Chapter 14

I sat in Iris and Anthony's small house, my cold hands wrapped around a warm mug. I was alone on the open kitchen, the living room filled with just three people plus Iris and Anthony.

I had wandered around outside until finally I just gave up and went to Arlis's office. Lots of people greeted me, introduced themselves, told me things about the pack.

But none asked if I was okay.

Did I look okay? Probably. I was too scared to look like anything else.

And then Seymour found me and he just knew something was wrong. He walked me to Iris's house, a small cottage type place nestled in the woods.

Currently; it was Iris, Anthony, Chleo, Seymour, and a girl who I assumed was Chleo's sister in the living room. They just watched me, no attempt to make any contact besides when Iris handed me a drink. Had I been more clear minded, I would have asked about Anthony's scar around his neck, try to change the subject, but my mind was all out of order.

I didn't even know what was in the green mug, could've been anything. I wasn't drinking it. She'd also handed me a plate of Enchiladas, four to be exact, and I ate all of them with no regrets.

They whispered frantically, but I didn't know what about.

Finally, someone loudly whispered "no" and the chair next to me pulled up.

I looked up and the pretty brown eyes of a girl who smiled a million watts. "Hi... I'm Vera... do you wanna tell me what happened?" She asked kindly, one of her hands reaching up to grab mine. I didn't have the energy to pull my hand back.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Seymour rushed over and pulled her hand off of mine. "Do you know who this is?" He asked angrily.1

Vera shook her head, her black curls bouncing off her shoulders. "No, who is she?"

Seymour took a deep breath and collected himself. "Alpha Arlis's Mate."

She glanced from me to Seymour. "What's wrong with her?" She asked.

Seymour winced, halfheartedly shrugging. "Eh." He sounded constricted on whether or not he should say anything. Seymour bit his nails, pacing around the kitchen. "This is bad, this is really bad." He put his arms on the kitchen table and leaned forward. "Okay, Kate, I know what happened there's no—"1

"What happened!? He tried to kill me because I stopped him halfway through getting me undressed." I seethed, looking into the mug like it held all the answers. "First it was panic and death threats, and then it was cute little flirts and things that made me go "awe" and then it was hot and... and then it was he's trying to kill me!" I yelled, standing up and chewing on my bottom lip nervously.

Anthony started laughing much to my dismay. He laughed so hard, he was doubled over and wiping his eyes. "His wolf is pissed." Anthony chuckled and everyone relaxed visibly.1

"NO! THIS IS NOT OKAY!" Seymour yelled. "How did you Umm... escape?" He asked, blinking at me.

I winced. "He called Jonah and Constance came instead, I think. I just know Constance tackled him and told me to leave." My foot was tapping anxiously, I didn't care to stop it.

Seymour sucked in a sharp breath and faced everyone with a worried look. "So this is bad."

I still had no idea what was happening. "Okay so what happened?" I asked, looking at everyone's faces for an answer. Nobody seemed to want to tell me anything, but at this point I wasn't going to settle for silence. "Somebody tell me what happened!" I shouted and I surprised myself with my rough voice.

Iris cleared her throat. "Everyone out, I think I need to talk to my daughter in law." She didn't have to ask twice. Everyone cleared the room.1

"So you know how men get all moody when you don't mate right away? That's because when they meet their mate, their testosterone levels are higher than a kite. And they won't go down until... that. And those high of testosterone levels cause some mood swings, and we're werewolves, we already have troubles with mood swings so imagine it even worse. On top of that, we feel deeper. And now you have all that added in with mating? It just gets really really hard to not go all crazy. And then you just break it off? I'm proud of you, for that actually, make him suffer, but his wolf gets upset and then it feels like it did something wrong, and then it gets angry and it comes out... gotta hate males." She sighed.1

Jesus Christ what have I done. "Would he have... killed me?" I ask quietly.

She slapped my shoulder lightly. "Honey, no. He'd get in your face as a wolf and growl, basically state that he owns you, and then stay like that until it calmed down. Arlis would never hurt you."1

I nodded and twiddled my thumbs, watching the door. "Do you think he's calm?"

She scoffed loudly. "With Constance there? He's probably killing her if we're honest."

I stood up so fast the chair knocked backward onto the floor.

