Romance

  Celena&#39;s Perspective
  Jacob was a complete and utter fool! Did he even realize what he was doing? I knew the rest of the pack was worried too, though they never said it aloud. What were hunters? Vicious scum who saw us as monsters—the kind who wouldn&#39;t hesitate to pick off any lone wolf! Him charging out alone was no different from offering himself on a silver platter.
  My thoughts tangled into a knotted mess, like yarn mauled by a kitten. The impetuous wolf spirit inside me—the one I secretly called &quot;the reckless mutt&quot;—kept prodding. Go to him! Now! He needs you! It clawed restlessly at the edges of my mind, desperate to break free from the territory.
  But I wavered. Going after him? What would that imply? That I&#39;d forgiven him? I wasn&#39;t ready.
  Just as my inner conflict peaked, that familiar, glacial chill washed over me. The wolf spirit&#39;s agitation 

  Celena&#39;s Perspective
  Damn, the atmosphere in this car was thick enough to choke on.
  I slumped in the passenger seat, pretending to watch the landscape blur past the window, but every one of my senses was traitorously zeroed in on the man behind the wheel. Had I been too impulsive, coming along like this? That reckless wolf spirit in my head had completely taken over, shoving me onto this path.
  Now, this enclosed space felt like a concentrated jar of Jacob&#39;s essence. His familiar scent—a mix of sun-warmed fur, forest earth, and that uniquely appealing male musk—swirled around me, inescapable. It was infuriatingly comforting, making my fingers itch to reach over, to bury my face against the solid strength of his shoulder, just like we used to.
  The coffee cup I clutched still held the residual warmth from his hands, a heat that seeped into my palm and sent a restless flutt

  Celena&#39;s Perspective
  This was utterly bizarre. What the hell was Jacob playing at? He came to me this morning, clammed up like a locked vault, and now he&#39;s vanished into thin air.
  Lily found me and handed me a folded note, her brow furrowed so deeply it looked like it could trap flies. &quot;Found this at your door,&quot; she said, her tone grim. &quot;Haven&#39;t opened it.&quot;
  Then I learned that Jacob, that idiot, had hastily sent a vague farewell to everyone through the pack link! At first, no one thought much of it—seriously, a cooped-up wolf blowing off steam after recovering from an injury is perfectly normal, right?
  But then the patrol team returned with somber faces, reporting they&#39;d seen him charge straight past the territory boundary, and... he&#39;d unilaterally shut down the link! It was like he&#39;d sealed himself inside an impenetrable iron box.
  

Celena&#39;s Perspective
  Jacob was a complete and utter fool! Did he even realize what he was doing? I knew the rest of the pack was worried too, though they never said it aloud. What were hunters? Vicious scum who saw us as monsters—the kind who wouldn&#39;t hesitate to pick off any lone wolf! Him charging out alone was no different from offering himself on a silver platter.
  My thoughts tangled into a knotted mess, like yarn mauled by a kitten. The impetuous wolf spirit inside me—the one I secretly called &quot;the reckless mutt&quot;—kept prodding. Go to him! Now! He needs you! It clawed restlessly at the edges of my mind, desperate to break free from the territory.
  But I wavered. Going after him? What would that imply? That I&#39;d forgiven him? I wasn&#39;t ready.
  Just as my inner conflict peaked, that familiar, glacial chill washed over me. The wolf spirit&#39;s agitation vanished instantly, replaced by a deeper, unyielding authority. It had shifted again—becoming what

Chapter 218