I watch as the Alpha talks but I am still in my own head.
What is going to happen now? Now that he is back. Will Colt be the one now to be Alpha next?
I look at Kaecy and I know he would have no problem with that. You can even see it. He claps with a huge smile and–for the first time in nine years–looks relieved.
Colt has not said a word. He is quiet and has that serious expression he always carries. I can’t decipher what he is thinking but this is not the Colt I remember from my childhood. This is also another reason why I didn’t recognize him. He is different but I am guessing that whatever he went through must have had a hand in that.
The celebration continues once the Alpha is done with the announcement. Many pack members make their way to Colt to talk to him and tell him how happy they are that he is back but not me. I watch Lauren and James do the same as the others but I stay back because I can’t face him now knowing that he is Colt.
I am so angry at myself and embarrassed that I was lusting for him. That I told him that I wanted him to k*ss me. I feel so stupid. It almost feels like a prank he would pull back in the day. He was playing with me this whole time…they all were, weren’t they?
Ugh! I don’t want to be here at all anymore. No one will care if I am not here.
I turn around and walk towards the forest.
“Where are you going, Curls?” Dash suddenly says walking over to me.
I stop but before I turn to Dash, my thoughts go to the fact that he and the others knew. They knew and they all lied to me. This is why I don’t trust, I can’t trust. I am always taken for a fool.
Anger now leads in me and I slowly turn to him.
Dash immediately notices the change in my mood and for some reason, he takes a step back as if I could actually hurt him.
“You! You don’t talk to me! You liar!” I shout at him. “You all are a bunch of liars! Men like you all, all they do is lief I don’t want to talk to or see any of you again!”
He puts his hands up. “I am sorry Curls. we didn’t mean to lie and to be honest, it wasn’t really a lie.”
Omitting information is still lying. I hate people that lie. Then again, my anger is leading right now so I might be acting a bit childish.
I turn around and whisper. “I’m warning you. Leave. Me. Be.”
I almost feel feral and I am sure that warning came from my wolf. She is just as pissed as I am.
He doesn’t say another thing and just watches me leave.
I enter the forest and start walking but soon my walk turns into a run. I make it to the house but I don’t go in. Instead, I take my clothes off and fold them, leaving them on the porch. I feel a sense of relief that now I don’t have to look over my shoulder and worry about Niles. I don’t feel sorry for what happened to him at all. He deserved it.
I shift and start running.
This is the only time I feel all my problems disappear. When I give my wolf control. I can easily take Cotronl back but most of the time I don’t. We take turns and I let her have her moment first. Once she is tired, she’ll give me back control and I will have my fun. I can’t communicate with her but I can feel how she feels just like she can feel how I feel. Even though I have been treated not so nicely for so long, I can’t say that I have felt alone, at least not since I turned eighteen and had her. I might not be able to talk to her but I have felt her there always. The last couple of years we have been through things together and maybe it was because of her that when Ezra turned out to be my mate, I was hopeful. Because she hadn’t experienced what I had experienced growing up but she got a taste of it and now, we are one and the same when it comes to Ezra.
I hate thinking about him but I do. He is my mate whether I like it or not. I wish he would reject me so we can be done with this. Doesn’t he want to find a mate, someone he wants? Why keep going at this for so long? He could have any she–wolf he wants in the pack. Why won’t he just choose someone? Why does he have to be so cruel? What have I done to him that is this horrible?
As I am alone with my thoughts and enjoying the solitude of the night and forest, I don’t notice that hours pass. The moon passes over me, stars shift and the night gets colder. I hear owls and all manners of night creatures roam the forest. To me, these are peaceful sounds.
the
It must be way over midnight but I know Lauren and James are not worried about me. That’s why I left my clothes on the porch. They’ll see it and know I went out to run for the night. When Niles was still alive, I did not stay long but I am not afraid anymore. I can enjoy the solitude of the night without fear. At least that’s what I thought.
I turn around feeling something but there is nothing there.
Maybe a coyote?
I ignore the feeling and I stride a few more feet until I find a stream where I take a drink from. Again, I feel someone behind me. I turn but there is no one and I do not hear anything. I’d be really concerned if I was at the edge of the forest where our pack ends but I am not. I am still close to home and we live close to the pack house. This still does not ease my nervousness.
Also if we were being attacked, we would know. Our borders are well guarded.
