Cry Wolf, Cry [Welcome To Wolf's Peak] (manxman)

Chapter 11 - Removing The Mask

Bram's POV

I checked the time on my phone for the third time in five minutes. I was nervous. No that's a lie, I was downright terrified. I was waiting for my mate so that we could go on a date.

I'd gotten up even earlier than usual this morning at four thirty. I'd written a note to Jason asking him to meet me at the creek at nine. I'd gone to the training room and I'd lifted weights, sparred with another pack member in the small boxing ring, gone for my morning run in wolf form and I'd even gotten some paperwork finished and filed away for my father.

Now here I stood at- I checked my phone again -eight fifty eight, waiting for my mate to arrive. My insides felt like butterfly filled jelly and I had to rub my palms on my jeans to rid them of the slickness brought about by my own stupid nervousness.

I couldn't mess up today like I had yesterday. I was such an idiot then. I'd been fuelled by jealousy and a soul deep terror that I was about to lose my mate before I'd even had the chance to be with him. I'd let my wolf rule me for that split second it took to mess everything up. Deep down I'd known that I had no reason to be jealous, after all we'd made no promises to each other and he'd already rejected me once.

If I'd stopped to read his body language and tone of voice I would have realised that I hadn't walked in on a declaration of love. But my wolf had heard those three little words and had gone berserk. He'd heard our mate say that he was leaving us to return to someone else and a sharp piercing pain had sliced through us.

The rejection had started.

I rubbed absentmindedly at the ache still present in my chest, so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the approaching footsteps until someone came to stand beside me. "I can't believe I forgot how beautiful it is here." Jason said on a sigh as he looked around the small creek and over the meadow beyond it. There were wild flowers of assorted colours moving in the slight breeze of early morning. Bees were flitting from flower to flower and a movement from the corner of my eye along with a familiar scent told me that a rabbit was on its way back to its burrow.

"This is one of my favourite places on our lands. I came here every weekend as a boy after I finished training and I'd jump into the creek to cool down. Sometimes your brother would come with me but most times I was here on my own. I preferred to be alone." I kept my eyes on the path the rabbit was making through the undergrowth too afraid to look at Jason and show him the hurt that was surely mirrored in my eyes.

"I remember." He answered almost shyly, shuffling his feet and looking over to an old tree that had fallen during a storm three years ago. "I used to race you here and hide in the branches of that tree. I was too afraid to approach you but I always felt drawn to you. I guess now I know why that was." He cleared his throat and gave me a guilty smile.

"I never knew you were there. Did you mask your scent?" I turned fully to face him and watched him blush a pretty shade of red.

"Yes. Like I said, I was afraid to approach you. It took every bit of courage I could find to approach you in school that one time."

We both grew quiet, remembering what had happened on that fateful day. I was such a bastard.

"I'm sorry." Those words seemed to be on repeat in my vocabulary over the past few days but they weren't enough, not to me and I'm sure not to him either.

"Aren't we supposed to be getting to know each other today? We already know what happened in the past so let's not dwell on that today." He said saving me from my self-hatred for a while longer.

"Yes, we are." I took the opportunity to place my hand low on his back and lead him away from the creek. "I've planned a full day of activities for us. I'll drive."