Chapter 77

Meadow leads the way, and with a combination of moving fast and giggling at nothing in particular as we play, push, and shove each other around corners and doors, downstairs, back to where we started, we seem to get there in record time. I barely took in my surroundings at all this time. Who knew a Santo Beta wolf could be so fun to hang out with? The door to the study is shut, but I know before following her in that Colton isn’t here yet. I can’t feel him anywhere near this room, nor any fresh scent, and swallow down hard as I step in, right behind her, almost hidden in her shadow. The rest of them are in various states of lounging, uninterested by our return, and did not miss our presence. Someone is playing music in the corner on a cell phone or a small device, I can’t see, and it seems they have all had a couple, or a few, drinks in our absence. The smell of alcohol wafting our way and tinting the air with that chemical whiff. I can’t miss Carmen sitting alone at the desk, sulking.