Shattered - Completed

34 - My Cave

CeCe

The bed is cold. Without opening my eyes, I know Gavin isn't here. I'm never cold when my mate is with me. Opening my eyes, I take in the thin stream of weak morning light coming in through the crack in the thick window coverings. I stand up and cross to the window to peek outside.

The world is awash in pink and grey. It looks like a snowstorm will be coming soon. It's early, but any sleepiness has vanished with Gavin's absence. Where is my mate? I wash myself in the cool water in the attached washroom without bothering to heat it and hurry to dress. Shivering, I pull on a few extra layers. I can always take them off if I get too hot.

My she-wolf wakes up more slowly than I do. Sniffing the air tentatively, her ears prick forward, listening for the deep tread of males in the hallway. When she hears nothing, I slip my feet into the too-large boots and leave.

The lodge house is quiet, except for the faint sniffling of a small pup. "Salvatore?" I call for him quietly.

"Ceely?" Salvatore pokes his head out of his room. A few tears coat his eyelashes. "Grandfather isn't here," he whimpers.

I frown internally. Where are those two? Why would they leave Salvatore here without anyone? This pup isn't ever alone. No wonder he's nervous.

"I have to wash, but I don't know how to work the sink," he whispers. I hear a tinge of fear in his voice. He was afraid of being unclean in the Knowing, too.

"I'll help you," I offer. I enter Tivo's old room with not just a little dread. It smells overwhelmingly of the king, but underneath is still that stench of Amber and Tivo. I rush to the tub and pump the hand lever until the water pours out. "Here, it's not warm, but you can just-"

Salvatore dunks his naked body into the big tub despite the small amount of water. He hisses in a breath at the shock of cold water but scrubs himself down resolutely. I feel nauseous watching him. Why is this pup afraid of being dirty?

"Alright, Salvatore, that's good," I say softly when he starts to shiver. I hurry to the trunk the king brought and yank out a set of smaller clothes, socks, thermal underwear, a pair of flannel pants and a matching shirt. Salvatore has everything he might need up here as winter sets in. He dries quickly and yanks on the clothes almost as quickly as I hand them to him.

"I'm dressed," he announces.

"Do you want some breakfast?" I ask him.

"No," he replies simply. "Can we explore?"

A terrible idea occurs to me. An irresponsible, horrible, completely awful idea.

We can explore. I can find the females that Gavin's elite are Claiming, or trying to Claim. All of them, because what are the chances that there are only three? As far as I know, Gavin's elite have never so throughly taken over an entire pack before. This is an opportunity for these MateLess males to find females.

"Alright," I agree with Salvatore. "Let's go explore."

We bypass the main hall by sneaking back to the alpha's room. In the very back, Alpha Tilain had another exit. Every other room had to exit through the main hall, but not the alpha and luna.

Salvatore and I step out into the cold morning just as the first rays of sun peek over the treeline on the mountains.

"Where is Da and Grandfather?"

"I'm not sure," I admit. "Maybe we'll find them as we explore."

"Let's not try to find them, alright?" Salvatore says wisely.