Chleo came running in, his face worried. "I'm going to go get her, I didn't..." He ran out the door, apparently listening in on every word Iris told me. Great. He knew my business... just what I wanted at the moment. At least he'd go after Constance.2

Chleo came back in, his hands spread out in front of him protectively. "Arlis... it's me..."

A wolf came in growling and snarling, blood dripping down it's sharp teeth. It was brown, black, red, grey, calico like a cat. It snapped it's teeth at Chleo and then turned to me, it's eyes unlike Arlis's.

Constance ran in, her arm bent at an odd angle and her neck bleeding from a bite. She rushed at Arlis and he rolled over her, but she didn't seem too worried. He snapped at her, but she held him up, using all her strength.

"C'mon Arlis, you have more than that!" She yelled as she slid out from under him, kicking his jaw so it cracked and hung limply.1

He ran at her and swiped her stomach, clawing. She groaned and elbowed his face, making his head turn madly to the side. He looked back but not quick enough. She kicked his side, sending him sliding across the wood, blood left behind.

She fell to her knees, blood falling down her from so many different cuts I couldn't count.

Suddenly, a white wolf jumped in front of her, his eyes warm and brown... Chleo. His wolf was a snowy white that reminded me of a December morning after a fresh blizzard. But his eyes... they were exactly like Chleo's, warm and filled with light.

He growled at Arlis, taking a stance in front of Constance.

Arlis snapped forward, limping but he didn't seem to notice. He turned to me and I froze, turning but Iris was gone. I was alone, because Chleo was licking Constance who had passed out in a heap on the floor.1

I couldn't run, how would I get away? I couldn't outrun a wolf. Let him tackle me?

"IRIS!" I yelled, but nobody returned my please.

Arlis lunged and a silver came from nowhere, throwing Arlis to the side, his jaws locking around Arlis's throat. He growled and threw Arlis at least four feet, far enough for how heavy Arlis must be.

The silver wolf looked at me and... well he was bigger than Arlis, angrier than Arlis, more vicious than him. He bared his teeth back at Arlis and I smirked as I realized who it was. Damn, Seymour, you're more badass than I gave you credit for, huh?1

Arlis got low in a pouncing position, ready to attack but not making any moves too. I almost wished he attacked first after Seymour lunged, grabbing Arlis's front paw and pulling. Arlis whined as the bone snapped. He fell forward, biting at Seymour's neck, aiming to kill.

Seymour got there first and held Arlis between his canines, shaking and tearing. He stopped and drug Arlis around the house, Arlis had gone limp the fight out of him. Seymour dropped him and bit his ear for good measures.

I tried to run to him, but I fell forward, hitting my head on the ground. I saw a small wolf latched onto my ankle before everything went black.2

***

I woke up on my bed in the guest room, the covers underneath me in the cold. But something fluffy was next to me. I looked to where my hand fell, jumping in my place when the wolf perked up, whining.

Arlis's wolf set his head on my lap and whined softly. His fur was matted with blood, deep red, almost black, splotches that rubbed off on the blankets. Some of it had already started to scab over, thank god for him. But I could feel his pain, his sorrow, the anger over himself for what he did.

He shut his eyes and whined again, making my heart constrict.

The door opened and Seymour started to take a step in and Arlis growled angrily at him. Seymour had bandages with blood bleeding through them on his neck. He was shirtless and his body was filled with scratches.

"Fine, whatever Alpha Arlis, I'll leave." He slammed the door and Arlis watched it for a couple moments before he set his head on my lap again.1

He looked up at me through his lashes, his eyes the same shade of Arlis's. I sighed and ran my hand over the wolve's head, shocked over how soft it was. Although, thinking about it, it's kind of pathetic, I knew his actual hair was soft, it only made sense for his wolf to be soft.

"You still owning me?" I asked, laughing.

Something changed, but I still felt the power in the air. I wasn't scared, but I wasn't exactly happy with him either.

He growled in agreement and even as a wolf I knew he was giving me a smug look.1

"Look at you, Seymour and Constance did a turn on you, huh?" I rubbed a spot where blood had matted his fur. I was almost scared to see him after he turned into a human. Seymour looked bad, and he definitely won their little fight. Or at least I think, I went unconscious before the fight ended.

"It was mainly me." I looked up to see Constance on the bed next to us on the top bunk. "I beat the living hell out of him and I enjoyed every moment. Until I passed out from blood loss, that wasn't very fun."1

She sat up and winced. She came down the ladder, crying out on each step. She looked at me, her arm still broken beyond recognition. She had scratches on her stomach that were cleaned up yet still looked worse than anything I had ever seen. Her neck had bites that I assumed would've killed me.

