Read Online The Wolf in His Arms (The Runes Trilogy) by Adrian Lilly - Free Book Online

walked away.

 
Anxiety
    Jared
paced around the table, looking at the stacks of papers. The idea that useful
information lay just outside his grasp was maddening. He pinned so many hopes
on the pages: a cure for Lucy, the names of the rest of the pack, the
werewolves’ plan. All the answers could be coded in the pages, and he could not
decipher the message. The frustration filled him with an energy that he had to
defuse, and so he paced. And paced.
    And the
night of the full moon only made it worse.
    He and
Alec had noted that leading up to the full moon Lucy became agitated, restless.
What they couldn’t figure out was whether it was a direct result of the impending
change or just her own anxiety over what was to happen.
    Tonight
would be spent in the basement of an abandoned building, so Jared relaxed with
a long bath. He sipped herbal tea as he double checked that everything they
needed for the night was ready: tent, flashlights, restraints, lock, food, and
hot drinks.
    Designing
their lives around the full moon proved harder than they had expected. Alec and
Jared stayed the night in the bank building with Lucy every full moon, meaning
that they, too, had to schedule everything around the moon. Jared didn’t see
the act as a sacrifice; he saw it as precaution. Since he and Alec did not know
their triggers, if one of them suddenly began to change from the full moon, at
least it wasn’t happening in public.
    Jared
sat back down at the table, the files of coded information in front of him,
waiting for Alec to return from Geraldine’s house and for Lucy to return from a
meditation class. She liked to focus on relaxation before a transformation as
much as possible. She hoped, that if something did happen, like the door giving
way, she would have at least a modicum of control over the beast.
    But
Jared doubted it.
    He
recalled that night with Rene at the barn in the country. Rene loved Lucy more
than life. He cared for Alec so much that he tried to save him from a
werewolf—yet he chased them with no intention but shredding them. Jared was
convinced that those infected had no control, like a rabid dog.
    Darius—he
knew—had been another story. Somehow, Darius maintained some control over his
beast. Darius’s desires, even his cognition, appeared in the werewolf. The
question ate at Jared: What was special, different about Darius that allowed
him to retain part of himself—and more importantly, would he and Alec be
similar?
    Jared
heard footsteps at the front door, and then heard a key slide in the lock. He
stood from the table and walked down the hall. He smiled at Alec as he entered.
    “I got
it,” Alec said.
    Jared
walked toward him as he spoke. “Do you think it’ll work?”
    “Yes.
Yes.” Alec dropped his coat on the couch and walked past Jared into the back
room. Alec eyed the Meredith Stone.
    Jared
walked up behind Alec. “Should we see if it works?”
    “Yes.
I’m nervous.”
    “Me,
too.”
    Alec
walked to the Meredith Stone and lifted it. “Here, hold it,” he said to Jared,
handing him the stone. Jared cupped his hands around the stone. Alec draped the
mobile over the stone. The spiral of the mobile snaked around the facets of the
stone until every image on the stone and mobile aligned. “I think we have our
decoder.”
    “I
think you’re right,” Jared said, his voice breaking with excitement. “Let’s start
writing down the translation. Then we can try a paragraph to see if it works.”
Jared set the stone draped in the mobile on the table and reached for paper and
pencil. “Good job.”
    Alec
nodded, silent.
    “How
was it?” Jared asked, putting down the pencil.
    “Hard.”
    Jared
stood and stepped over to Alec, taking him in his arms. “I’m so sorry—in my
excitement—I wasn’t even thinking.”
    Alec
cried softly on Jared’s shoulder. Jared held him, allowing Alec to expel the
grief. The compassion in Jared’s arms comforted him, and he felt safe. After a
few moments, Alec