I decide that maybe I should head back home so I start to stride only to stop because this time I did hear something in the shadows. I give my wolf
control so that she can assess the situation. Her instincts are much better than mine in this form.
She watches the dark corners and whatever or whoever this is, is circling us.
I know what is happening here. I am being stalked. This has to be a pack member…right? Maybe their wolf is playing with me like a predator does with its prey. If that is the case, then I shouldn’t really worry. Maybe it’s even Ezra f**king with me.
I realize how wrong I am when a big dark wolf that I do not recognize walks out of the shadows.
I immediately panic and choke but not my wolf. She instantly takes off running and the big wolf gives chase. I might not be strong in any way like my pack members, but I am fast. I have always prided myself on that. I am small and fast. But this wolf is catching up on me. He is big and also has speed. I know now that this has to be a Beta or an Alpha.
It doesn’t matter who it is, I don’t want to stop because whoever this is, it is their wolf in control and our wolves are unpredictable. If it is pissed, it can hurt us and this wolf chasing us does not look very happy.
We don’t have much choice but to stop when I feel a huge weight on my back. It slams me to the ground. My wolf turns around and starts trying to bite the huge wolf but the other wolf immediately clenches its jaws to our n*eck, holding us down but not piercing our skin. He growls and his jaw
squeezes, showing dominance. My wolf stops fighting and now stays still, showing submission. She knows we are not strong enough to fight this huge wolf.
The big wolf slowly loosens his jaw and backs away. I immediately know that it is Colt. He has a scar on his eyes that even in his werewolf form can be noticed. Feeling just a bit relaxed, my wolf gives me back control and I shift.
I kneel and stay kneeling to cover myself. Colt’s eyes roam my whole b*dy and then he takes a step back and also shifts.
my breath. “Why…are you chasing me like this?” I ask him keeping my tone calm but trying to catch
He also kneels in front of me but does very little to cover himself. Obviously, he doesn’t care. “You ran and I gave chase. Instinct,” he says.
V
I guess
that makes sense for our kind. My wolf shouldn’t have run like prey.
I look away and stay silent because I don’t know what to say to him. Knowing who he really is makes me feel…small. “You left early, Dash told me what you said. The guy is soft so he was a bit upset.”
I give him a nod but I don’t speak.
“You are not going to talk to me? Are you that angry?” he asks.
“I was…am, but…” I look up at him. “I…I just can’t talk to you.”
“Why?”
“Because…you are Colt.”
“I was always Colt.”
“Not to me. You were Alexis. Someone new who knew nothing of me. But you are really Colt…a bully,”
“I am not a bully.”
I narrow my eyes at him and now I am surprised that he starts looking a bit guilty.
“Anymore,” he adds. “I was a boy back then. Boy’s do stupid things.”
“You are still that same bo-”
His hand reaches my n*eck. “I am not,” he says but he is not rough, instead, he is gentle and his hand does not squeeze but caresses. He leans into me until his nose touches mine.
“I am not the same Colt you knew.” he whispers.
My l*ps quiver. I don’t know what to say now.
“I am sorry for what I did to you back then and I will never do anything like that again.”
I get the courage to look up into his eyes and I am surprised to see so much sincerity in them but I still stay silent.
“Even knowing that we could kill you back in the cells, that we were dangerous, you showed us kindness. When you were told to hurt me, you rather be hurt yourself instead of hurting me. Where I was for the last nine years, there was none of that kindness and even when we returned here, we weren’t shown any either. But you did. Cass, you are a rare gem in a sea of stones. And this has nothing to do with your ability.” “Ability…?”
That is where he loses me because it confuses me but he continues. “…and I still owe you a k*ss.”
He pushes me back to the ground. “I–I..” I am nervous as I try to speak because he has so much intent behind his eyes. “I–I have a mate,” I say. “I know,” he says as he slowly crawls his way over me. His eyes look at every inch of my b*dy that is now exposed.
“It’s- it’s your brother.”
“I know.” Now he is over me. An elbow on the side next to my head to support him and his other hand is now on my chin. He holds it and makes
me stare at him.
Now I don’t know what to say. If that doesn’t stop him, then nothing else I say will. I know maybe I should be the one to stop but…my b*dy doesn’t
want to.
He comes close and his breath is now on my l*ps.
“You…you don’t care?” I whisper.
“No,” he whispers back. “I don’t care. My brothers are not children so they should know better and I have seen the way he makes you hurt. He doesn’t deserve you. If he doesn’t want you, then I’ll steal you away.”