The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 18: All in The Family

I sunk down in the tub as Levi's voice boomed through the cabin.

Loud footsteps could be heard until they walked right next to the tub. I could feel his gaze, it wasn't on me, but it was on the empty carton.

I looked up at him apologetically and gave him the best puppy dog eyes that I could. "Sorry?"

A low growl rumbled through his chest.

I shivered a bit. The alpha in him was starting to show; my wolf was already shaken, on edge, even if the growl was playful it pushed her more on edge.

"Levi!" Derek hissed. He gave him a long hard look; silent communication that filled my belly with dread.

Levi let out a long tired sigh and pushed his hair back. He flickered his eyes to me then back to Derek. "Just pick some more up when you go to the store."

He left quietly and shut the door behind him. I felt like my heart was going a hundred miles a minute. "Does he know?" I whispered out.

"Yes," Derek sighed out. "But he wants to talk with you first." I bit my lip at the thought. It reminded me of the time my dad had to have a 'talk' with me when he caught me drinking Smirnoff's in our shed with friends of mine when I was in high school.

"Char," Elliot said softly. I looked over at his green eyes that seemed to soften as the looked at me. "Levi may be Levi, but he is a fair man in his own way. He cares for you. Just let him hear you out. He's not mad, but more worried about you."

I nodded and sank deep into the tub. Maybe if soaked long enough I would soak away all my problems.

Derek helped me dry off while Elliot cleaned up the ice cream for us. I wasn't in the mood for dinner so I decided to chop extra wood instead. It had grown to be like a therapy to me, a place where I could just let my mind go as I thought through my problems.

Log after log after log I split them and poured all my emotions into each swing.

I felt so torn, and so did my wolf. We both agreed that we genuinely liked Liam, outside of the bond, but we knew it wasn't right. He wasn't ours, not really, but he made things so easy. That's what made it hard. It was so easy being with him. He was everything that Marcus was not and I couldn't help but feel like drawn to him; a moth to a flame.

He made me want to open up, push myself harder, be a better version of what I was–and that's what scared me. Because he wasn't mine and I had to let him go. I had to open up, push myself harder, and be a better version of myself for me.

My wolf agreed, but thinking one thing and doing it is a whole other ball game. But my wolf calmed me; I had her, and I could always lean on her. I vowed to try harder, if not for me than for her.

I chopped and chopped and chopped some more until the stump I had set my logs on was starting to miss pieces as well. It was helping. As much as I loathed the chore, it had grown on me.

"If you keep swinging harder, you know it's not going to fix what you're trying to fix girly."

I sighed and turned to Levi who gave me a small smile. "I know," I replied in a breathy whisper.

"Come on girl, let's go for a walk."

I inwardly groaned a bit as my anxiety fluttered. Dear God this so much like what my dad would do. He would always give me a small smile and say, 'Come on baby girl, let's go for a drive.'

Dad wouldn't say anything at first. He would turn on the radio to his favorite station that played non-stop classic rock and drive us around the hills in our little small town.