LONE WOLF (On Hold)

Chapter 9 - Is he dead?

[This chapter is dedicated to loveableirwin for the new and awesome cover!!! :D Thank you so much!!]

Chapter 9 – Is he dead?

Beck's POV

On Monday evening I stand behind the bar, listening to Darcy as she continues to argue her case on why Alex and I shouldn't charge her for a drink.

"Come on, Al. I'm your best friend! What happened to mates rates?" Darcy asks.

"That's true," Alex replies. "I am your best friend. Beck, however, is not." She turns to look at me with a raised eyebrow and I smirk as I move my eyes from her to her friend.

"Very true, Blondie, very true," I say, holding a palm out to Darcy and wiggling my fingers slightly. "Hand it over."

"Ugh, you both suck," Darcy announces as she reluctantly gives over the money.

Alex laughs at her friend as she pouts, outright gloating over her clear win, and I can't help but shake my head at the pair of them. They're both as bad as each other, I swear.

As Darcy sulkily sips on her fruit cider, I allow my eyes to travel across the room. It's closing in on eight now, I think, which means I'm about halfway through my shift. For a Monday night the pub is abnormally busy, but that's due to the fact that there are two big groups crammed in here, both celebrating birthdays. Who'd have thought it, huh? Two people sharing the same birthday even in a tiny-ass town like Redwater Pine.

My eyes freeze on their own accord when they pass over a girl that, from the back, looks all too familiar... fairly short with a slight build and wavy red hair.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know it's not her. I know it's not Lucy.

There's no way in hell she'd be here, in this random town with these random people (even if for some reason she had decided to run from her Pack) because the chances of us ending up in the same place are practically impossible. However, despite being fully aware of the facts and probabilities, I can't help the way my heart speeds up slightly at the sight of this complete stranger.

What if it was her, though? What would I say? What would she say? What if-

The girl turns around.

It's not her; it's not Lucy.

Without my permission, my heart plummets all the way down to my toes, just like it used to do whenever I saw her with him.

Fuck.

My.

Life.

"When's yours?" Alex asks, bringing me back to reality as she looks at me curiously.

Huh?

I probably should've been paying attention to their conversation.

"When's my what?" I ask, to which the blonde girl rolls her eyes.

"Your birthday," she says in a 'duh' voice, lightly nudging my arm with her elbow.

Oh. Well, shit.

Although I'm one of the very few rogues with a concrete date to put to my birthday (thanks to my mum), I've never really 'celebrated' it as such. Not even when my mum was alive. It just isn't the rogue way to celebrate something as fundamental as a birthday, which is something my mum had to adjust to and I grew up accepting.

Nobody still living actually knows my birthday. Well, other than me, of course.

Lucy tried, more than once, to pry it out of me... and she failed each time. My birthday is exactly that: mine. I intend to keep it that way. Secrecy is just a part of my nature, it always has been and it always will be.