A Different Beginning (1st book of Different Series)

Chapter 9

I bit back a groan when Tommy pushed me onto my back and silently cursed myself for getting distracted. Sweat gleamed on my forehead and trailed down my face while I watched my mate before me, looking at me with a smug look on his face that I so badly wanted to punch off.

"Well?" he asked and raised an eyebrow. "Did you have a nice trip?"

"Shut up," I growled, and my face turned red. "You don't need to tease me like that."

Tommy raised an eyebrow and gave me an innocent look. "Tease you?" he asked, and I nodded. "Why would I tease you?"

"Because you are stupid," I replied. I laid where I was, too exhausted to move and too annoyed with both myself and my mate to try something else. My whole body ached and screamed in pain, and I knew that I was going to be sore after all of this was done.

My mate walked over to me and held out his hand. "Come on," he said, and there was a bit of teasing in his voice that had me scowling. "You can't stay like that all day, Sam."

"Well, I want to," I replied and ignored his hand. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, annoyed with myself and the fact that I hadn't had the proper training that a female my age would have.

Tommy sighed and laid down beside me, his warmth bringing me some comfort while I silently cursed myself for the luck that I had been given. "Hey," he said and nudged me. "It's ok."

"No, it's not," I said and opened my eyes to look at him. I bit my lip to keep it from quivering, the feeling of worthlessness filling my body and not leaving like I wanted it to. "It's not ok, Tommy," I said, the quiver getting the best of me and showing my mate my true emotions.

Tears pricked my eyes, and I closed them and looked away, ashamed that I was crying because I was frustrated with myself and with my adopted father.

My mate sighed and pulled me towards him until there was barely any space between us.

He didn't try to get me to open my eyes or stop crying like I thought he would.

No, all he did was hold me, and that made me feel both grateful and guilty at the same time because it was supposed to be the other way around. He rubbed my arm and waited patiently while I pulled myself together.

"Why did this have to happen to me?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I grabbed my mate's shirt and held it as if it was some sort of lifeline that connected me to something that was living and breathing. "Why couldn't my bloodline be normal?"

Tommy shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. He paused and sighed. "Sometimes, bad stuff happens to good people," he said, finally. He rubbed my arm, and sparks flew up and down in its wake. "I mean, I am wondering the same thing, especially since I have no idea what I am doing now that I am the Alpha of this pack."

I stayed silent and leaned closer to him. I had no idea what he was going through because I wasn't the Alpha, and I was going to have the help becoming the Luna to the pack if the former Luna got better like we hoped.

"I miss him," Tommy said, his voice barely above a whisper. He cleared his throat and rubbed my arm some more. He started to trace patterns on my arm and cleared his throat again while he thought of what he wanted to say. "He would have known what to say or do, especially now that you are the White Wolf."

"Or he would know of someone that did," I said, and Tommy chuckled and nodded. I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder, keeping my eyes closed and slowly relaxing against my mate. "I miss him too," I admitted, and he hummed and nodded again. "I don't know why someone had to be so cruel and kill him."

Tommy shrugged and grimaced. "I don't know either," he said, and his voice grew stiff. His whole body grew tense, and his heart pounded hard in his chest while he grew angrier and upset. He cleared his throat and tried to relax, but he couldn't because he was too angry. "I want to find whoever did it and kill them." He bared his teeth and growled, and I grew tense beside him, afraid that he'd lash out at me.

I lifted my head from where I laid it and opened my eyes. I looked at him and saw that he had his eyes closed and teeth gritted.

However, unlike the past times, he was angry; he made no move to land a hand at me. He even had stopped rubbing his fingers across my skin because that was how angry he was.

He didn't want to hurt me by accident.

I took a deep breath and cleared my throat before I leaned closer to him and gently placed my lips on his. I had no idea what I was doing and prayed that he would find a way to calm himself before he did anything wrong or stupid.

Tommy grew still, and I had a feeling that he opened his eyes. He didn't move to kiss me back, so I pulled away from him with a blush on my cheeks.

"Ummm, sorry," I said and cleared my throat. I didn't look at him while I sat up, not knowing what else to do, and silently cursed myself for being stupid and kissing him.

"Did you just kiss me?" Tommy asked while he grabbed my arm and pulled me down beside him. He gently grabbed my face and turned it so that I was looking at him. His brown eyes were filled with awe and admiration, a sight that I didn't expect to see.

I blushed and looked away from him, well, at least as much as I could with his hand on my face. My cheeks became a darker shade of red while I didn't respond, and my heart pounded hard in my chest.

I had no idea if he was happy that I had kissed him to get him to stop being angry and wondered if what I had done was wrong and that he didn't like it.

Instead, Tommy surprised me and wasn't as angry as I thought he would be. "Thank you," Tommy said softly, surprising me while he brushed my cheek with his thumb. He pressed his lips against mine, and I kissed him back. "I love you," he whispered against my lips.

I smiled and kissed him again. My heart was warm, and I was happy that he was as much in love with me as I was with him. "I love you, too," I said, and my voice was barely above a whisper. "And I'll help you with whatever you need to do."

"Promise?" Tommy asked, still kissing me.

"Promise."