Chapter 54. Wolves in the Woods

After kicking Connie out early this morning, I paced back and forth in my room, the walls closing in like a vice around me. The silence was suffocating, each tick of the clock amplifying the emptiness I felt inside. Seeing Lottie again was supposed to make things easier, but it only tore open wounds I thought had begun to heal. Letting her go—and walking away—was like losing her all over again.

Unable to stand still any longer, I stripped off my clothes, headed out the back and shifted into Rolo's form. My wolf emerged with a fierce growl, his emotions mirroring my own turmoil. We needed to run, to escape the chaos in our minds, if only for a little while.

We bolted into the forest, our paws pounding against the damp earth. The ground was slick with mud from last night's rain, but it didn't slow us down. Trees blurred past as we weaved through the dense woods, leaping over fallen logs and crashing through the underbrush. The wind whipped against our face,