Wait... bites. "Are you going to turn into a hybrid!?" I asked, and she shook her head. "Becker is here and he fixed me up, asshole wouldn't heal me though. He healed your head however, so you're good." Becker? I gulped and she smirked at me. "He's not dangerous, he eats green M&Ms and his favorite thing to do in his free time is read gardening books."1

I couldn't help the laugh that came out easily. "So he's here?" I asked.

She nodded. "He's in the kitchen cooking chicken nuggets, to be exact."

The door opened up wildly and a young-looking guy walked in. His hair was curly and a mess on top of his head yet he made it look good. He was too tall for his own good and he was wearing something that reminded me of a male-model magazine. A long navy blue velvet trench coat with black skinny jeans and a black shirt. A white scarf was tossed over his neck casually. "How did you know I was making chicken nuggets?" He glared at Constance, but in no way was it threatening. I could tell he was tired, the bags under his eyes proved that, but overall he looked so... alive and happy. So this was Becker?1

She smiled lopsidedly at him. "When are you not making chicken nuggets?" She asked condescendingly.1

He gave her a dumb look, which he managed to make look adorable. "When I'm eating chicken nuggets, duh?" He smiled and suddenly the room felt lighter.1

"You must be KATE! I'M SO EXCITED TO MEET YOU!" He ran to the bed and went to give me a hug but Arlis snapped at him.2

Becker pulled back fastly. I expected him to be scared but he slapped Arlis's muzzle instead. "No, bad dog." He looked to me and pulled me in for a hug awkwardly. "Sorry about Arlis, he's a jerk."

I sighed. "Yeah, but he's my jerk."1

Arlis nuzzled under my back and I arched up so he could get a good position. This is exactly how I wanted to lay, thanks Arlis. Not like I want to be comfortable or anything.1

"Yeah... cute." Becker had a lopsided smile and a dimple on both cheeks. His hair was a light brown, but his eyes were a celestial blue. His eyelashes were too long for any guy, and it made him look like he wore natural mascara. I was jealous. "Yes, I know. I don't deserve my eyelashes, and honestly I'd cut them off but I love them too much." He sat down next to me on the bed. "What's your opinion on going vegetarian?" He asked randomly.1

I leaned forward and squinted. "Vegetarian? I like meat too much to go vegetarian."

He laughed wildly and slapped his knee. "Never get's old." Constance took her shoe off and threw it at Becker but before it could hit him he moved his head to the side. "What was that for Con Con?"

She glared at him but he didn't even seem to notice. "One, you're acting like a child, two, what the hell did you just call me?"

He stood up, towering over her. "Wow, did he mess up your ears too? I called you Con Con."

She poked his chest and he looked down on her. "Don't ever call me that again."

He shrugged lightly. "Only one person in this world scares me and that's dad, you are not him so I'm not scared."

Constance widened her eyes at the same time as me.

Were they... siblings? Did he just...

"You just... you're an idiot, Beck. There's another person in the room." She said, gesturing to me. "Yes, my father is his father. Yes, that's why Konrad killed my mom, because he wanted revenge on my dad for sleeping with Beck's mom."2

I widened my eyes as the resemblance fell into place. The tall, lean, figures. The sharp jawlines. They had he same nose if you looked closely.

"I'm smarter than you, Con Con. I know she's here. I don't care. Arlis is like my brother, and so now she's like my sister. Now, if you'll excuse me, my chicken nuggets are done." He waved her off, disappearing without walking.1

She stomped her foot and pointed at me. "You will tell no one, got it?"

Arlis stood up and stepped over me, growling at her. She slapped his muzzle like Becker did but it did not have the same effect. He bit her hand and she groaned, pulling it to her chest. "Oh, but Beck can do it." She trudged painfully out of the room, leaving the door open.3

Arlis stretched, yawning tiredly as he left too. I didn't follow. I should let him have his cool-down while he shifted or showered.

I smiled as I sat up, realizing that yeah, he was a little overprotective, but at least I knew he cared. And Becker seemed adorable, not my type plus I had Arlis so I wouldn't ever think of him romantically, but I was glad I met him. And Constance? In a way she risked her life for me.

She fought Arlis for me.

I couldn't help but feel better. I was looking at the bright things.