Seventy-Five

Lenora

The cold, early morning mist was intense, and I snuggled against CJ. With my eyes closed, my fingers stroked his arm, but I stopped when I realized that it was not an arm but a pillow.

My eyes flew open, and I turned my head to the side, expecting to see CJ sleeping peacefully beside me. I searched around for him, but there was no sign of him and his side of the bed was cold, which meant that he had been up for a while.

I fought through the cobwebs of confusion, wondering what was going on. It was still early, and the sun hadn't even risen. I'd gotten accustomed to the routines of the pack and knew that today was not for morning runs.

Intuitively, I suspected that something was really wrong, and my heart began beating faster. Mentally, I ran through everything that happened yesterday, from Mariselle's shouting to CJ's lies and the desperate attempt to make up for it. Then worry started to creep in as I wondered whether CJ was being affected by his packmates' dislike towards