Page 60 of Hart's Redemption

I cut him off with a miserable groan. “For love of the moon, no more meditation.” It was bad enough that I was stuck here withoutanydiversions beyond my endlessly circling thoughts. Having no choice but to focus on them would be akin to torture.

“I didn’t say meditation. Besides which, it’s not for everyone. The woman who initially brought me here abhors it, and Isuspect you may be of a similar mindset.” He flipped through his stack of materials and pulled out a nondescript notebook, which he then slid across the small table to me. “What I want you to work on is mindfulness. I’ve written some guidance and included a few worksheets. We’ll review them before I go to address any questions you might have. I’ll expect to review your responses when I return in three days.”

I tentatively pulled the notebook closer. “You want me to journal?”

“In a nutshell.”

I was already shaking my head before he finished. “Me keeping a journal, here or anywhere, is arguably unsafe.”

“Agreed. Which is whythisjournal is enchanted. Whenever you finish an entry, simply write ‘The End’ at the bottom of the page to clear everything before it. That way your words, thoughts, and feelings remain private, and you never run out of pages to write. You'll find its accompanying pen enchanted into the spine. It should be easy enough to remove as well as replace.” His smug grin rubbed my fur the wrong way, but I had to hand it to him; he’d thoroughly thought this out.

“If the pages clear, how will you know how I answered the worksheets?”

“You’ll have to tell me,” he said as he gathered his things. Had it really already been an hour? He may not have been my favorite individual, but he was also the only interaction I’d had with another living soul.

“How can you be sure I’m not fabricating my responses?”

“You mean besides the fact that you are incapable of lying?” he asked, straightening from the bag he’d brought to hold his things with a mild look of surprise. “I also believe you genuinely want to get better. If that isn’t sufficient motivation to do the work,” he glanced around my cell, “I can see about bringing you some reading material when I return.”

I didn’t bother asking how he planned to get data files into The Pit of Doom undetected. Given the amount of physical paper he’d brought, I felt secure in assuming any books he supplied would equally be made of paper. He bid me goodbye with yet another reminder to do my homework before raising the wall and exiting. I stared at the opaque wall long after he left, unsure what to make of him and the unusual situation I now found myself in. Against my better judgement, I liked him. More terrifying though, I was hopeful.

Elijah

There’d been times over the years when running with the pack had been awkward, especially after my father died. None of those times compared to the tension that crackled in the air as I joined the pack for the first time in months for a run beneath the full moon. The air held the electric charge of an impending lightning storm with the same promise of destruction on a massive scale.

I tried to ignore the increasing itch between my shoulders as more and more eyes turned my way. I offered a smile when I could, but mostly I worked on making sure I didn’t look like I wanted to be anywhere other than here.

Most of my packmates were still milling around and socializing before we all went our separate ways to shift, then reconvened to run as a unit. The sudden feeling of less friendly eyes on me had me subtly searching the faces of those nearby. I should have known the hostile looks would belong to Conrad and his loyalists. The fact that the Klamath Alpha even had a distinguishing segment of the pack that could be called“loyalists” should have been cause for concern. The entire pack should have been loyal.

Eric was right. Things had gottenbadin my absence. Almost like the bond I shared with Josh, I could sense the fractures spreading through the pack, could almost pluck the fraying strings.

“You can feel it, can’t you?” Eric asked beside me. I’d sensed his approach, but knew better than to lose sight of Conrad.

“I’m more worried that you can,” I said quietly. With as unstable things had become in my absence, the last thing I wanted to do was inspire an insurrection.

Eric huffed, but kept his gaze equally trained on Conrad and his ring of cohorts. “Yeah, well, I’m not the only one.”

I snapped my head around to look at him. “Who?”

“Not many.” Eric rolled his shoulders, his obvious discomfort increasing by the second. “I doubt most even realizewhatthey’re feeling. Except for…” He trailed off, dropping his gaze to the forest floor.

“For who?” I prompted, though I feared I already knew the answer.

He darted a look at me out of the corner of his eye and said under his breath, “Tommy and Kale.”

“Moons of Jupiter.Fuck,” I hissed. Being right wasn’t always a good thing.

I’d accepted years ago my precarious position within the pack as a potential rival to Conrad. If he discovered that two members in the pack were no longerpartof the pack, it wouldn’t matter that I wasn’t the one who held their allegiance. He’d make all of us suffer. More than likely he’d either exile or execute all of us, myself and Eric included, even though Eric had always toed the line.

My best friend glanced around and stepped closer, lowering his voice to barely audible even for a lycanthrope. “They’re notdoing too good, Red. They need him. Not the way you do, but that doesn’t make their connection any less significant.”

“What do you expect me to do?”

Eric glanced around again, drawing my attention to the rest of the pack dispersing for their respective changes. He angled his head in a direction no one else seemed to be going, and we fell into step. “I know the nuances of being connected to an Alpha don’t mean much to you.”

“Eric,” I growled in warning.

He stopped and fully faced me. “No, Red. It’s bad enough that I’ve had to deal with your stubborn tail for all of these years while you bury your head in the sand, but I won’t let Tommy and Kale suffer for your obstinance.” He stepped close enough that I could feel the heat of anger emanating from his face. “You’re a Goddess-blessed Alpha, fucking use it for once. I won’t ask you to challenge—I already know you won’t—but youcanhelp them.”