Be that way if you like!”
My boots crunch against gravel as the trees begin thinning around me as I move.
For the first time since I started walking, I realize I’ve left the deeper forest behind and right in front of me, pack grounds stretch out ahead.
I don't usually come here.
It just reminds me of things I don't have.
When did I even come this far?
I slow down, blinking as my thoughts begin to catch up with my body.
Great.
I wandered halfway back to the heart of the territory without even realizing it.
I sigh.
Maybe I should turn around and go somewhere else entirely.
Maybe–
My steps falter at what I'm seeing.
A warm golden light spills across the ground from a nearby building, catching my attention before I can even register what it is.
It's the communal house.
The town house building was built for some of the younger wolves that stay with their families.
Or where newly bonded pairs sometimes move in until they build homes of their own.
I hadn’t meant to come here but somehow my feet carried me anyway.
I find myself drifting closer before I can stop myself.
The windows glow softly in the dark and through the glass I can see some movement inside.
I also hear laughter coming from within.
Someone is chasing a small child across the room while another wolf tries to catch up to them.
A woman sits on a couch nearby, smiling as she rocks a baby against her shoulder.
The air inside looks so very inviting and warm.
It's comfortable.
My throat tightens before I even realize it but I stop just outside the window. I don't want to intrude on this.
For a moment I simply stand there watching as a young boy darts past the glass with a shriek of laughter when someone grabs him up from behind.
The room erupts into playful chaos and somewhere deep inside of me, an ugly feeling twists in my chest.
It's envy.
I lean slightly closer to the glass before I can stop myself even though I know just how stupid I must look.
But I can’t look away.
I’ve seen things like this countless times before I moved into my cottage.
Families and a thriving pack bond.
The kind of life everyone always talks about like it’s the most natural thing in the world for them.
Something about it feels painfully out of reach.
Maybe it's because I was never able to form a mental link and connect to the pack because of my recessive Omega genes.
Or maybe it's because I'm a weak Omega.
I cross my arms slowly, trying hard to ignore the hollow feeling building up in my chest.
“Careful there.”
The calm and deep voice comes from behind me.
I freeze. I did not hear him coming.
“Staring too long at something like that can give you the wrong idea.”
I turn sharply.
An older man stands a few steps away beneath one of the lanterns lining the path looking right at me.
I hadn’t heard him approach, which is unsettling to me. How did he manage that?
He looks old, even by wolf standards but he didn't look frail or weak.
He was definitely a warrior when he was young.
He has silver hair brushing the edges of his collar and his shoulders are broad beneath a simple dark coat.
His eyes study me with quiet interest that is unnerving.
I frown slightly.
“What wrong idea?”
He glances past me toward the glowing window himself.
“That everything inside there is perfect.”
His voice carries the faintest trace of dry amusement.
I scoff.
“That’s easy for someone like you to say.”
The older wolf tilts his head slightly in confusion.
“Someone like me?”
“Yeah.”
I gesture vaguely toward the building.
“Wolves who already had all that growing up.”
Family and a stable pack behind them.
“It’s always the privileged ones always saying things like that,” I add on.
He watches me quietly for a moment then I see something shift in his expression.
Something sadder.
“You wouldn’t know much about privilege in my shoes,” he says calmly, “if all of your family members were killed in rogue attacks.”
The words hit like a sudden wall and I am caught off guard.
My mouth opens slightly before I close it again.
For a moment I have no idea what to say.
“Oh.” Is all I can manage to utter.
Brilliant response, Sebastian, simply splendid.
The man’s gaze drifts back toward the house.
“I lost my parents first,” he says quietly.
Then he gestures vaguely toward the distant forest line.
“My sister a few years later right there.”
His voice remains calm but something heavy lingers underneath it, I can hear it.
“I buried the rest after the second wave of rogues crossed the northern ridge.”
My chest tightens.
I hadn’t expected that.
The feeling of bitterness suddenly drained out of me almost instantly.
“I… uhm… I didn’t know.”
He shrugs slightly.
“Most wolves don’t. They were either too young or not even born.”
I rub the back of my neck awkwardly.
“Well.”
Great, now I feel like a complete ass.
“So who exactly are you?” I ask after a moment of silence.
The older wolf studies me with that same steady gaze he's had all along before giving me a small nod.
“Oh. My apologies, I'm Elder Torin.”