Lone Werewolf Duology (bxb)

8. Together, Apart

Volya stared at the iPad, rubbing his forehead like it was a shoe to shine. Toshka had just e-mailed him. Toshka!

And here he was gallivanting around Moscow with Liam, stuffing his face, worrying about truffles mysteriously appearing on his pillow, and figuring out things the glam people said or didn't say around him. And, yes, worrying about getting ever farther from home. While Toshka... Damn, damn, damnity-damn.

He should have been seeking refuge in the familiar, and he hadn't. Far from pining, he had pushed all thoughts of Toshka to the back of his mind. Except when he waxed poetic about his childhood. Even then, he was drawn in by Liam listening to his memories, not the memories themselves... It was like he fenced himself off from Toshka.

Now the dam broke, spilling an Olympic pool worth of longing into his soul. He brushed the iPad as if it could send gentleness along with texts.

Toshka's message looked breathless, riddled with exclamation marks, three or even five to a sentence.

Volya's chest unclenched while he pieced things together, hearing Toshka's voice in his head.

Volya wouldn't believe the views they were receiving... (it took Toshka twelve exclamation marks total to get this across).

He should go look right frigging now, and for all that is holy... (Volya lost count of the EMs, but there were five question marks mixed in, flying in the face of conventional grammar).

Would Volya stop being a jerk already and follow the band's IG? (Volya didn't have any such thing).

And post some pictures with Liam, because there was a bunch from fans in Rostov and Moscow. And not a single one from him! And how awesome was that? (What?)

Oh! Was Moscow cool?

Volya dropped the iPad on the bed, letting out a helpless laugh. Toshka, Toshka... Never change, I beg you. He gathered the device in his lap and hit the reply button.

Moscow is... he typed and chewed his nail.

Anything he planned to say sounded like the soulless BS from Marina's beginner course: Moscow is a nice city with lots of green spaces. I enjoyed the sights, most particularly our Red Square walk this afternoon.

After backspacing that nonsense, he tried again.

Moscow is cool. I only wish you were here to walk the streets, fool around with linden flowers, and get soaked in the rain.

Okay, this was better. Or maybe it was worse for his heart. It palpitated, as he belatedly pictured how amazing this trip could have been with Toshka.

Stupid Moscow! Its dizzying air made him forget about Toshka. Stupid, stupid, stupid... everything.

He backspaced everything about Moscow, and typed, Liam is actually a pretty cool guy.

Yeah, except Toshka could have been here, with him, if Liam was cool enough to do what he'd asked him to do and sprung both of them from the orphanage.

Paperwork is getting there, we probably will be flying to States--

Here, Volya stumbled again.

Wouldn't it stir the locust of fans all the more, if he blabbed their travel plans? His mate had plenty of wonderful qualities, but keeping secrets wasn't one of them. And now that he grabbed the internet's attention, the news would spread like wildfire.

Soon, he wrote instead of the firm date, while his teeth made a gritting sound. Look at him, giving Toshka a run-around! This trip was getting better by the minute.