Kari spent most of the afternoon lingering around the training hall, avoiding the pack house like it might bite her. She didn’t want to talk to Evan. She didn’t want to see him, smell him, or feel the confusing wave of heat and want that came through the stupid mate bond.
Joe had barely looked at her during lunch, his eyes distant, his expression shuttered. She had tried to talk to him again, tried to explain, but he had just shaken his head and said, “Don’t.”
Not angry. Not cold. Just… tired. There was something in his voice that had gutted her worse than a shout would have. Joe had been her best friend for most of her life. The thought that she might’ve hurt him, that she was hurting him, made her stomach turn.
After lunch, he had taken off for patrol, disappearing into the woods. She
